The last boards I built had cork decks and I really like the cleanliness and traction compared to standard wax. I want to retrofit another board with a cork deck but don’t want to glue it on there directly using epoxy as I this will lower the price if I want to sell it again.
Has anyone of you ever made their own cork deck pad to be glued to a board which could later be removed again like conventional deckpads? I’m thinking about laminating a cork sheet with a thin glass weave as a backing. Wax up a glass pane, laminate thin glass weave and cork with peelply on top. Apply vacuum for curing and removing excess resin. I could cut it to shape using scissors and would like to glue it to the board with a spray glue.
Any thoughts about that? Do you have a suggestion for a glue that will withstand sea water but which I can remove sometime later using heat and/or a solvent?
Have not applied Cork to a board, but have applied many deck pads on SUP’s. I would imagine that Cork is difficult to remove in one piece. Use Contact Cement of the type used to install or laminate sheet Formica. Best bet for removal is the use of a heat gun. My experience with deck pads tells me they are easier to apply with a second pair of hands assisting. Using dowels between the pad and the deck seems to work, although I never have tried it. The Commercial varieties of Contact Cement(solvent based) are much better than water based (green) products. Apply cement with a roller to both the pad and the deck. Allow to dry as per instructions before applying the pad to the deck.
ive made cork tail pads by putting 3m tissue tape on a cork sheet and cutting to size. Its the same tissue tape thats on the bottom of a regular tail pad so far as i can tell. ive never tried to remove them because because i make new boards for myself all the time and just pass off my old ones. unfortunately i havent found the right cork yet and they tend to disintigrate after a season.
The tissue tape is a good idea, although I think that it will increase the toatl price quite a lot. I’m thinking of using this method for a 9’4" x 23".
To prevent the cork pad from disintegrating I want tu laminate /infuse it with epoxy first. This should have the same structural integrity of directly glueing the sheet to the board using epoxy. TO make things easier I’ll probably use several smaller pads to make up the whole board. THis will be easier to produce and place on the board.
@MCDing: do you have a certain contact cement in mind?
Yes. " Wilsonart ". Couldn’t remember the name. They are making a “green” formula these days. Hate to say it, but not as effective as the original solvent based. Some stores in some states still sell the original. If allowed to tack properly; it really sticks. Be careful when you put it down on the board. There’s no moving it around. A heat gun will remove it.
First off. they make double-stick sheets. 8 1/2" x 10", peel off the plastic on one side, stick it to the underside of the cork sheet, hit it gently with a Formica roller or for that matter your granny’s rolling pin. when that’s had a little time to cure you can cut to size and shape. You then stick it down on the board as has been mentioned- your best move is to start at one end, peel back a little of the plastic, stick that edge down carefully and work your way to the other end. We used something similar to that method for putting on ice-n-snow roofing products. Search for double-stick sheets on Amazon.
Use a roller, gently, you can stretch the stuff out of shape like pizza dough and then it looks kinda weird. I did that replacing the neoprene deck pad on a much used paddleboard, it wasn’t fun cutting it back to the right shape once it was on.and stuck down, Work from the midline out to the edges with your roller, getting it nice and flat and the air bubbles out. .
Now, this double sided sheet stuff is unlikely to be a forever adhesive, it’s made for paper. Which is not a bad thing, as I have doubts about how long the grade of cork sheet goods you will find will last around salt, sun, moisture and what have you. The adhesive they use to make the cork sheet stuff isn’t that wonderful, it’s likely it will crumble fairly soon when exposed to the elements. So being able to remove and replace it fairly easy is a win. Yes, they use some cork sheet as an intermediate skin in composite laminates, but it’s sealed both sides with resin and cloth over all. .
You really, really don’t want to use a heat gun to remove this or anything else from a surfboard. Delams are very likely as the foam is softened by the heat and the gases in it expand. And I will bet you can guess how I know that. . A single-edge razor blade in a scraper/holder is your friend here,or several, replace the blades as they get dull or gummed up.
The trick and purpose of the heat gun is to warm the adhesive enough to soften it, not torch it. If someone feels that they might overdo things, use a blow dryer. They don’t get as hot. Whenever I visit Goodwill I check to see if there are any blow dryers in the appliance section. This is sort like the guys who won’t use a Surform or Dragon Skin. Just go easy, practice and learn how to use it properly. I’ve gotten things a little hot a few times over the years, but just like learning to use a Skil; Determination.
I will make some test panels. I’m not afraid of cork crumbling away because of sun and sea water. I will infuse it with epoxy and laminate a thin glass backing to the backside.
Will be some time until I can test this but will keep you updated.