I’m a greenie at this so I’d appreciate as much help and advice as I can get here… you might have to dumb down your answers cause (as mentioined) I’m new to this whole board building thing. I’m in the process of making a wooden skimboard and want to apply a design to the bottom but have read and heard that there could be potential bonding issues with the fiberglass if there’s a layer of something between the wood and the glass/resin. I’d like to paint the whole bottom of the board black and then apply a graphic or two to it before glassing it but don’t know what the best option is to accomplish this. I’ve heard that water based paints or acrylic paints are ok to use but don’t want to take any chances… Also, I’ve read up on using rice paper for grapics… what’s your experience with these two issues?
In a nut shell… how can I paint and apply a graphic to my board and then glass over the top to protect the graphics without having bonding/curing issues with the fiberglass?
If you are dead set on having the bottom of the board painted black then I would suggest doing a black pigmented bottom. This will give you a solid black and you won’t have any bonding issues. If you want to paint the graphic on then I would suggest using boardstix paint pens;
Thanks for the quick reply. How would one go about doing the pigment on the bottom? It doesn’t have to be black… Again… I’m new to this. I don’t know the processes for most of this kind of stuff…
Also, obviously you’re promoting product but what makes these pens so special? What are they based from? Will they bleed?
Hey N lords i Just painted a board and glassed over it. Acrylic paints are all water based (thats what the art shop lady told me), mix your black with some water and lay it on thin, if you do it to thick the glass only bonds to the paint. If your really worried about bonding issues you could brush over the paint with some resin and that will give you a decent bond. Once youve done your painting( let it dry) you can then glass over the wood with fibreglass. Once this layer has dried you can lay a rice paper decal on top of the glass and then place another small piece of glass over your decal to seal it. If you want a really pure black I would go with fibrgleasshi recommendation of the pigment.
A pigment lamination is just adding colour to your resin then you glass as normal. If you want a clean finish of your overlap youl’’ have to do a cutlap.
this pic may help too i’ve layed down my fibreglass, you then dab a little bit of resin on the glass (just enough to wet out your rice paper and get your placement right). I then placed the glass over the rice paper decal and poured a little bit more resin on (just enough to wet the glass) squegee out the excess and your done.
Thanks zackoopman! That was very helpful. I have a few other questions for you if you don’t mind…
There’s a good chance that the bottom of the board is going to get scratched up and I’d like to protect the rice paper decal along with the paint. Could I not paint the bottom of the board/do a pigmented resin layer, let it dry, then apply the rice paper decal and glass over the top? Do you see any potential problems with this?
What’s a good ratio of water to paint if I was to pain the bottom of the board? What’s a good ratio of resin to paint if I was to do the pigmented layer?
I’m planning on using the following products from Home Depot. Will these work sufficiently?
if your going to do a pigmented resin theres no need for the paint. the black resin will just cover over it and you wont be able to see it anyway.
Im not too familiar with skimboards but I would assume the sand would act like a sandpaper and over time will scratch the hotcoat. If you do your fibreglassing/ hotcoat your paint and decal will be sealed.
I didnt use any ratio i just did it till it looked right and brushed some on to a test piece.
The glass should work fine, it just depends if its wide enough to wrap your whole board.
Ok so (just to make sure I’ve got this all straight…) if I’m doing the pigmented coat then I just add some acrylic paint to my resin. I apply that colored coat of resin and let it dry. After it dries, I apply my rice paper decals and glass over the top.
For the actual glassing, if I understand correctly, there’s 3 layers… the glass layer, a fill layer and then a gloss layer. I sand after the fill layer and then apply the gloss layer. Does this sound correct?
Sounds like you need to research more. I don’t think you can add acrylic paint to color resin, You should use pigment or tint specifically formulated for PE resin and/or epoxy. Lay your fiberglass then pour your colored laminating resin mix over it. Then it’s usually squeegeed flat (lamination). You could later do a clear lamination over rice paper graphics on top of the colored lamination. After it’s cured a fill coat or sanding coat of clear sanding resin is then brushed onto the lamination. IMO, a gloss coat doesn’t make much sense for the bottom of a skim board.
thanks for your input. I looked online at a local shop and found some pigment I think I can use. My only concern is that two layers of glass would make the board too heavy. The board needs to be as light as possible. Could I just do a pigmented resin layer, let dry, apply graphics and then glass over the top of those? followed by the fill layer and sanding?
is it a full bottom graphic? maybe a color lamination with 2oz glass then use another 2oz glass over the rice paper or none at all? mostly to protect it from sand through, since it’s a (wood?) skimboard you don’t need the strength of second layer of glass -
the graphic would most likely be around 11" by 17". and yes it’s a wooden board. I care more about protecting the graphic than I do the pigment or the wood itself so that’s why I ask about putting the graphic under it all. I made a wooden skimboard about 5 years ago and the bottom got scratched up after just a few uses because I didn’t use glass… Just a basic resin. I don’t want to get a few uses down the road with the same problem.
Don’t get me wrong… I do want to protect the board to make it last a long time but I don’t want it to look like a piece of junk with half a graphic on the bottom… it would just look tacky…
Where would you recommend getting 2oz glass? How much would it cost? my board is rougly 45" long and 20" wide.
You are going 80 mph down the wrong side of the freeway. Stop. Go the the first thread at the top of the page...FAQ. after you learn what 6 ounce cloth is and what fiberglass mat is we can talk. Home Depot / Bondo resin is not for surfboards unless you live in east Egypt.
I looked in that thread for a bit for talk of cloth vs mat and didn’t see anything. I googled it and I now see some differences between the two… though much of what I read came down to opinion when looking at other forums. Home Depot has a fiberglass cloth made by the same brand as well… at first I didn’t know the difference so I just copied the link for the mat and put it in my post. here’s the link to the cloth…
Also, if you read my first post then you’d know I’m not making a surfboard… it’s a skimboard. The board is going to be scraping along the sand and potential rocks so I believe that extra strength may be needed. I chose the products from home depot originally due to convenience and price… not because they’re necessarily the best option or best product for making water sports equipment. BUT I am new at this so I am open to suggestions and advice. Let me know what your opinion would be for the right supplies and the right process for protecting my board and designs. Keep in mind I have a limited budget. Thanks
I read your post and all the replys. I clicked on your links. I understand the fact that you are building a skimboard. I also understand that every reply so far is about "surfboard" products. Plenty of people on the internet can give you a long winded reply about fiberglass cloth and fiberglass mat.....hold the two products in your hands and you will understand....
If you have a United States address you can order everything you need online. If you live near the coast you should be able to buy what you need locally.....if you know someone who fixes Corvettes you will have a free source of fiberglass mat.....Fiberglass Hawaii, FoamEZ, and Greenlight have the products you need....
Thanks for the websites. So now that I’m looking at these sites… what type/weight of fiberglass is better for a skimboard? In your opinion, how many layers of glass would be appropriate for the top and bottom of the board (Keeping weight of the board in mind)? Is Epoxy or Poly Resin better? How would you go about painting the board white and applying rice paper graphics, while protecting them with glass, but not having bonding issues?
Sorry for all the questions. You’ve got me re-thinking everything so I feel like I’m back at square one… Thanks again for the help.
