How to Rehab a Fiberglass MOB Pole?

[bluewater]

Greetings all,

We have the standard yellow fiberglass MOB pole that has over the years suffered greatly from UV exposure. It is now such that we cannot touch it without gloves or we will get glass splinters.

Time for rehab!

I was thinking of sanding the pole and spray painting it with reflective paint. But I really have no idea if this is the best course of action. I don't know the source of said poles or I'd contact the manufacturer.

Your advice? Links to resources?
Thanks!

[model 10]

I am about to do the same thing. Give it a coat of resin to seal in the exposed fibers. And this I know from experience, if you paint it white first then go over it with orange you get a much brighter orange finish.

[bluewater]

We have a dinghy-building project going at the moment... would a bit of leftover epoxy work as a sealant after sanding down the fiberglass?

Any suggestions as to best kind of spray paint? I'm about to buy a can to mark my chain anyway. White is my preferred way to go in that department. Again, thinking reflective white if I can find it. But some combination of reflective and UV protective would be ideal!

[Cheechako]

watch for glass slivers. I say just just sand and paint with Krylon flourescent etc. Easily renewable and will hold up to UV better than Epoxy.

[Dynamo1181]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

watch for glass slivers. I say just just sand and paint with Krylon flourescent etc. Easily renewable and will hold up to UV better than Epoxy.

This is what I did....worked great.
A

[Kettlewell]

I just coated mine with some two part epoxy, sanded the epoxy a bit, then painted with regular white marine enamel. Wear work gloves while doing all this so you don't end up full of figerglass splinters! Probably not the ideal color for the pole, but the flag will provide the visibility for the day, and the white would be pretty good at night.

[Capt Phil]

What is the cost of a new rig? Pretty cheap as I recall... maybe you can find a used one on e-bay for a fraction of what you pay at West Marine. All the work, materials cost and time might make a new purchase worthwhile. Phil

[Kettlewell]

What is the cost of a new rig? Pretty cheap as I recall... maybe you can find a used one on e-bay for a fraction of what you pay at West Marine. All the work, materials cost and time might make a new purchase worthwhile. Phil

It wasn't costly or time consuming for me. I just used some old epoxy I always have around and an opened can of paint. Did the epoxy one day, then a couple of coats of paint over two days--but probably a total of an hour actually working. Of course I wasn't trying to make it a work of art.

[barnakiel]

I just sand some, degrease and paint with one part poly.

If you want it bright orange then beware many 'fluo' paints tend to fade very soon - but the 3M commercial grade (as seen on cargo bridge badges) is one super choice (if you can get it).

I would just paint it red/orange one part poly and apply a huge bright flag to it (again: dacron or sunbrella, not nylon) and that's that.

b.

[Capt Phil]

You are dead right, Kettlewell... if you have all the material lying around to get the job done, not only would it be cheaper but you could use up some left overs from prior jobs. Phil