I've read the archives, evidently I'm stupid.
why do i get these bubbles?
I watch the temperature in the bay, tried warming resin in warm water, minimized contaminates, used a better brush, etc
have not tried styrene, can't find it
advice appreciated
See, I proved it, can’t figure out how to post the picture, damn it all.
I’ll take advice on that also while were at it.
Poly or epoxy?
Your poly resin is probably too thick .Try to thin it with a little acetone and work it very well on the board when you hotcoat (push the resin into the weave and don't make the hotcoat too thick)
for Poly:
Bubbles in the lamination you are pulling the cloth too tight and pulling too much resin out of the cloth with the squeegee. try a softer hand or a softer squegee. Look closely at the fiberglass when you laminate, if it looks white at the top of the weave you are pulling too much off. The cloth should look full of resin and clear..the open areas of the cloth should be full of resin, and just the tops of the weave should show, but not over saturated and puddled. If you pull too tight, it makes the little squares in the center of the weave expose, become dry, and make it really hard to fill with hotcoat...Guys get these a lot on the bottom nose rocker area of boards....right before the board starts to get pointy... Bubbles in you hot coat and gloss? Your putting too thick of a coat down, and consequently it kicking off before the bubbles can rise up out and burst. The hot coat should be enough to fil the weave, no more, no less. The gloss is the same thing....it just covers the spots where you might have hit the weave when sanding the hot coat.
Epoxy:
Same as above plus, you are over working the epoxy. Let the epoxy soak in longer rather than trying to move it around with a squeegee. Also use a stiffer squeege. Use a squeegee to lay down the hotcoat, then tip out with a paint brush.
i'm not sure what we are looking out? It that supposed to be a cut lap?..I mean the color thing to the left.
besides not using enough color on your lamination, and running the glass all the way to your cut lap, if that is a cut lap....It looks like you have zit ,dog hair, bugs and all sorts of junk in your trunk flying around. Sweep your floor. Those zits will sand out fine, you have nothing to worry about. sand em down and fill with gloss.
Thanks guys,
Only talking poly here. I’m only a year into this board building stuff.
#1 After I finish my lams and it has dried I can definitely still feel the texture of the cloth, so maybe I am pulling too much off. I will try to leave it thicker. I’ve read that if it is too thick it will soak into the foam. That was a big concern on my first boards because I was kicking them much slower, I have since gotten faster, but not much.
#2 I think my hot/gloss coats either need to be thinned out or I need to heat them up a little more to make it easier to spread out. I know it should be a light coat but it always feels so thick that I probably over do it.
Anyway, thanks again for the input, time to start another board!
Answers to your questions.....if you care:
#1, use suncure on your lamination. When you want it to kick...it will kick in a flash. Put a few drops of regular catalyst if you are doing color work. Once you get your lamination speed up to snuff you can do all this in a flash. Basic lamination on a short board should take between 5-10 minutes max. There's no time for draining resin. Draining resin happens only when you don't kick the resin off well enough.
#2 Pour your resin out in long lines on the board...lots of long lines. Work the resin side to side on the board covering from tape line to tape line, use a slight angle approximately a 12.356 degree angle ( That ones for Ben T) ......do that twice, work it fast. Now walk out the resin nose to tail...only twice....Now if you put too much resin on the board, the too much part should be on the ground. If you put too little...well you'll know if you put too little because it wouldn't have spread around... Now you have done all that brush work...walk away...just walk away..don't fudge with it....walk away..just walk away. Give the resin time to level, and let the wax rise...walk away. shut the door, keep air movement away, walk away. Clean your tools, walk back in and the resin should be like snot on the way to peanut butter...pull the tape.
3# Only gloss when it's a nice sunny warm day. If that means waiting till the polar cap melts in your neighborhood...so be it. Gloss is fickle, give yourself a fighting chance. Cold, wet, sub 65 degree days are just asking for trouble.
Listen to resinhead
but I want to add a little....
#1 you will feel the weave after you lam, UV is a wonderfull thing
#2 hot coats will go on a little thicker than gloss coat, it will hold itself together better than gloss and you have to have something to sand and not burn through, when you shoot gloss push down harder on the brush to leave less on the board.
#3 be acurate with the gloss /cat mix, 72 to 80 deg F is perfect, dont use UV for gloss
note : some of these guys are Pro's they have honed their skills and are telling absolutes in perfect conditions
dont be so hard on yourself if you dont get perfect results, ie: some minor puddling on the lam or dry spots wich can usualy be filled later or added to.
trying to save a few ounces on the hot coat just aint worth the effort, if theres too much on the board it will probly run off anyway
gloss is the most finikey of the process, air must be warm and it must be brushed on firmly to keep it thin and prevent slabing. if it slabs a little ignor it...............WALK AWAY! it will flow back together if all is correct
and remember ,,,,,,,,, WALK AWAY!!!! (Ive heard that somewhere,,)
Resinhead and Kensurf
Thank you so much for your time and advice
Steve
