Hey All,
I’m gonna start cleaning up the lap line before the deck lam. I watched the FG Hawaii video; the one with the purple lap job. He sands with 50 and then 80, (seems a little low) When I sand down these high spots, the sanded areas look a few shades lighter, will that blend under the next laminate, or do I need to touch up with pigment to match?
Any advice is good, please & thank you.
Just blow off any debris and lam away. Once resin touches the sanded part it will blend right in.
I think is was Otis or Jack Reeves in that video. Can’t remember which. Both are Pros and have done tens of thousands of boards. 50 or 60 grit is fine. Most of the time it isn’t necessary to go to the next grit. You’re not sanding a hotcoat. In fact you are not sanding at all. You are grinding. What you are grinding is the cut edge of the laminated cloth and the high spots and overlaps on the relief cuts at the nose and tail. What is important is to learn how to do a nice lam, get the laps bubble free and tight, cut a nice lap with the razor and press it down. If you get a nice lap, the only place you will need to grind and or baste is at the nose and tail relief cuts. Most importantly, when you do grind you use a very lite touch. If you watch closely you will see that he is using a very light touch and only grinding harder or excessively at the nose and tail cuts. Usually the color will come back on the hotcoat. But not always. Grinding excessively can wash out the color making the area of excess noticeable and lighter in color. I use a Harbor Freight Cheapo Die Grinder and either 2 or 3” 3M Roloc disks for grinding laps. Once around the block and make a short stop at the nose and tail. Indasa also makes grinding disks. Some guys use a five inch Makita grinder and a 50 grit red resin type disk
PS. I just this past year got back to Glassing my own boards after many years of taking my blanks to Pro glass shops inthe OC and on Maui. I am very rusty and a long ways from perfect laps. But practice makes perfect. The more you do the better they get.
Thanks McDing, as always.
My lap came out pretty nice. Just have to grind the nose and tail. I might be able to just push the edges into the foam with popsicle stick.
After grinding the high spots, brush the area with a lightly damp brush with a few drops of styrene…this will saturate any “dry” spot which can sometiems casue slight discolorations in subsequent lam/hot coats. Also, get a tool called a wallpaper seam roller. The older ones are better. This is what you use to push down the cut lap.
That is exactly what Micha told me at Mitch’s.
Thanks agian!