Breathing Life into the Boom

Over a stretch of four days, August 12th through the 15th, I brought the boom back to life. My first attempt at chemically etching and priming the boom did not turn out to my satisfaction - I believe I hurried the process a bit, and ultimately received no help from the humid conditions here in Florida.

My second attempt included new products - Pettit brand primers and topcoats. After reading through some of Tim Lackey's work, I thought I would give the following process a try:

-chemically etch with Pettit Metal Primer 6455/044

-application of Pettit Tiecoat Primer 6627

-application of Pettit Easpoxy, one-part epoxy paint

The outcome has given me the confidence to paint the mast next...darn!! Seriously, I have no excuse not to paint the mast. The painting has produced stunning results, and I am trying to talk myself out of it...

Here is the boom after application of the Metal Primer 6455/044 - a two-part chemical etching process that prepares the aluminum for primer paint, and assures a good bond. I began with sanding the surface with a medium grit emory cloth (probably in the 600 grit range), as I had already removed the surface contaminates during original sanding and filling of old hardware holes. Next, I vacuumed the surface and immediately applied the Metal Primer.

In the same evening, after allowing a 2-hour dry time, I applied the first application of Tiecoat Primer 6627. This product is very thick, almost rubberized in consistency, and so requires some thinner to allow a nice wet edge during application. It actually self-levels well with the proper amount of thinner applied (Pettit Epoxy 97). I simply used your standard, big-box foam brushes for the application, and it came out great. After the first application of Tiecoat Primer, I waited the required 2-hour re-coat time, and then applied the second application of Tiecoat Primer. It was midnight by the time my head the pillow, but I was happy to have the priming out of the way.

In the next couple of days, I sanded the Tiecoat Primer with 220 grit paper, just roughing the surface, lightly solvent washed with lacquer thinner, and proceeded to apply the first coat of Pettit Easypoxy one-part epoxy paint. Again, I used the cheap foam brush, and was happy with the results. For anyone wanting to attempt this job, I would suggest working the foam brush with the paint against a throw-away piece of paper, etc., just to get the paint "worked" into the foam - this allows for a good, even application of paint that self-levels well. I did have some technical difficulty in the first paint application! I was certainly learning through this process, and ultimately missed some sags that resulted in working the paint across the boom a bit too fast. The first and second coats are always the learning coats, right!? I did my best to work out of the sags with a brush just touched to a bit of solvent, and after the paint had cured I sanded the ridges out. My second and third coats came out much better, and was further aided in paint application by moving the boom into a more vertical axis (as it would sit on the gooseneck).

Here is Froonie's boom with the third application of Pettit Easypoxy one-part epoxy paint. Glowing, healthy, vibrant, youthful....oh, yeah, it's just a boom! So you've noticed the "shop" setting have you? Well, I took advantage of an empty home, temperature and humidity controlled, to apply the paint. The results are great...

Rounding out the boom restoration is the installation of the hardware...with a little help from the skipper and first mate of Froonie.