40 aluminum oxide, which is highly recommended for prepping steel for

Oy Listees! Did you have a good weekend! I did. I got to use a new tool . . . and a power tool at that. That always makes for a great weekend! Yeah, I know. I am a guy. What can I say (grunt, snort). Title: What a Blast! Well this weekend removed any remaining doubts about our ability to handle this project . . . not that we had any mind you . . . and that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, as you look at a project like this, you must break it down into a series of sub-projects . . . a bunch of small weekend projects. This way, the entire thing is doable, and comprehendible, it just takes some time. You must look at the entire project as a whole occasionally in order to maintain your "vision", but it can be daunting when you do so. So, out of the sub-projects I could break this boat down to, one intimidated me a bit from the start. Removing the interior? Nope. I excel at destruction. Me and the wife removed the interior of this boat in a couple of weekends with nothing more than 3 or 4 screwdrivers, a 12 inch multi-purpose spring-steel flat prybar (12-16 bucks at your local "Home Owner Hell" but well worth it), and a hammer or two. Note--the entire contents of the interior of a motor-sailor when removed are about 4 times the volume of the entire boat. Apparently the laws of conservation of mass do not apply to boats. Rebuilding/replacing the engine room and mechanicals? Nope. Machines and I understand each other. Basically they know that I WILL get the job done . . . it is only the method that may change. You know . . . "We can do this easy, or we can do this hard . . . yours is the choice." Machines have feelings, machines have soul (engines are basically evil, but they really do like to run . . . accord can be reached). We understand each other. Removing bad plating? Nope. Got a plasma cutter (insert maniacal laughter here). It really is an amazing tool (insert MORE maniacal laughter here) (and here) (and here) (and here) (and here) (and here) (and here). Replacing/welding new plating? Maybe a little. My welding skills are rusty (probably not as rusty as my boat), but I can always get the important bits fitted and tacked into place and hire a professional to do the finish welds if I feel it is necessary. Mainly my concern is the diesel tanks, and the welds below the water-line. I will get plenty of practice on the decks and pilot house, so we will see. Cleaning the old steel, refinishing? Yep, that's it. After removing the old plate you must repair the frames and then strip and primer them. Then the new plating must be installed (it needs stripped and primed too), and afterwards the entire boat, inside and out, needs the same treatment. Steel is difficult to clean. 10 minutes with a wire cup brush (on a 10,000RPM angle grinder) only cleans about a square foot, and does not get into the nooks, crannies and corners. There are lots of the nooks, crannies and corners in a boat. The longevity and ease of maintenance of this boat after we complete the project, is directly related to the durability of the finish we apply. Sand blasting is the only practical way, and I had never done that. I had seen the results, but my only experience with it was seeing some folks blast a water tank near the farm when I was a kid. Step one was when a 32 yard 18-wheeler dump-truck showed up with the largest sand pile I had ever seen. Step two began when the largest compressor I have ever seen (still to this day) arrived built onto the back of a 2-1/2 ton truck. About twenty guys showed up with it. Looked intimidating. Looked expensive. Anyway, I figured I could do it, but was sweating it nonetheless. Books warned of dirty, nasty, hot work, and silicosis. I purchased a 40-pound capacity pressurized sand blaster a year or so ago when Harbor Freight had them on sale (I paid 89 bucks). I have spent the time since then wondering whether it and/or my compressor would be up to the task. There are many blasting media available other than sand, so I decided to use # 40 aluminum oxide, which is highly recommended for prepping steel for epoxy paints. It also has an advantage over sand in that it does not cause silicosis, and does not itself produce toxic dust. It costs about twice as much as sand, and comes in 100-pound bags. Again I was a bit worried. Was this combination effective, both in cleaning and cost? Well, this weekend was the answer. We have the first 4 frames (looking ahead from where the forward decks start just forward of amidships) completely repaired and ready to go. The only thing remaining before we apply the first 4' X 13' section of new plate (other than the obvious step of cutting one to fit) is to blast and prime the frames, and to finish weld the hull side of the sheer pipe. I purchased a respirator, as although the dust from the grit is not toxic, I still do not relish breathing it in, as well as all the rust, epoxy, filler, bondo, and Lord only knows what else I am blasting off the boat. I then put on long sleeves and my cloth blasting hood (came with the blaster). Ear plugs completed my ensemble. The process is not loud, but I did not want to dig grit out of my ears for the next few days. We decided to test it on a section of the hull, as it was really too humid to prime the frames Sunday. We banged the worst of the filler/paint off the hull in the area I wanted to test. We attacked the hull adjacent to the sheer pipe at port amidships so I can finish weld . . . thus killing two birds with one stone . . . er . . . shitloads of little stones. Anyway, we pulled out the blaster, filled it up full of grit (Black Beauty is the brand name of the grit I am using), hooked it up, and fired away. Amazing. It is an extremely easy process. It is very much like spray-painting, both in feel and speed. You point the nozzle, and the steel turns gray/silver. Rust, filler, whatever vaporizes before your eyes. The pattern that seems most effective is moving it in small circles just a few inches away from the steel. It gets into nooks and crannies easily. It is very fast, and a hopper load of grit (about 1/3 of a 100 pound bag) thoroughly cleans about 4 square feet of hull (slightly less if there are lots of corners and crannies). This makes it fast and economical. I think I paid about 5 bucks a bag for the stuff. It costs less in bulk, I only bought 400 pounds for getting started. I estimate I could blast an entire side of the boat in a couple or three hours. It would go faster if you had a bigger capacity blaster (so you don't have to reload as often), but I need to be able to move this one around and into the boat easily. Both my compressor and my blaster are easily up to the task. What a relief. Hot? Dirty? Gritty? Well, yep. But easy anyway. The hot, dirty, and gritty don't really bother me. I have worked hard all my life. I have done much worse, for things/people I cared a lot less about. One confession to make . . . a tactical error . . . the pressurized blaster has several valves. One pressurizes the sand hopper (a pressurized blaster gives you more "bang" for air consumed, this requiring a smaller compressor), one meters the sand into the mixer, and one (at the end of the hose) turns the blast stream on and off. I know better, but in the heat of learning a new technique I was using the valve at the end of the hose (the gun) to limit the airflow. You should actually use your regulator to limit the airflow to the unit in combination with the ceramic nozzle size. Hmmmm. Using a valve to partially close off a high pressure stream of air and grit. Can anybody guess what happened? Basically I blasted/abraded the guts out of the valve, and it no longer really does anything. I'll have to pick up a new one this week (about 5 bucks). Now I know. Valve on gun is for ON or OFF. Provided the weather cooperates, we will blast and primer the frames next weekend. I need to get to the steel store to get the needed plate, but we should be installing deck plating in the next couple weeks. The quote of the week came from the wife after she watched me trying out the sand-blaster: "That's really cool! I do get to use that, right?" Until next time, CUAgain, Daniel Meyer http://cuagain.manilsites.com