Nice boards tj. Love those little quads. Lowel
Ok so enough of the show and tell. You hijackers
I sprayed the bottom with my cheap o Harbor Frieght gun it was $19.99, so any of you commie bastards think I’m all about 3M…here’s a little love from china.
Heres a pic with the shine, and one of the little cheapo gun.
Sorry ResinHead, not trying to hijack, Roger never polished speed spray as per his post so I thought I would throw this in the mix. Not trying to steal your thunder, your boards are a cut above
Tom
The Chromaclear was a 4:1 mix and ran around $175 for a gallon of finish and a quart of hardener. I used the fast hardener.
It was left over from a job I did for Gulfstream Aerospace on a cabinet refurb job for a Jet. They did the polishing. Gulfstream liked Chromaclear because it had some flex characterisics. The boat guys liked it also and compared it to Awlgrip which was really expensive.
I used it on a board. 3 coats and then sanded with 500 followed up with Sureluster on a wool pad. I did burn through on a rail as I wasn’t used to it. Interesting subject. I wonder if there is car website similiar to Swaylocks that is geared to car painting?
Thank You Lowel
Beeeutiful!!! Who’s the ugly futhah muckah wearing the mask? That furrowed forehead looks like one of those Clingons from Star Trek. Poor guy… Mike
Knock it off Tom…I’m just pulling chains here. Keep adding to the How To. It’s all good.
This is way better than the crap-o-bantering on other threads.
Yeah, it’s Hemp and linseed oil. I shoot it out of my bamboo wheat germ spray gun, powered by my 15 speed little Tykes peddle car. I’m all out going green, and growing a beard. I love Subaru Outbacks too.
I’m so rich and my yard is so big that my neighbors would have to walk miles to complain about me…and that would be if they could get past the security fence, etc. My Magnolia tree lives on Resin, Pu/Pe dust, acetone, laquer thinner, and chunks of sand paper…never looked better too? Go figure, better living through chemicals.
R-head,
what’s up with the diagonal ghost pattern in the blue board? What cloth are you glassing with?
schmickkkk , resinhead !!
thanks very much for putting up photos , they show and tell it better than THOUSANDS of words ever do !
cheers
ben
If I told you…I’d have to kill you. Not a build thread, some things are secret…NSA type stuff. But it’s just Blue Tint with 2.5 EPS…Not opaque, but a Blue tint.
And the board has a Speeed fins set up too…go figure?!
Ever try a Dark Tint with Epoxy & EPS…Not for the weak, or faint of heart.
Pic of blue foam pad is of it being attacked by ants that have fallen out of magnolia tree.
So the review on how I do it
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sand board to 320 grit…smooth and wobble free.
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Spray with clear coat. Lets sit a day
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If needed sand any zits, orange peel, over spray…or suicide ants out with 500 or 600 grit.
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Polish out with quality compounds
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keep rpm down at first, let material cut, then add polish and bring up speed to luster. keep moving over entire area. speed will heat up clear coat and make it gummy. Gummy clear coat will not polish out.
Give it a try it’s not that difficult, but it will take some time to obtain a certain level of competence
Here’s a bettr look. Below is the clear coat sanded with 600 grit, and the other pic is it buffed out. Total combined process in these 2 steps is approxinately 15-20 minutes max…thats wet sand with 600 sponge, and Perfect It polish out with Black and Blue compounds.
One more thing…
Use high quality 3M products…get them at a professional distributor near you.
Amazingg!!
what do you think about the surfboard polish #2 ? it seems like you are the presenter of 3M haha 
if I’m doing a poly board, I use the tried and true poly gloss coat…mission solved…but were doing a clear coat over EPS surfboards.
The whole idea here is applying an automotive clear coat finish, and using automotive materials to get automotive results. The automotive industry is light years ahead of the surfboard industry when it comes to coatings, abrasives, tapes, polishes. As you are probably aware epoxy doesn’t like to polish out, or at the best it takes a lot of elbow grease. Using a 2 part clear coat is poly gloss fast, and poly gloss results. Going to ruffle feathers here, but we all know the surfboard industry thinks of itself as forward thinking etc…but when we are still using materials from to 1930’s, well lets just say there is a bit of room for improvement.
You can use whatever material you want? My goal is to show what is easy, what works, and what is durable. EPS boards have always looked like spray painted Surftecks, or NSP POS’s…the best ones are always white sanded finish etc. This process at least gives you the fighting chance to make a cosmetically acceptable board that will fool the old crotchety guys in the line up, just in ase you don’t want to be known as the guy with that new fandangled EPS and Epoxy surfamabord.
All the random sized and shaped boards below are EPS / Epoxy with 2 part clear coat…sanded and polished out to some minimum or maximum degree of shine.
I pose the question
If poly boards come out nicer looking, then why do people use epoxy?
Flex and strength maybe?
Angus-
Strenght, lighter than poly,easier to work with, less more toxic with almost no VOC. IMO
Because old ways die hard, and poly is easy. I can build a poly board shape, glass, sand polish in 24 hrs…I’ve done it and posted it here about 8-9 years ago.
Because EPS / Epoxy bords take more steps to build, and take more time to complete.
Poly boards come out looking nicer only when you use 249 resin. Poly resins will staurate into the cloth and foam faster, this makes a cosmetically better looking resin swirl, tints and basic color work.
Poly resin can be forced into the cloth…Epoxy need to soak in and saturate. Poly resin is brittle, Epoxy is flexible. Poly resin will only work with certain cloths, Epoxy will work with all cloths, including carbon fiber and very tight weave cloths, like impact cloth etc. Poly resin will wet out clear with standard 6oz cloth on the rails and over a dark color. Epoxy not always.
I think it was Jim Phillips that said " If you want a pretty easter egg surfboard, make it out of Poly. if you want a high performance board, make it out of EPS/Epoxy…and make it white". This thread was to help you guys make a better cosmetically looking EPS surfboard.
In my humble opinion If I’m doing a Poly blank…then I’m using resin to make it, I wouldn’t waste the epoxy on it.
Many thanks for your time. Great thread