Guys what is the easiest way to stop air bubbles around ofishl boxes long and sideys . I was thinking about putting them in after the hotcoat stage instead of before lam as per manufacturers specs . any idea’s.
Howzit pandanus, What I do with O’fishls and Futures is after I’ve got the bottom laid up but before the resin kicks I slice the ends and 1 side of the glass around the sticking up box with a razor blade then smooth out the air with my finger squeegee. I wouldn’t install them after wards since then you’ll have to reglass the area over the fin boxes and blend it into the original hot coat. Watch out for the boxes trying to float out of the holes, had it happen to me on a o’fishl repair since the boxes are chambered with hollow areas inside. I ended up cutting holes in the box so it wouldn’t float.Aloha,Kokua
I usually slice the glass over the top of the box before I hit it with lam but still seem to get bubbles. Probably need to take a bit more time afterwards and check every bubble. kokua thanks.
Are you puting glass patches on each side and top/bottom then the bottom lam? Then cut the outer glass(dry) down the center cap and at the top and bottom( looks like the enlongated letter “I”). The fist pour is some resin on the boxes, work on the rest of your board, after your rails are wrapped, work from rails to lateral aspect of boxes on each side. Push any air bubbles out. If any uneven glass from the cut is sticking up, no worries. It will sand off, your box patches have you totally sealed.
Epoxy resin with short pot life, keep on checking for 20-30 minutes after completion checking for any bubbles to push out. In my experience the completey through the cloth “I” cut is the receipe for success.
I usually slice it length ways . tha bubbles are on the tight corners. There is no problem filling them withchopped glass and resin but I feel I can do better.thanks for your help I am glassing in the next week and will take all advice and try to apply it.cheers.
Hi, I realise this is a way late post but… What’s working for me is first I glue the box in with lam and use that resin to cover the box lip with a thin coat that fills in the sunken ‘ofishl’ letters and covers the plastic completely (keep it off the foam). When this is tacked over I place my patches of cloth over the box and press them into place. The patches are cloth cut to about 1/8" outside the jig template, one layer per box. Don’t place these until your glue goes off, no soakie soakie into your patches. Then I pull the hull cloth down and laminate the bottom. When I’m done with the rails I slice down the side of the raised box. I only use one patch per box. I’ve tried it several different ways, more cloth, post lam, no resin on lip… this is working best. I’ve found that when they do bust up the one layer jobs makes the break a lot more clean and therefore a pretty easy fix and I haven’t found them more prone to breakage at all… my take is if it’s gonna bust with one patch it’ll probably bust with two. This approach has drastically minimised bubble problems overall. Oh one more thing, draw your fin-lines around 6" long this’ll take all the stress out of any box replacements you may have to undertake (with or without full recommended box glass schedule)
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What's working for me is first I glue the box in with lam and use that resin to cover the box lip with a thin coat that fills in the sunken 'ofishl' letters and covers the plastic completely (keep it off the foam).
Exactly my experience. no cavities = no bubbles
I set the boxes slighly low with milled fibers/lam resin, using a piece of acrylic sheet + weights to keep them from floating up. The acrylic lets you check for level. I baste over the boxes with clear lam resin after that until they’re level with the foam. I also use the “I” shaped cuts in the bottom lam just as it’s gelling and squeegee out the air up to the lower edge of the raised slot box. I use a 2" wide hard plastic squeegee and rewet the area as needed. After the lam cures, I grind off the excess cloth and the most of the raised slot box with a die grinder before hotcoating.