My local boat yard has a roll of this 3.7 oz cloth called Crow’s Foot Weave. I Googled it and didn’t find much besides that it has different patterns depending on which side you leave up. And everything I found on the web was colored (and finished) so I don’t know how clear it might wet out. One thing I found on Google said Crows foot weave drapes compound curves very very well.
Anyone used this stuff?
Svendsen’s in Alameda has a whole roll, 30" width. Nobody has wanted any. I bought 12 yards today to give it a try, but I’m in the middle of some other stuff so it might be a while before I get to it.
But if it works, if anyone here says it works, I might go back & buy more. It looks like it would hold a little more resin than normal 4 oz but also be pretty dang strong. If you want any, talk to Mike at the wholesale desk. Tell him Ben said MIke wanted to get rid of it - he gave it to me for 60% off and encouraged me to buy more & send my friends. Its new & clean, just not moving. 12 yards for $29…yep yep yep. Worth a try, if its as strong as 6 or 8 oz. And if it wets out ugly, I’ll just use it under skin material…
Crowfoot is considered a satin weave. Satin weaves generally have less crimp than plain weaves and therefore they lie flatter using less resin, giving a higher fiber content to the laminate. They also drape nice. They are difficult to wet through (the holes between the yarns are smaller) and you should wet under the cloth if you plan on doing more than one layer at a time. The stuff can actually make for a better laminate than standard cloth but it is a bit more difficult to work with.
We did an experiment one time with satin weave cloths where we had two people setting up boards for laminating. One person was wetting the blank with a brush, setting the labels and pulling the cloth out while the other was cutting the laps as the resin soaked into the cloth from underneath. We used slow hardner and then after the boards were set up we finished the laminates with fast hardener. Worked pretty well. We did eight at a time. One person could probably do 2 or 3 at a time this way.
What type of cloth is that I saw leaning up against the wall at your shop a couple weeks back while picking up some resin from sammy? He said it’s the stuff you guys have been using on your stringerless boards.
Mind giving me the low down on the stuff? Maybe even a heads up on where to find it.
That is polyester/syntech fabric. That makes a very tough, nearly ding proof, break proof board with quite a bit of flex. We have made hundreds of these in the past and that particluar material is a brand new version which Sam came up with. I don’t even know where he got it but in the past the real downside to that cloth was that it came out heavy. Sam told me this new stuff doesn’t. They just built a bunch of boards that they took on their Indo trip a couple weeks ago. No boards broke on the trip. But I haven’t even seen the stuff so you’ll have to ask Sam about it.
I appreciate it. Stopped by last week…maybe wednesday hoping he would be around so I could get some epoxy to finish my new 5’8" for the weekend swell (which I missed anyways), but once I got there I remembered he was still in indo.
Ill have to see if i could get my hands on some of that and try to make a few.
Thanks, Greg. Sounds like a good candidate for my wet-out table. I’ve been wetting out glass on my workbench (on plastic sheeting) next to the board & squeezing out all the excess. Then lay it on, cut it when wet, and turn the laps. Works great with epoxy…multiple layers no problem.
I have tried to use satin weave on boards and it is a real bitch, I had about 50m left over from a job, so thought it would be great to try out. As Greg sez, traps bubbles really well! even the vac won’t get them out. If you catch the roll on anything,it ladders really well!! and oh so difficult to get out. I much prefer regular surfboard cloth because it holds its shape so well. Anyhow you don’t really need its drapeability on a board do you? Try it, but I bet you don’t like it!
You shouldn't have problems if your using a wetout table. Should be fine.
Well…dang. The cloth wet out ok, I used a paint roller tray. Wets fine, but doesn’t let bubbles escape when I lay it on the foam. Should have listened to you guys, but what can I say - I’m cheap! I laminated at 9pm last night & was still chasing bubbles with a squeege & a push pin until my epoxy got too gelled at almost 11. Bubbles here & there anyway. Looks yucky.
On the plus side, even though its only 4oz glass, it gave a very volanesque green tint to my lam. Good thing I did a cutlap! 4oz E under 4 oz crowfoot ought to be plenty for 2# EPS, it seems…despite the ugly bubbles.
Now that I’m thinking more clearly, this cloth would probably be fine for the non-lapped layers. Should have laminated it flat & just moved all the bubbles to the outside, and then done the rail wrap layer with the 4oz E instead of the opposite. Well, there’s still the deck…