I received lots of inspiration & got lots of ideas from fellow Swaylockians when I conceived/shaped/glassed this singlefin. Thought I’d share some photos.
nice one oldy / newbie !!!
…did you make the fin too ?
ben
How does she ride oldy?
A thing of rare beauty. platty.
Yep, I made the fin too. I’ve probably shaped a dozen or so boards over the last fifteen years (although this is my first '70s style singlefin) but this is the first one I’ve glassed since my Dad & I had a go at laminating a longboard ten years ago. I have learnt a bit over the years about glassing, tints, pinlines, fins etc just through fixing dings & restoring old boards but this is my first attempt at glassing a board on my own. I learnt heaps: cut-laps, resin tinting, fin foiling, laminating, glossing, polishing etc. Studying the Swaylocks forums has been a great help as have users such as Platty. I’m pleased that the experiment has kind of ‘de-mystified’ glassing to some extent for me but I also know there is so much more to learn.
The dimensions of the board are 7’0" by 20&1/2" by 2&3/4". Double 6 oz cloth top & bottom. I like boards in this range nice & heavy.
I gave the board lots of cure time & rode her for the first time a week or so ago on a trip up north. Unfortunately the waves were only small but they were very clean & fast & the board went great. I can’t wait to get her in some good, solid overhead waves as that is the kind of surf I made her for.
Thanks for the encouragement Platty.
An oldy but a goody!!!
I’m not really into retro but that glass job looks really sweet. I wanted to ask you about glassing on the fins. I recently did one and the glass patch kind of shows, ghosting through (I didn’t do a gloss coat). How many layer of glass did you use, and how far did you lap them onto the board?
Compliments.
I glassed the fin on in two stages.
Stage one: Just under than a pencil-thickness of rovings each side of the fin base covered with a length of 6oz cloth that laps about an inch onto the fin & an inch onto the board. Then I cover it all with another length of slightly wider 6oz cloth.
Stage two: repeat the above process the next day.
So all up the fin base has a good pencil-plus thickness worth of rovings and four layers of 6oz cloth. I like glassed-in fins to feel solid.
I like to do it in a couple of stages as I find if the rovings are too thick they tend to slide off the fin & onto the board & the curve from board to fin gets a little lopsided. Also, I think the two stage process lets me keep everything reasonably neat & tidy & I think this contributes to getting that clear (rather than cloudy) look. Also, it helps avoid air-bubbles.
Of course, I’ve made these ideas up & there might be better ways of doing this.
Howzit oldy, I find that the reason the roving wants to slide is there is to much resin and you need to squeeze more out like milking a cow. This will keep the roving from sliding so much. Aloha,Kokua
I agree Kokua. If the rovings are overloaded they do tend to slide, I’ve learnt this from painful experience!
By the way, Platty shared with me your recipe for glossing ie. adding 10% to 12% styrene to the resin. I tried it out when I glossed this singlefin. Works beautifully, no brushstrokes as the resin levels wonderfully.
Thanks for your input & for sharing your ideas on the forums.
Howzit oldy, That's what Sways is all about, us sharing our experience and tricks of the trade. Did you also add some S.A. to the mix.Aloha,Kokua
I’m sorry Kokua, I’m not sure what you mean by S.A.?
Howzit Oldy, S.A. stands for surfacing agent, which I add about 2% to the gloss mix. Aloha,Kokua
Thanks Kokua. No I didn’t add any surfacing agent. I just added 10% styrene to surfsand resin (ie. resin with wax & styrene already added), kicked it with a normal amount of catalyst, & heated the room to about 23-25 degrees celsius (sorry not sure what that is on the imperial scale).
Can you please explain more about surfacing agent and how & when you use it. I’d be interested to hear more about your recipe for glosscoats. Thanks in advance.