I’m in Humboldt Co. and it’s kinda Chilly up her 40/50 deg. Is it possible to glass outside in these cool temps? Will the damp atmosphere have any effects? What kind of catalist/resin ratio will I need to use? Also, can anyone give me detailed instructions on installing a leash plug? How much cabosil and pigment, what type of pigment that kinda stuff. I watched the JC video and I thought It was pretty vague. Thanks in advance
Dave: You will need to at least try to get inside a garage, shed or someplace away from moving air and with a reasonably controlled temperature. You will face problems glassing in 40-50 degree weather. Check the archives here of cold weather solutions. Among them you will find that temporary solutions include warm water baths for your resin, I use a Salvation Army/Goodwill $5.00 water bed heater wrapped around my 5 gallon pail. Your room temp and ambient material temperature will still be a factor but at least the resin will flow more easily. BE CAREFUL with the heat source, all the materials you will use will ignite. Test thoroughly before attempting a whole board. I strongly suggest trying the UV catalytic additive to a good quality (Silmar S249A) resin used for surfboards. You will need access to sunlight or an artificial light source to use this method. Temperature extremes are less a problem with the UV catalyzed resins and you have ample time to get your lamination done right. Most leash plugs are installed similar to an FCS plug. After hot coat you drill a hole as per the plug specs. You don’t want it too deep but you also need the proper ammount of resin seating the plug. In a 3 oz. unwaxed cup, fill up to 1/4 the cup with cabosil (I use less and instead of cabosil I use chopped cloth), stir in lam resin up to 1/2 of the cup, on the tip of your stir stick add a small glob of paste type pigment(I use the boat store type-Everlast) add a little wax solution for easier sanding then catalyst (1% by volume). I feel the best designed leash plug is O’Fishl,it can go in at the time of lamination under the cloth, or after hotcoat and with a cloth patch over the top. If you glass over any of them they will be less likely to leak or pull out. I prefer the basic glass rope laminated to the deck for a leash attachment, it doesn’t compromise the stringer/foam integrity and if it fails all you do is grind it off. Hope this helps! TS>>> I’m in Humboldt Co. and it’s kinda Chilly up her 40/50 deg. Is it possible > to glass outside in these cool temps? Will the damp atmosphere have any > effects? What kind of catalist/resin ratio will I need to use? Also, can > anyone give me detailed instructions on installing a leash plug? How much > cabosil and pigment, what type of pigment that kinda stuff. I watched the > JC video and I thought It was pretty vague. Thanks in advance
Have had good results drilling 1/2" hole through the back end of the box right through the deck. It will leave some arcs on each side of the slot but that doesn’t hurt anything. Put a piece of masking tape over the hole on the deck side. Fill hole (box side - bottom of board up) with sanding resin (pigmented if you like) and glass fibers. I like to wrap some fibers loosely around a thin dowel and tuck it down into the hole with the resin. Try not to use too much resin which will overfill the hole and clog up the bottom of the slot. When this goes off, peel the tape off and drill a 1/4" hole right through the center of your resin plug. Make a loop of nylon cord and thread the loop through from the bottom. The knot should be big enough to not pull through the hole. I’ve NEVER had a leash pull the box through the board using this method. I have seen plugs pull out. It’s a good idea to check your loop occasionally for wear and replace if needed.
Make a loop of nylon cord and thread the loop through from the bottom. The > knot should be big enough to not pull through the hole. I’ve NEVER had a > leash pull the box through the board using this method. … I tie my nylon cord to another fin box plate ( the thing the fin screws into ) then put it in the box… Overkill, oh well…
Thanks guys I appreciate the help.