Thanks to Paul Jensen, I’m building my first surfboard. A 12 foot hollow Malibu.
I’ve never shaped or glassed an ENTIRE board before. My board repair is good and I understand the technical aspects of applying glass and resin.
But, here’s the questions…Do I glass the board first… then place the bare wood fin and lap glass and resin over it in place…or do I glass the fin separately then place it and rope and glass the base of the fin into place …or do I fit the fin into the board (like a fin box) before any glassing then glass the entire board, with the fin integrated into the board all at once?
Also, I have a fear of glassing on the fin slightly off center and it humming.
Does the fact that the fin is a 1/2 inch thick (at it’s meatiest( and has a 12"
run (from nose to tail) reduce the chance of humming versus a thin fiberglass fin?
Make the fin first, including a couple layers of glass each side & sand smooth. Do the same with your board.
Glass on the fin with fin rope, two oval-shaped pieces of cloth up the fin, down over the rope, and onto the deck, and (optional) either 2 more, bigger pieces of glass up & down fin & deck or a round patch with a cut out for the fin, glassed to the deck overlapping the 2 ovals. 4 oz is plenty for the ovals & patches. Again, sand everything smooth with 80 or 150 grit.
edit: you can attach the laminated fin to the laminated board with hot-melt glue to make sure you get it straight & plumb before you mix any resin. That will hold it up just fine for glassing & curing…
Hotcoat both together. Sand, gloss, polish if you want.
So the laminating steps are done separately; the attachment is a separate, laminating-type step; and the hotcoating is done together.
Of course, there are other ways, but this is pretty foolproof (it works for fools like me). Take your time.