Handplane shaping

Hello!

New member here, I hope I’m making the question on the right place! I’m trying to make a handplane as a practice for shaping my first board. It’s my first experience with shaping a “surfboard” and I need some help or suggestions. For a hand plane will a single cloth of fiberglass be sufficient? What can I use to tint the epoxy resin? Do I have to buy expensive pigments? And finally which would be the better way to make the holes for the “leash” plugs without having the proper tool? Thanks in advance!

Nice going! Off to a good start. 

pigment is cheap like $5.00 and can go for miles.https://shapersupply.com/collections/surfboard-resin-pigment

I would go 2 layers of 6 oz per side since weight doesn’t matter on a hand plan.

forstner bit for leash plug hole is like $15.00 and we’ll worth it.https://www.homedepot.com/p/DIABLO-1-in-High-Speed-Steel-Forstner-Bit-FB-007/100098841?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US

Small leash plugs have a 15/16" diameter.Large leash plugs have a 1 5/16" diameter

Thanks! I was considering other (cheaper) options for coloring. The pigment is cheap but the shipping costs aren’t…  Acrylic pain is not an option I presume? 

Pigments are pigments. Rather than ordering online, take a bag of baby food jars* to the local paint store that does custom colors… with a sixpack of good beer. Get an assortment.

Bear in mind that adding pigments usually lengthens the drying time a little. And a little goes a long way. Go easy with them.

hope that’s of use

doc…

*well cleaned baby food jars or similar. The pigment, in reasonable proportions, won’t mess with how the resin hardens but strained carrot residues might. Best not to find out.

Thanks! Are the pigments used with epoxi the same that are used with PU? I’m using a blue xps foam… can I get a flat opaque color on the lamination and a tint on the “hot” coat? Thanks for your help! 

Pigments are  essentially a fine-ground colored powder in a chemically neutral clear liquid, which may be called the ‘vehicle’. Really. For paints and resins they are all pretty much the same stuff. 

Tints are like dyes, often liquids. Think in terms of watercolors, translucent. 

Now, here’s the thing. Pigments tend to be opaque as long as you use enough, all fine Tints are not, just how ‘deep’ they are depends on how much you use and how thick the layer is.

Okay, that’s fine if your tint layer is forced to be a fairly uniform thickness, like a lamination. You get a ice uniform color. Not so great if it’s not so uniform, like a hotcoat. You brush it or flow it on, you sand it smooth, you see where this is going. They tend to be blotchy.

On the other hand, with an opaque layer, the thickness doesn’t really matter. Laminations with pigment, sure, but pigmented hotcoats work well too as long as you don’t actually sand through it. And even if you do, you can brush a little more on and blend it in.

hope that’s of use

doc…

For years as a kid I never had the cash to buy anything new, so to install leash plugs I’d draw a circle around the plug and just cut down into the foam, PU foam is accurate if you take it easy and you can do it with a kitchen veggie knife and a scalpel.

 Nice shape, looking good !

Acrylic paint is not a universal color dispersion like the mixing colors from the paint store Doc mentions. 3 percent max into the mixed epoxy resin. My experience with epoxy has the batches going off a little earlier when tint or pigment are added, might be just a perception since it is taking longer to measure and mix. 

This is xps foam… and I thought it was best to insert the leash plugs after glassing? Since it is  a small and thin board I assumed it was the best way to do it. Because of this I was trying to find smaller leash plugs… thanks for you suggestions! 

That is good to know because it’s my first attempt glassing so I need time! :slight_smile: can I use any powder pigment? I can get that easily…

Ok doc, thank you very much for the informed answer! 

De nada. If I was to tell you "Do A, don’t do B " that would be nice and all, but far better you understand why to do something, how it works. 

And, wandering into your question about adding dry pigments: absolutely. It’s like  making paint, you can go to the paint store and have something custom blended using a neutral paint base and then putting in liquid pigments at the store or you can buy, say, red porch and deck enamel where they put in the red pigment, very likely dry, when they mixed it up at the factory. 

A word of advice, if I may; measure out your epoxy, part A and part B, add/mix in your pigment to one or the other, then mix the two. Less mixing time ( and less of the work of mixing) will give you more working time.

A small, cheap, digital scale like this one is your friend here, pretty much all epoxies will give you volume ratios, say 5:1, 3:1 or whatever, but they will also generally tell you ratios to use by weight which may be a little different but will be more precise than trying to use inaccurate volume gradiations in cheap plastic cups. This will also let you make pretty much any sized batch you want, large or small, plus you can note just how much pigment you add if you want to repeat a particular color.

They’re also really nice if you’re baking or vacuum bagging, but that’s a whole different thing.

hope that’s of use

doc…

 

Obrigado! :slight_smile: ir will certainly be of use. Any suggestions regarding the leash plugs? Before or after glassing? And are there smaller plugs for this kind of board? Thanks!!

Obrigado! :slight_smile: ir will certainly be of use. Any suggestions regarding the leash plugs? Before or after glassing? And are there smaller plugs for this kind of board? Thanks!!

Ola Capador,

Some industries will mix a dry pigment with a compatible liquid or solvert so it is easier to mix into other things. For epoxy you could use denatured alcohol or xylene. I would not use store-bought ispopropyl (rubbing) alcohol because of its water content.

Do you have enough epoxy to make a small test batch ? Make one batch 30ml (1oz) mixed epoxy ‘plain’ and another 30ml mixed with 1g ‘color’. Wet out cloth over some scrap XPS and let it cure. You can see how the color turns out and also have a practice sessions mixing and laminating before you try your shape. When you see professionals doing polyester laminating it is much different than epoxy, the epoxy takes longer to wet out or flow through the fiberglass. If you rush this you may get pinholes and dry spots.

A forum member Nemoz_Z posted a STL file for a  1.25" (31.75mm) plug a few weeks ago if you have access to a 3D printer, needs a piece of .125"(3.2mm) rod to finish. Or design your own to match a drill bit you have. I have read people buying PVC plumbing caps and drilling a hole through for a rod. I imagine you’s want to rough up the outside to get the epoxy to stick. If the leash plug has a raised cover I would do them pre-glass.  The suggestions earlier about careful marking and carving make sense if you don’t have money for or access to Forstner bits. A Dremel-type tool coiuld be used as well. If the holes gets ‘sloppy’ then wrap cloth around the plug. Are you doing two plugs for a hand strap?

Most people will rough up XPS before laminating it. I use EPS so I don’t have a specific reccomendation for that. Looks like a fun project, let us know how it goes.

Ahmmmm, good question. 

You mention multiple leash plugs, presumably so you can put a hand strap on it? I would use something else, say a couple of wood blocks so that you can do it to it with something very similar to a windsurfer foot strap. Say, the same idea as the two hole inserts Fiberglass Supply sells- I would make something out of fairly dense hardwood, two of them, square corners would be fine, glass over them and then use self-tapping stainless pan-head screws to hold the strap on. That’s the high end installation. 

Leash plugs, yeah, you could use those, really cinch down a foot strap type thing or for that matter a repurposed ankle strap with nylon cord or whatever, but there would still be some play in it. 

For that matter- I might even try simply taking an ankle strap from a surf leash and epoxying it directly to the deck of the thing. If it works, great, if it doesn’t, sand away the epoxy you used, cut out the deck for some plain wood plugs and there ya go.

hope that’s of use. Interesting project.

doc…  

I would make something out of fairly dense hardwood, two of them, square corners would be fine, glass over them and then use self-tapping stainless pan-head screws to hold the strap on. That’s the high end installation. 

This seems like a good ideia but those wood blocks (and the screws) have to be small. The board is thin and I’m afraid of ruining everything when opening the holes :slight_smile: But it seems the best way indeed.

I might even try simply taking an ankle strap from a surf leash and epoxying it directly to the deck of the thing

First shape, first glassing experience… Not sure if it is a good ideia!

Thanks again for sharing your wisdom!

Make one batch 30ml (1oz) mixed epoxy ‘plain’ and another 30ml mixed with 1g ‘color’. Wet out cloth over some scrap XPS and let it cure. You can see how the color turns out and also have a practice sessions mixing and laminating before you try your shape.

Very good suggestion, thanks!

When you see professionals doing polyester laminating it is much different than epoxy, the epoxy takes longer to wet out or flow through the fiberglass. If you rush this you may get pinholes and dry spots.

I know it’s different. Saw a bunch of videos on youtube and I understand the theory. Now I have to practice :slight_smile:

Are you doing two plugs for a hand strap?

That´s the idea. I like the “wood blocks and screws” solution suggested by Doc. Easier maybe?

Most people will rough up XPS before laminating it.

Yeah xps has delaminating issues and that seems a good way to prevent that. At least that’s what Andrew W. says on his youtube videos :slight_smile: Maybe next time I’ll use a proper blank!

Thanks again for the tips. Obrigado!

Ummm- don’t worry about going deep, the reason you want to be using wood is the glass and foam won’t hold the screws. So use short wide screws, thin wood, Make them pretty, ovals or rounded/elliptical points or whatever…

A lot of hand planes are solid fairly hard wood, after all they only have to be able float themselves, and being able to hold the screws isn’t an issue. With foam, you have to get clever…

Ah- okay, something to think about. It’s definitely your first, it won’t be perfect. And that’s good.

Do things you’re not sure of, they will maybe turn out to be wrong and you learn from that. If it all went perfect, well, two things, you’re maybe doing something that’s too easy and maybe you’re just lucky. You’re supposed to learn from experiments and you learn a lot more from the ones that fail than the ones that turn out just right.

And you learn why they went wrong…or right. How to do something is good to know, but why to do something  is a powerful thing to have. 

doc… 

I won´t be perfect for sure but I’m a perfectionist and quick lerner :slight_smile: And with all the tips I’m getting here the odds are better! Thanks again.