My shaper was behind and sent out my board (2lb EPS) to get glassed at Proctor in Ventura with RR epoxy.
I am picking up the board tonight and would like to surf it Friday.
Proctor recommend waiting a week or two for epoxy cure before surfing.
I remembered that I have an electric blanket at home. Can I use this to post cure it and have it ready to ride on Friday? I imagine its only been a day or two since glassed, so is it okay for me to do this?
Just wrap it in the blanket and maybe put inside a board bag? ~110*F for how long?
I searched and was not sure if the threads applied to a completely finished board that a customer has already gotten.
Yep - but keep an eye on the temperature (not too hot).
And be aware of the potential fire hazards. People die every year from electric blanket faults. And they are only running it for a few hours, not 16 hours unattended. Wouldn’t want to loose you board and shed (much less house, life) so you can surf it earlier.
I got some discoloured areas on a board using an electric blanket. I think this was due to concentrated heat in a couple of spots. It wasn’t RR epoxy (and I’m a bit sick of hearing how great it is - you bastards). I’ve used a small fan heater blowing in a wooden box and the board supported inside the box with good results.
I was working on a repair and used little catalist to allow max working time. The next day I heated it to make it hard enough to sand. My concern with the heat was I didn’t want to make it so hot the air inside would expand and cause a delam. I’ve heard of chambered boards expanding and looking like pillows from the delam it caused.
Since I was working on a repair, I used a heating pad backed by a blanket. You can see I used a digital cooking thermometer to track the temp. I set the alarm for 115 F. I was surprised as how quickly it reached that temp and how long it took to come down. I think a heating pad gets much hotter, quicker than an electric blanket. However you probably still want to monitor the heat somehow.
I think your idea of 110 F is a pretty good limit. Most boards seem to hold up in hot weather as long as they’re not locked in a hot car at 120F. Considering that, if the whole board is going to be heated for hours, you may want to lower the temp a few degrees.
my first EPS board. I wish the rails were thinned out more, though, he kept them fuller than I wanted.
Ive found that ep/oxy boards are real sensitive to rail volume…its one of those key design features that need carefull adjusting when going from pupe to ep/oxy…otoh, it may work out great in avg everyday surf
EPS blanket post cure, car post cure; don’t do it my way post cure! I built a box from home depot sheet foam. Attached a oven temp gauge to the inside. Cut two holes in one end and set up my shop lights to apply heat. You know those lights that get REALLY hot. Yeah riiiight…so hot the foam shrunk in the nose, just evaporated away. The temp at the center of the box was 130’F. Probably a little hotter at end where I stuck the f’ng lights! Ya think? Maybe a fan should have been place behind the lights to circulate the heat. I can save the board, Dr. Spacklestein will operate on it. No fish for me to bring to the fry ;(
So anyway, can you guys please post how you post cure. We’ve had a lot of EPS/Epoxy disscussions on spackle, etc. but not much on post cure.
FWIW, PC is not mandatory but obviously 101 wanted to accelerate final cure. And, when done correctly does have its benefits.
I made a hot box but dont use it here cuz its friggin hot here most of the time…I prefer to use my vehicles…both car and truck with bed topper. I use a cheap kitchen probe thermometer to monitor/control temp to about 100-120F…150F would yield a better laminate but thats tricky and I dont abuse my boards so 120F is fine with me…I crack the windows and make sure sunlight is not directly on the board cuz the temp can shoot up very very high in no time flat. Slow ramping up works better and a rising sun is perfect for this. I wait 3-4 days before starting to make sure the epoxy is more than half way towards full cure.
it is gnarly! I’m starting to laugh about it but last night I just wanted to cry (not a pretty sight!) Sitting on the living room floor peeling glass back…
ouch Sorry to hear that Sucks. Your box isn’t that different to what I am building. Except I’m going to use indirect heat, thermostat switch and a fan (probably ripped out of a PC power supply).
OK, the similarity is that it’s a box But those last three details are pretty important (at least from wood-curing experience) to prevent damaging whatever is in the box.
Lavz,
Personally I think the hand test is better than some might think it sounds. As long as you can keep that temperature stable (wouldnt want it to climb!). Oh yeah, and make sure there’s no fire risk
2lb EPS (whichever brand from Fiberglass Hawaii - comes with a thick azz stringer, though), glassed with RR Epoxy. I asked for 2x6oz deck and 2x4oz bottom but the shaper got behind and contracted out the glassing to Proctor in Ventura and he wasn’t sure what they ended up using - maybe 6+4 top and 6oz bottom.
Anyways it pretty dang light. Small pressure dents after 3 sessions, less than normal for a PU for me. Rides well. Need more/better waves to really compare. I wanted the rails a little thinner and a wider tail, the rounded squash is basically a round tail on it, but its allright to try something different for me.
Single concave all the way, no vee in the tail even. My first wave I caught when I went to turn I thought “damn this thing is tracking”, but I just came off a sesh on my quad fish, so once I readjusted it was fine. Definately carves smooth like a roundtail through cutbacks. Enough blah blah, here’s the pics:
I made one very similar…made it for fast down the line waves…that pulled tail feels real positive. Mine is only 2 inches thick tho…
What’s the deal with the stringer on steriods? Might be beneficial with that lighter glass schedule.
Yeah I think it will excel in more point like surf. The blank he got from FH, not sure on the brand, but yeah its a huge stringer for a shortboard blank in 2lb EPS. I think it could use a little more rocker, especially with the single concave all the way out the back with no V in it - I dug my nose a couple times when coming down off a backside snap. Hope to try it some more this afternoon, though and see if I just need to adjust to it.
Sucks. Your box isn’t that different to what I am building. Except I’m going to use indirect heat, thermostat switch and a fan (probably ripped out of a PC power supply).
But those last three details are pretty important (at least from wood-curing experience) to prevent damaging whatever is in the box.
