aloha all, Im on my 4th board and this will be my 2nd time installing futures boxes. I use epoxy resin, and I’ve just installed some gearbox boxes in a board pre-glass, but won’t be laminating until i set up my backyard tent for glassing. So before i put these futures boxes in this next board- Is the process for a pre-glass finbox install normally done right before lamming the board? I tape around my routes so the epoxy doesnt spread further out than necessary, but there always seems to be some cured resin in some spots either built up on the flanges and/or some that seeped under my tape job around the routes etc. If i’ve allowed the resin to cure before laminating it, what’s the best way to scuff this resin up that has cured on the flanges/box covers of the gearbox without damaging the surrounding foam? tape?
Here’s the board. know theres some gemini proponents in the crowd here… it’s pretty much a symmetrical version of Ryan Burch’s twinfin gemini picklefork thingy. dont mind my fin marks either…im a total backyard hack pretty much.
You wouldn’t have a problem if you would take a hard plastic squeege to any excess resin on the box or blank. If you squeege it flat even if it is on the foam, it’s no problem. You should install the fin boxes as part of the glassing. Roll the cloth back, install the boxes and then roll the cloth over the tail and fins. Proceed to laminate the bottom. If you leave hardened resin on the blank with out knocking it down you set yourself up for your current dilemma. If I were in your situation, I would take a die grinder and a 2 or 3" ROLOC disk to it. But never get into a situation wherein you have to grind resin flat on foam. Chances are you will hit the foam and create a divot. If you install the boxes while glassing you will not need to tape off.
thanks McDing - i figured I was missing something as this doesnt seem like something pros would be dealing with. i guess i was too eager to stick em in already… the good news if any, is everything seems pretty flat on the gearboxes since i brushed most of the excess resin off onto my tape. also got the idea that I might be able to get away with putting the router jig back on the thing and doing some minimal sanding within the jig… seems pretty dummy proof, but i must be a mega dummy for botching my last futures install. had resin leak into my fin slot and dummy fins got stuck. lots of prying to get the fins out. and dremeling the cured epoxy out of the fin slot. fun time that was. i will treat this next one with more finesse and care not to get it in the raised fin slot. though, am i not supposed to let epoxy cure all the way before i remove the dummy fins and tape the fin slots off before the lam either? if its already hard and shiny but within 12 hours of mixing, will there still be a chemical bond?
If I am using dummy fins, I baste the inside of the cavity/routed hole with an Epoxy/Cabosil slurry, clean off excess with a plastic squeege, insert the dummy fin, check the Cant with a gauge or adjustable square, wiggle the box to where I want it and remove the dummy. If you make a slurry of Epoxy/Cabosil about the thickness of mayonnaise it will not run all over the place. Besides you just need enough in the hole to coat the inside and gush up thru the slots in the flange of the box. It’s important to make sure those slots are filled. You don’t want to have to come back later and fill little holes around the flange. The plastic squeege will remove any excess. Don’t worry anout anything that is on the foam, just make sure it is squeeged flat. The discoloration will go away when you Lam the cloth. You can now tape or place the stickers on the slot and lam. Just don’t press to hard and move the box when you tape it. I don’t use dummy fins unless a customer wants me to do some tricky degree Cant. The Cant is in the fins with Futures. Problems arise with extreme concave bottoms, Bonzers etc. in those cases you will need the dummy fins to check where things are. With Future there is not much room for adjustments. Reason being that you don’t want the box to be below or above the foam. When you set one up that way, you wind up grinding the box flange down on one end or side and almost always have topatch over the box to cover where you hit the cloth over foam and burned thru. If you put some thought and trial and error into using the foam shims that Futures provides, you can rout the boxes in a way that enables Cant. I’m just a trial and error type when it comes to fins. There are people here on the site that know way more than me. Hopefully they will chime in.
right on. ill probly skip the dummy fins on the next one then since the fins will be on a flat surface. i forgot to shim the jig up on the last futures install, on the deeper side of my vee, so the route didnt come out as accurate- this one should be easier. i have milled fibers that are ground into a powder from fiberglass HI, that work the same as cabosil?
I use milled fiber on longboard boxes. I use Cabosil on Futures and Fusions, FCS II because I can brush it around with one of those small glue brushes and because it will ooz up into the slots on the Futures. The milled fiber I use is 1/32. Even that fine it still clings and clumps… I’d say the difference would be like brushing Mayo or sour cream as opposed to brushing Henry’s roofing patch. I would think Cabosil a better material to use in tight fitting holes. You might trap more air and have more bubbles and holes with milled fiber. Not sure how well it would flow up into the slots on a Fusion box. For sure not likely to fill the slots as good as resin thickened with Cabosil.
