cleaning a shaped polyurethane blank before glassing

im about to glass my 6’7" polyurethane blank and theres extremely small specs of foam from fine sanding, how do i get this powdered foam off my board or can i just leave it on for glassing?

i have tried masking tape but that hasn’t worked very well so far.

 

 

Someone mentioned ‘a soft,bristle brush’.

Or soft painters brush, etc., like used to glass your board.  Brush, flip , repeat…

I’ve gone to using a lead weight sitting on a magazine, sitting on the deck, and using the leaf blower. Works better than the shop vac.

I’ve had good luck with my shop vac in reverse…

I always blow it away from the blank for a while to get the dust / dirt out of the tube before I turn it on the blank.

Mako’s experience has me concerned tho…

About a year ago I helped a buddy build his shape shack. The best thing we did was put in a toe kick panel with a sliding door. This is hooked up to the dust retrieval system via a four inch hose. All the dust hits the floor and needs very little coaxing to be vacced in the grate. Makes clean up so damn easy now.

Spam deleted - but I'll add this post to keep the thread up top, seems like an always-timely subject.    - Huck

Blow the blank clean with an air compressor.  If you

don't have access to one, use a soft bristle brush

and do both sides a couple of times.  Run your hand

over the blank and it should come away clean.  A little

dust is ok, but dust free is the way to go.  Get in the

habit of doing it right the first time and it will become

natural after a few!  Good luck!

ok thanks!!

I’ve wondered if the dust left on makes a significant difference.

I have used an air compressor for years, the way to go. But recently I have been using one of these works pretty good! Made by Coleman for inflating LARGE matteresses. Puts out a lot of air and no hoses to deal with. Not sure how long it is going to last, Cheap to buy has one year warranty?

 

http://acesurfboards.com/

Ace:

That looks cool!  I might invest in one.  As orders

increase, and I start rushing, I don't want to get anymore

rail dings from hoses that I need to heat gun out! LOL

It is pretty functional because it has a rechargable battery built in. No hoses no cords.

That above machine looks cool,
Air compressor is best, with a good water bleed valve thingy attached of course…

though, you could try a leaf blower if you had one handy,
perhaps even a vacume cleaner with the brush attachment
If you didnt have a compressor handy…
(though I wonder how people use numatic tools or sprayguns/airbrush without one)

I often use a leafblower to clean the machine room,
(electric - not petrol powered)

 

I have found the vacuum cleaner to be much better: air compressor will blow dust all over the space you’re working in and that dust will fall back everywhere (including your blank).

Shop vac. First vaccume it, then reverse the motor and blow it off, if you can.

I have found that if you’re doing dark tints, you can get a haze if you don’t get the blank dust free. And you don’t want that.

[quote="$1"]

Shop vac. First vaccume it, then reverse the motor and blow it off, if you can.

I have found that if you're doing dark tints, you can get a haze if you don't get the blank dust free. And you don't want that.

[/quote]

I would advise against using the shop vac in reverse.  I messed up a board a while back doing that.  When I blew with the shop vack it deposited very fine dust/dirt particles deep into the pores of the foam.  It stained the blank slightly.  I had done it before without problem but that time for whatever reason the vac blew dirt onto a perfect blank.  I was not able to get all of the staining out and it showed in the final glass job.