i asked about these on surfermag board but only 1 reply…what is the deal with these…what is the process to cut them evenly glass them and all…also can u use any type of thin fabric??
You must use 100% cotton as polyester will melt when the resin heats up. I’ve found the best way to cut it as to not have strings, is to place the fabric against a soft surface that will provide resistance and cut it with a very sharp razor blade. I use a piece of polystyrene insulation foam that is used under vinyl siding. It pushes back, but allows the razor to penetrate it enough to cut the fabric.
My wife has a quilting tool that has potential. It is a roller razor (resembles a pizza cutter) Thing is VERRRY sharp! Might come up missing from the quilt box! Should cut inlays like a charm. Probably would work great to cut laps too.Can get one at the fabric store while shopping for cool inlay cloth.MLC
You’ve already gotten some good answers, here’s mine. The rotary trimmer from a fabric/quilting store works great for cutting the 100% Cotton cloth you use for inlays. Iron it if you need to to flatten it out and if in doubt, test it with resin to see if the colors are stable. (the rotary trimmer might be kind of an expensive blade for cutting anything with gelled lam resin applied) Most have plastic handles that will melt in acetone. I laminate my cloth inlays first, then do my fiberglass lams on top of the cloth once it is trimmed and gelled. you can also pre-cut your cloth using a paper template. If you are going to trim your cloth to a line after you laminate, a strong backlight under your blank and weak light overhead can help you locate the tape line through a heavy cotton cloth pattern. Pinlines work wonders for bad trim jobs. Go for it and let’s see some pics. Tom S.
Lay the cloth inlay just like you would do a cut lap on a resin tint. 1) Tape off the rails and the deck line. 2) laminate the cloth with a batch of lam resin. 3) wait for resin to kick, then take razor blade and cut the tape line through the cloth and following the tape edge 4) pull the tape and cloth edge off the rail. Now you should have a perfectly symetrical inlay (as long as you taped and cut properly). 5) glass the board as usual. If your worried about the burr on the cloth edge after its cut, take a cheese grader and knock down the lip, and then take your finger and push the edge down into the foam nice and smooth. If you do it this way you are making sure the cloth is fully secured to the board before glassing. No air bubbles or delam and you get really crisp cloth lines with no threads. You won’t even have to put pinlines down if you cut it carefully. -Jay