bubbles in lam...need help`

General Discussion
1

ok, I started my first glass job and I’ve run into some different problems. any help would be appreciated

  1. I have bubbles on the rail and wonder if I cut out the bubble and then lam the deck it would cover over the top of the cut out bubble. would that be ok?
  2. I've got big air bubbles in my Futures fin boxes. and I have no clue how to fix that. I tried to cut slits in the glass while it was still wet but I could not work the bubbles out.
2

If you have a local farm supply or know someone in medical field, get your hands on a syringe and 16 ga needle. The needle should insert right through the glass and you can inject some catalyzed resin into those bubbles.

Rinse syringe and needle out with acetone and you can reuse it.

3

I haven’t done the top lam yet. can’t I cut out that bubble and then the top lam will cover over what I cut away? My wife is a nurse and father is a doctor so I don’t think I’ll have problems getting a needle but I’m worried about putting in that resin and having that bump on the rail.

4

Sure, you can cut out the bigger bubbles. I’ve used a handly little serrated razor blade with a handle I found at home depot–you can saw right along the edges of the bubble. You’ll most likely have a bump in your final lam unless you fill it with something or patch it, though. Solarez is great for this application. Takes a minute and you’re back in business. Then finish glassing as scheduled.

Jamie

5

Had the same problem with the first board i glassed. Go with retro’s advice: cut out the bubbles, surform or sand it down even, and then try solarez or some hot batches of resin.

You could try the syringe method. The problem here however is getting the bottom lap to wrap good and the added weight. If you do something like that, you might want to add a little qcell. Also, plastic syringes for resin are available at marine supply stores or at the drugstore (you want to look for an “oral syringe”)for about $2. You can use scissors to cut the tip to make it larger.

6

Howzit Adam, Cut out the rail bubbles and patch, sand the repair edges before doing the deck. probably won’t see the patch due to sylene in fiberglass. As for the bubbles in the futures box, probably not enough resin when you installed them and the syringe might work or do the cut thing and after wards reglass over them. At this stage of glassing you can fix a lot of things that won’t show up in the end. When you installed the Futures boxes did you make sure the area where they are was level? if they weren’t level then some of the resin probably drained out. Aloha,Kokua

7

thanks for all of your advice. I have finished glassing and I’ve moved on to sanding it. I did the cut out bubble job and it worked for the most part. I’ve got some other spots that showed up after I did the hot coat. all in all I am really happy with the way it turned out. I will post pictures as soon as I’ve got it sanded…

P.S. I have one of those sand off Ofishl leash plugs…how deep do I drill the hole and I have a 1-1/8" hole saw, will that work?

thanks again everyone for you help!

Adam

8

I usualy leave about an 1/8 " maybe a little less to grind down… the plugs ive been using the brass post is pretty deep an dificlt to get a string on so i grind pretty close but leave enough soes i dont pull the post out

9

Howzit Adam, Yep the hot coat shows things that were not visible before. The only Ofish leash plugs I’ve used are the ones that went all the way through the board and actuall it was a tube and the the plug went up from the bottom with the string coming through the deck. If you didn’t want the plug you just knocked it out of the bottom and the tube was left. Think it was one of the best leash systems ever. Aloha,Kokua