Just finished my 1st board. My buddies and I all made boards.
Shaping -read as much as you can. YouTube can be your friend. Don’t be afraid of power tools
Lamming DO NOT USE EPOXY! Holy crap what a pain in the ass. Goes on too thick, fish eyes like crazy. You’ll he spending way more time (hours) with your grinder than your poly friends. Seriously, I was dogmatically following all the expert advice…
Shape -if you go big log it’s more work. You’ll want friends around when lamming. Trust me.
Fin -I went with the Bahne single box, it’s pretty idiot proof. Careful cutting and routering the hole.
You want correct lighting. Shadow lines are your friends.
Follow all experienced people’s advice, except using epoxy. We tried both green brands and it’s a joke.
I have said it many times, but not lately and I seldom hear it from others. Use UV Polyester resin for your lamination and hotcoat… You can buy a Five or Gallon of UV and use it as UV or catalyze it and use like normal Polyester resin. After all that’s what it is. Polyester 249A Silmar Resin with a UV powder additive. If you buy 249 Poly and add the powder be sure you use the right amount per gal. And mix well. Always better to add the powder the night before and stir well. The next morning stir again and use. Overnight gives the powder a chance to dissolve. UV gives you plenty of time, but allows for shorter time per board.
I think the board turned out very nicely for where you’re at in your progression. It’s not too soon for you to start plotting for your second board. Keep going.
Thanks G, I really enjoyed the foam. Using my hands to bring out what’s in my mind. A lot like woodworking, but faster. The plotting is several boards down the line! ;-) ha
McDing, the boys and I were discussing this option the other day while reflecting on our builds. Probably after reading some of your past posts. The time factor is what turned my brain toward epoxy… Now I know it’s not for me. As we tried two well regarded resin makers. The guys who used poly had some interesting moments to be sure, but it seems to lay down much better. I’m no authority, but I’m not an idiot either. So I was very surprised with how poorly the epoxy went… Went to great lengths and timed everything to avoid “contamination.”
Still super fun to make a board. I hope someone out there who is on the fence about what resin to use might take away something from my experiences.
The question we had about UV cure was do you have to bring the board out in the sunlight, or will a cheap UV light kick the resin?
You can’t use the same resin technique for epoxy that you see in most of the vids where the glassers are using polyester. You have to move a bit more slowly and deliberately because epoxy doesn’t saturate as quickly. You also can’t get away with moving epoxy around in large quantities.
Here’s what I suggest for new glassers:
Break the quantity of resin you are planning on using into 2 batches. Pour each Part A into their own cup
Add the Part B into one cup and mix slowly for a count of at least 150 strokes, scrape the sides and reverse the stroke a few times. Do not whip the resin like the PE glassers do or you’ll get a bunch of bubbles in your mix.
.- Pour the entire contents of the cup onto one half of the board (right or left of the centerline). Don’t leave any of it in the cup. Pour it out in ribbon type stream like you were decorating a cake. Try to avoid leaving any large puddles because that will trigger the resin to heat up via exotherm. Also, stick to the flats so that what you pour doesn’t immediately leak off the sides.
In general, the less you move the resin around the better. It’s when you’re moving the resin a lot that you get bubbles and have problems with saturation.
- Now your resin is laid out more evenly across the flats and doesn’t need to be moved around a lot to saturate. Use your squeegee to do the rest. Work from the center and move deliberately so the resin gets a chance to saturate the cloth. Saturate the flats first then take small amounts of what’s left over to start working the laps. Try to not to run a lot of resin onto the floor.
If you have any resin left over that then move it over to start working on the flats on the other side of your centerline.
once you saturate the one half and your resin is gone, then wrap the laps on that side immediately. Don’t try to wait until the other side is saturated or you’ll be fighting the clock.
Rinse and repeat for the other side. With a longboard and until you get your technique down it might help to work with a partner, both working on the same side. Or one person can wrap the lap while the other mixes the next batch and starts laying that out. Slower is smooth and smooth is fast.
Wish my first one looked that good(1965). Took a few before I wasn’t embarrassed. Then made good money for several years and was able to afford boards by some of California’s best shapers. Riding those boards,even looking at them was an education. Then in the 90’s started again. Went through the learning curve again. But with good tools and a real shaping bay it was easier the second time around. Keep it up. Learn a little on each one. They get better. Get out there and put five toes over that nose.
For hand lam couple light, 4 or 6oz, fiberglass layers on pu foam not really interest to use epoxy over poly even more with UV catalyst that give you time to work and minimal waste.
Most eps/epoxy boards I see, and repair, are worst than pu/PE for near everything except “Supa light” bullshit, often overpriced.
But eps epoxy sandwich skins allow to build best durability/low weight ratio boards by far.
