Hi there,
My dad and me jsut shaped a surfbaord ! Today we tried to glas a old blank but it is very hard to get rid of the air bubbles?
Have you got any tips ?
one pictures shows the foam with the holes, whichc we cant remove .
the other pictures show the glas on top, the holes appear brighter !
Thanks heaps
johannes
The foam is not epoxy. It is EPS.
The resin you used was hopefully epoxy.
You should have “spackled” your foam before glassing.
TONS of discussion about spackling EPS foam before glassing. Do a google search.
Basically, get the lightweight spackle from the local hardware store. You will know it’s the “lightweight” spackle because it will say it on the tub and because when you pick it up, it will feel almost empty compared to the other spackles. Spread it out with a squeegee onto your shaped blank making sure to fill in all the EPS holes. Scrape off any excess. Let it FULLY dry. Final sand your blank and then glass with your epoxy.
chrisp is correct. That is not epoxy foam and you should not have glassed it before filling the divots.
The spackle you need is very white and fluffy when in the container.
http://www.dap.com/dap-products-ph/fast-n-final-lightweight-spackling/
I think that spackle is one of the ones that is no longer white when dry? Sherman Williams has one that is still white at least last time I got some.
Hi guys thanks for answering that fast !
My dad did some paintings on the foam already !
Is there any other option ? Is it possible to put a lot of resin on the board to fill the holes, like a second lyer ?
hey jojo
You can seal the foam with a cabosil/ resin mix.
Half a cup of cabosil to 100 grams and mix it with a drill/ egg beater to get a nice consistency. Wait for the resin to tack off a little and you can glass it.
Jojo-
Most EPS boards have 3 coats of epoxy. The words with the () around them are the old polyester resin terms.
with the cloth =lamination coat
after lamination to fill the cloth =fill (hot) coat
after sanding the fill coat =final (gloss) coat
Maybe warming the resin before mixing (read up on this first) and using some squeegee pressure during fill coat will help. I would see what the others have to say and either way finish the board to practice the rest of the steps and see how it surfs.
Do what Crisp and Sammy stated. You can reinvent the wheel if you want, but in that case don’t ask for advise from people who know around Sways. Just go do it your way. Don’t ask. Don’t check the exstensive discussions on sealing EPS blanks in the Archives. Just do it whatever cockamamie way you come up with and don’t post up here when it turns out $#!t… Red Devil and fast n final have added Acrylic. So it’s not as White and balls up when you sand it. The best I have found lately is the Ace liteweight spackle. Lowel
Hi to all of you,
thanks for all the advices !
I can show you the results if you want to ;)
Reagrds from Germany
jojo and thomas
If you haven’t done it yet, apply the fill with a squeegee and push it into the glass lamination. Working it in as you would laminating the board. You can leave the coat thick or brush it down smooth. You can let the blank get warm before you do the filler and then it should suck resin in instead of outgassing. If resin fills all those gaps your board will be heavy. Sometimes you just need to get the pinholes filled. I’ve done EPS without spackling, but lately I spackle all of them. It is possible to get the EPS pretty smooth before glassing if you use a heavier foam. Going really slow with the planer will help to make a smooth finish too.
[Quote=jojosurf] Is it possible to put a lot of resin on the board to fill the holes, like a second lyer ?
[/quote]
The time to fill those holes would have been before glassing. Trying to squeeze extra resin into the glass at this point would be difficult, at best. And, if you could accomplish what you propose you will add unnecessary weight and make the glass job more brittle, to boot.
It seems like what happened (resin drain) and what to do next time (research, seal foam first before paint and lamination) are settled.
I also agree that a super-thick epoxy ‘bartop finish’ style coat is pointless from a weight and strength point of view and could fail dramatically if the board flexes.
I still think an aggresively squeegeed fill coat might do some good. I had one where this seemed to work. I think the effort put into the board so far is worth an attempt at saving, even if it just ends up in a corner as a keepsake to a parent-child project.
The artwork looks interesting too, I hope we get to see the finished board.
Macht’s gut und weiter Jojo und Thomas!
If there are no pin holes, I wouldn’t worry, but if you have pin holes, you have to fill them. That’s where the squeegee and extra force are hopefully going to help. You can just add a thick fill coat then sand and do it again until pinholes go away, but you may have to do that several times.
With EPS you need it watertight or it will suck water. Tough lesson to learn, but we all have to start somewhere. I think you’ll be able to make it watertight.
HI Guys,
thanks again. My Dad ended up galssing the board using a lot of resin. We heated up the galssing room and started working. We put the fiberglass on top and pured a lot of resin on top. With the squgeeche we filled-out all the holes. By no it doesnt feel to heavy and i hope the board still works. My dad is not a professional, he wont throw big turns(but he workes for vans that is reason for the painting :D ).
http://www.johannesrausch.com/referenzen/eigenproduktion/ this is what we do. 
little surftripps in marocco etc.
Here is a picture of how it turned out. We just need to hot coat it. yeww and than we will be ready to surf it on our next surf advenutre.
soon my board will be glassed i can show it to you if you like. I am trying to copy the spearm whale by al merrick
Glad to see it worked out!
