I had a couple of squeegees. I leave them in acetone 365 days a year which i tghought was best, but i found that after a good 6-12 months (since i last made a board) the squeegees had all deteriorated and perished, white ‘cream’ type substance on the surface. I bought two new ones, so wondering if anyone has advice on best way to store them, maybe take out of acetone for long term storage in a bag or something or will that make them go hard?
thanks
It is ok to leave Thalco rubber squeeges in Acetone for periods of time when you are using them regularly. It keeps them soft and flexible. But not a good idea to leave them in Acetone for prolonged periods of unuse. They will break down. Taking them out and using them preserves them by drying them out. If I use mine daily I will leave it in Acetone overnight. You will want to rinse it in clean residue free Acetone from time to time. When I am not going to use it for awhile, I will clean throughly and put it away. I am bragging; but I was able to buy one of the last “Blue” Thalco Squeeges. Coveted by glassers and no longer available.
Ha, a BLUE one!! You lucky thing! I heard they don’t break down. Yes mine is a white Thalco one. Thanks for that, I will remove it once the board is made and store it dry. Do they not get stiff and effectively die by doing that, or do they soften up again in acetone next time you use?
thanks
McDing - can I ask you something since you know what you’re doing… I am doing this shortboard but usually do gloss/polish finishes. He wants this one rough sanded not shiny. I have felt some in shops and they feel lovely when left coarse/unpolished. I got conflicting advice, one person said it was because they only sanded to 180 or similar (i go to 2000!) the other said it’s an acrylic coating. I do have some Speedcote (acrylic finish). To get that nice sanded finish, would you say just stop sanding earlier, or use the acrylic? thanks
Stop sanding earlier and use the acrylic finish. The Acrylic will deter hand prints, mud etc. No need to go beyond 180, 220 or 320. Stop at any of those provided you have no swirl marks or scratches that will show up under the Acrylic finish. If you stop at 180, but still have scratches, then go on to 220. It’s a judgement call. But certainly 180 is good enough if scratch free. Yes a squeege will soften right up if dropped in Acetone for a few minutes.
Perfect thanks. I have tried to spray on the acrylic before but my gun is no good any more. Hoping I can brush it and sand or scotchbrite to a reasonable finish. I read somewhere on here that acrylic finish turns grey if ever need to sand through it to repair the board. I am pretty sure I have done that once and didn’t notice any grey or discoloration
I finish all my mat boards with 240 grit on excentrique Sander and light spray rattel can mat acrylique around rails, then scotch brit clean. Décent finish. Sometimes i sweep multi layers acrylique soupe with sponge all over and buff. Glossy finish. Some acrylique like white flash give some problems when repair. Others not. Traditional mat finish is same process gloss but stop sanding when you like. Acrylique is for hide and protect light burn through of sanded hotcoat. Faster than lay and sand a full resin gloss coat.
No I never heard that one before. I sometimes use an acrylic spray can in Satin. After it is dry you can wet & dry to even up and get rid of overspray fuzz.
Do you go straight to 240 grit from your hot/gloss coat, or work up from 120 or similar?
What do you mean by scotch brit clean?
Dépend of how good is coat, wich resin and time before sanding. For epoxy finish i let it cure in hot box, start sanding 120 then 180 and 240. For poly finish i start 180 or 240 if very clean. I use a roto excentrique bosh pro Sander, in forced roto+excentrique mode it sand hard, in excentrique solo mode it sand soft.
For cleaning at end i use a scourer like scotch brit from 3M, with some water, by hand all over board lenghwise.
Dépend of how good is coat, wich resin and time before sanding. For epoxy finish i let it cure in hot box, start sanding 120 then 180 and 240. For poly finish i start 180 or 240 if very clean. I use a roto excentrique bosh pro Sander, in forced roto+excentrique mode it sand hard, in excentrique solo mode it sand soft.
For cleaning at end i use a scourer like scotch brit from 3M, with some water, by hand all over board lenghwise.
Lemat-- any chance you could post a pic of your sander. I’m not familiar with those and am curious about them.