~~I’m attempting to do a partial resto on Jacobs I picked up years ago. In hind sight I probably should have left it alone since the only thing really wrong was a hole in the fin for a leash and the stripes on the nose and tail were worn to the glass.There are some dings that were repaired decades ago and are water tight. They are a little browm from age but I wanted to keep the boards character so I just left them alone…
My first attempt years ago I used the wrong type of paint and it cracked when I put on the gloss coat. Lesson learned. Put away for a few years.
Second try, resin didn’t harden,just gelled.Couldn’t sand it at all. Ended up being old resin.Put away for several years.
I just turned 50 and this is my mid-life crisis. I want it finished.I read and read and read so much that I felt very comfortable doing it. I thought that 3rd times a charm.Wrong.The board was sanded down to the stripes again. Wipe down with acetone before painting with acrylic paint.Striped it.Wiped it down again and then one more time.Put on the lap tape on the edges and wiped down again.Mixed up the resin @ 1.5%,wiped one last ime and put on the resin.Bought the resin yesterday from Fiberglass Supply here in town. Talked with the owner and he said to use 2% hardener which I thought was too much for the Fla heat.Within 5 min it started to fisheye and it gelled at 8min.I put it on a little thick because there were some low spots I wanted to fill in.
Someone please reassure me that it will be fine! I’m ready to sacrifice it to the surf gods now. I swear this thing is cursed.
I think I’ve done the right prep work and propeer steps. I’ve never had this happen and I’m kind of stumped.Looks like more sanding.I hope I can salvage this.
Any suggestions? I’ve searched here and read thru all the posts about fisheyes. Still shaking my head
I’ll try and help since no one else has answered yet. Maybe this will get the ball rolling.
1st: I think you are doing too many acetone wipedowns. Once is enough and then run some tape over it to get the final dust particles off. Acetone isn’t all that great for your skin, body or board.
2nd: The “stripes” should be done with pigmented (not acrylic) sanding resin or gloss resin. Those go on seperate. Search how to do pigment pin lines.
3rd: There is a difference between Lam resin, hotcoat and gloss. Research which is which and get back to us telling us which one you used when everything got all gummed up.
To fix it and if it was my board I would do a couple things. If your latest layer is tacky I would put a layer of hotcoat over the entire board and once that hardens then I would sand it smooth. If your final layer is sandable then sand it smooth.
Its the brand of paint. Next time if you are only doing colored stripes, do them in pigmented gloss or hot coat.
I have run into the same problem a few times with paint. . what I do is sand it flat if the resin is kicked. You’d be suprised how much resin is actually covering the center of the fish eye… if it sands flat or even close…then put another coat of resin over it and sand it again.
Also only use as much paint as necessary. Don’t lay it on all thick. The resin needs to saturate into the flat laytex paint. It will be fine. Liquitex paint is th best I have sued so far, but Apple Barrel or Delta craft paints will work too.
What you have there is known more as “orange peeling”. Multiple dimples in the resin that resemble the surface of an orange skin. It is usually caused by the resin batch being too hot, and applied too thickly. Time to sand that as even as you can, and start over.
If those yellow and white stripes are original to the board and were ‘worn’ away when you got it, then someone before you sanded the hell out of that board. You’d have to sand through the gloss coat and continue sanding to remove pigmented resin done as stripes. Resin doesn’t just ‘wear’ off the deck of a board. I have sanded stripes off old logs and it isn’t easy. Takes a lot of effort and many discs of paper.
Well I think my problem was listening to the resin guru at the Fiberglass Supply Co where I got the resin. I was told that the resin which I’m guessing is laminating resin since it states on the can that it contains no wax.would work and to mix it at 2% would be fine. It should dry completely hard and if is a little tacky an acetone wipe will take care of it. Thats what I was told Against my gut feeling I listened to him. I actually had the wax at the counter but was talked out of it. I did a small test batch and it dried completely and I was able to sand and buff it to a shine so I thought I would be ok. The temp here is in the low 90’ so I thought 2% was a little hot so I went to 1.5% even though I really thought it should have been 1% but again I listened to the guru.
resinhead… the brand of paint was Apple Barrrel that I got fron Michael’s Craft store. I had to spray several coats as the yellow just wasn’t covering very well.White was fine so maybe that was one problem,too much paint.
Dave… the last pic is when I sanded off the second atrtempt where the resin gelled and didn’t harden. When I bought the board at a yard sale in '88 the only thing that was wrong was a hole in hte fin and the stripes were worn about 6inches from the nose and and a little on hte tail.As if someone was repeatedly sticking the nose in hte sand,you know like all the old Gidget movies.I had planned just a simple resto. As far as doing a pigmented stripes I did some recent research and thought about it but since I had such bad experiences with the resin I thought that painting them on would be ok. I didn’t want a showroom resto,I wanted to keep the boards character with its old ding repairs and such plus I plan on riding it at least a few times before it goes on the wall.
Sammy…I think it was waaay to hot. It kicked in about 5min not allowing it to flow out .I mixed it at 1.5% but sould have been 1% because of the temp. The stripes weren’t like that when I got it years ago.They were worn only about 6 inches from the nose I had sanded off the gloss coat and the stripes so I could spray new stripes. Back in '88 when I started my first attempt I didn’t have internet to do research so I went with info I got from friends. No one mentioned pigmented stripes,they all assumed they were painted just like the boards of that era.
So my plan now is to let it dry one more day and see if its sandable. If not try a hot coat WITH wax and see how that goes.
If that’s lam resin it’s never going to be sandable. One more day, or even a week, won’t make any difference. Throw a hotcoat on it and then you can sand away most of the resin you’ve wasted from the get go.
Any resin used after the fiberglass is applied needs to have sanding agent. Otherwise, you get an unworkable mess.
While experienced guys can get away with a “hot” mix for a hot coat, if you aren’t quick and good with a brush it’s best to go a little easy on the catalyst. Better to give yourself ample time, rather than add more work that you shouldnt have.
Thanks. I just put on a hot coat because like you said it will never dry. Used 1% hardener and 2% wax. Flowed out nice but still kicked a little too soon for me. Just have a bunch of sanding to do. Now on to the bottom. With what I’ve learned I think it should go pretty good. Can I get away with .75% since outside temp is 90 or should I stick with 1%?. Place where I got the resin said not to go below 1% but they haven’t been right so far.
Re: Hot coats. The trick with those is to brush as little as possible and be quick about it. If the resin begins to kick and you’re still brushing you will have sticky spots when it cures. There’s a point in the catalyzation when the wax rises to the surface. If you keep disturbing that wax film with a brush it will not retain an even layer and you’ll have defeated the reason for SA in the first place. As James Brown would say: “Hit it and quit it”
Yeah I was working it pretty fast,lenght wise,side to side,lenght wise again and then around the rails and stepped back to look at it and saw a brush bristle in the resin and when I went to remove it it had already kicked. I should be able to sand this smooth without too much trouble.Sanding is sort of therapy for me,relieves stress. At least the few low spots are filled in.Doing the bottom this afternoon. Now that I’m not listening to the guy at the resin place I’m getting good results.Should have stuck with what I know.
I like Fiberglass Supply, as a store. But people are people, some give good advice, some just spout off, same here as anywhere I guess, we all make mistakes we’d rather not have made, hahaha. Looks like a nice project, post up some pics when you get it done. Glad you got it back on track.
I don’t expect to get any valid info at most surf shops these days, when it comes to surfboards and the construction of same. Like the shop salespeople who still compare “epoxy to fiberglass”. I mean, those are mostly clothing stores, anyway.
But, you’d think an outfit that sells board building supplies would make sure the sales staff knew what the hell they were talking about. OTOH, retail wages are typically low. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
~~I would think that a guy that has been working there for 20+ years would know. I listened to him and didn’t trust what I knew.Plus he said that he deals with guys that make surfboards all the time.
Just did the bottom MY way. Looks great so far.And just my luck at about 1/2 way my respirator strap broke. I swear this board is cursed.
Anyways…smooooth as it sould be.Thanks guys for all the help and tips.
Thanks! Needs a little sanding but not much.Just wish the top came out smooth. I’m getting Popeye arms from all the sanding. My biggest fear is sanding thru . Taking it very slowly. Almost tempted to do one more coat on the top just to give me a little more material to work with.
My white whale is no more! Only took 4 attempts and 25 years. Turned out better than I expected.Its not perfect but really nice. I didn’t want a showroom resto. I wanted to retain its original character.Plus I plan on riding it at least once.
Thank you everyone for giving me the feeling that I was being hugged,stroking my hair and telling me everything will be ok,. Its been a loooong road.
Now onto a 6’ 6" Ben Aipa T&C from '89 that a friend pulled out of their neighbors trash.Definately fixable.
Looks good in the end. Yeah been hot in the NW. Next time use UV. Walk it outside for a count of ten and then back inside until the wax rises. As long as you apply your hotcoat inside and away from UV light sources, you can take all the time you need to perfect your brushing skills. Lowel
