what kinda paint do i need?

It's metal and it's harder and more abrasion resistant than paint, epoxy, polyester, gelcoat, etc. Aluminum boats are made of aluminum and they seem to do pretty well on the wear resistance scale ...

I don't know, this issue has never come up for me.

In my experience the paint sticks to the primer just as effectively with or without any additives in it.

Sacrificial strips are fine, but there's nothing wrong with a "home brew" either. I've done enough research and experimentation over the years to know that my suggestion works fine. If they didn't work I wouldn't suggest them.

The big paint manufacturers do the same thing by the way, they just charge twice as much for their special paints with 20 cents worth of additives in them. If you don't want to use aluminum powder you can use silica powder for abrasion resistance too, it is especially good in clear finishes like varnish for example.

You can also use ground rubber to make your own non-skid paints. Ground rubber mixed into paint results in a flexible surface that won't 'sand your skin off' when you rub against it or accidentally fall on it ...

 

1 note on adding metal to your paint,,,,,,if the paint is too soft,,for the "wear" it gets,,,,and alum. hard....when ya rub,,and hit the alum.,,,,,what holds the alum. to your boat?,,,,,paint,,,yup,,,and its still soft,,,all your gonna end up doing is spending time and money on the crap,,and watch as that new alum. is scraped of along with your new paint......,,,,,no matter what you put in paint,,,specially in "wear" spots,,,,,all that additive is only as strong as your paint........look at bottom paint on big boats,,,their FULL of metal,,,,,,and less wear resistant then plain paint,,,,,,when you add hard metal to paint,,,it causes an air bubble around every little minuscule piece of that metal,,,,,you end up with a painted air pocket.....

 

Hey 1,
What is your opinion of the old sand in the paint nonskid technique?

Good idea?
If not, what's better?
What is a good idea for hard wear areas?

I'm going to be painting my boat this summer and am real interested in a tough antiskid setup for the cockpit.

 

hehe,,,man,,,you have NO IDEA what can of worms you jus opened,,hehehehe
i use silica,,,and wont stand behind anything else (if you was to pay me paint it,and wanted a guarantee ,,,not just a friends or personal boat),,,i've heard of people using everything from walnuts to rino-lining to plain ole dirt.,,,if it was me and i wanted to "try" sand,,,,i would clean it first,,,get all the dust off it,,,,any or all the ideas about non-skid (do a search on non-skid,,i bet theres thousands,,hehe) thingy might work good,great, or the best,,,but if i didnt want to be a "tester" i'd jus go with the silica,,,,but i hear through the "grapevine",,there may be a bad@ss rino lining type stuff out there,,,ive never seen rino lining,,but out of all things beside silica,,i hear its really good,,,,but i would pass this off to someone thats actually used it,,or any of the other thingy's,,,,,but,,dont just take anybody's word fer it....hehe

 

LOL,
Yeah, I know... big can of worms . We used white, dry, silica sand on the fish boats and it worked pretty good, especially considering our less than perfect prep techniques. If that's the only thing you'll stand behind, that's good enough for me. I don't need to be the pioneer using the worlds best, I need the more practical pretty damn good.

The way we did it was to put on a base layer, let it dry and mask off the borders. Then roll on another coat and sprinkle the sand. Next day vacuum off the loose sand and then sometimes roll another coat over the top, sometimes not.

The little problems we had I would put down to our prep techniques, sanding, cleaning, drying, etc. I try to do better now.

I've been following the "Challenge" thread and will be giving it a shot later in the summer after I finish some glass work. The challenge thread has answered lots of my questions but I'm sure I'll be pestering you a bit when push comes to shove!

 

no problem man,,,,,jus member,,,i dont do that "snail" painting,,you'll have to ask the roller dudes for specifics,,hehe
and im GLAD you wanna do this right,,,,shows alot about a person when they take pride in their work

 

Sand makes an excellent, fine, but sometimes aggressive texture. The only problem comes when it's time to remove it as it can't be sanded and has to be scraped.

You can put all sorts of things in paint for texture, crushed walnut shells, sea shells, ground up rubber and my favorite model railroad ballast.

Sand is something you do, until you have to repair a surface with it on it, then you use something else.

You'll always get a better and more uniform application of texture if you apply the "grit" over wet paint, rather then mix it in the paint. This is true of any particulate additive.

 

Yep, do as PAR says, put the nonskid over the wet paint. If you use non skid particles like the Awl Grip stuff, you can put it , dry, into the spray gun and spray it on very evenly, looks a million dollars, we do that here on some of the very best boats, looks great too.

 

That non-skid powder that many paint manufactureres sell, is actually polypropylene particles (beads). You might be able to source them locally, they are used in the chemical industry.

About wear resistance and paint: I have a customer that re-lines large pumps. (for dredging barges). He uses glass flakes to increase the wear resistance dramatically. He says it works better than any alternative he investigated: sand, aluminium, copper, metal flakes, etc. Testing was done professionally.

 

i find that golfin shoes with sharp cleats make a great non-skid,,,hehe