I’ve searched & read the archives on cutlaps & could not find an answer to my question so I’ll put it out to the Swaylocks Community. The common point I read is that cutlaps are basicly done with the conventional lay-up method and your supposed to trim the overlapping cloth after the resin has set & is “rubbery”, but before it cures hard. This won’t work for me as I lay-up all my boards using a vaccum bag (w/ epoxy resin).
For my next build, I am considering doing some sort of fabric inlay (Haven’t picked a cloth or design yet) & i am trying to consider my options before I finalize design. I would also like to expand my skills by trying something new.
Has anyone here done a cutlap while vacuum bagging a lay-up? Can you offer any pointers or tips? mistakes to avoid, etc…? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I assume you are doing one side at a time or just the cloth inlay. You can take the part out of the bag early when the resin is gelled and can cut it then. You can cut the lap when the resin is fairly hard since it should be really thin coming out of the bag. you can take off the bleeder and perf ply then cut through the release ply and peel once it is fully cured. It might be hard to get the peel started but you can usually find a place where the peel ply is not totally saturated. I have done this with cloth inlay before and it goes down very thin just don’t use too much vaccum pressure or the cloth gets a funny dry look. If you do the cloth be sure to wet under the cloth and on top as the vaccum tends to stop any saturation once started. Sometimes with dark colored cloth it’s hard to see the tape line to cut really close, have a away to redraw your line for the cut so you can get it really clean. You don’t have to cut deep below the cloth it will break where you score it if it’s close to the tape line. It’s not near as strong as fiberglass.
When vac bagging clear fiberglass products and using quality resin like Green Room, and peel ply that is actually peel ply, and a semi evenly cut non parkinson’s lap, the result is perfection with less than 0.1mm lap raised. When using texaluminum and carbon fiber, kevlar, you need to have a plan for where the lap seams are exposed. and work a pin line or carbon tape or something else to hide seam.
I pretty much always lay a full wood plank top on vac bagged fiberglass product bottoms so the thought is irrelevant. Did I mention Green room resin and the real peel ply??? Also don’t forget to use your SKUL 100 vag bag adapter to be condisered an real shaper.
Mataco & Bill - Thanks for the replies. that helps.
Bill - I can’t use my Skul 100. It left me; said " it wouldn’t work with some bassackwards amateur garage hack". I’m forced to use my Hibachi Rotisserie SBK w/ vacuum attachment.
Another option is to leave your outline rails flat and balsa or other stuff build(HD foam) out rails. You can vac bag whatever on top and bottom and then build out rails then shape rails and glass using 6"-8" clear fiberglass(not volan) rail tape and finish glassing. I usually add .75" to each side and adjust shape accordingly. A little bit more work but worth it in beauty and durability. I would charge $100 extra for built out balsa rails for surfboards. Have done dozens this way with good success. I have a system to do both sides in one pull that takes about an hour of effort and then 10-20 minutes to turn rails. Then ready to glass rails.
Bill- WOW! those rails are so cool. I would love to do that, but since my Skul100 left me, I don’t think that my Hibachi Rotiserrie (w/ vac. attachement) is skilled enough to pull it off.
In all seriousness, those balsa rails would be a great solution. The board I’m shaping is a kite surfboard & the rails on them take a pretty hard beating so this would help greatly. I’ve never done anything like that & honestly don’t know if I have the skills. I would be interested in learning though. I do have some questions (such as how you compound curve the balsa to attach to the foam, etc.). I don’t know if your willing to share your knowledge on this open post, but if not, can I PM you with some questions?
Use tail and nose blocks so there should be no major compound curves. I will take some pics next one that is up but I am an army of one so pics at certain parts are not possible. I will do my best. Pics below of balsa rails with nose and tail blocks. pretty easy if you are already vac bagging. Crudely planks are placed with vacuum, then electric planer used to get to 95% of bottom and deck flush, then finish with sanders, then turn by hand with sheet sand paper. it is way more forgiving than 1lb eps foam. You can definately do this.
Loving this thread. I’ve done a few balsa built out rails just using clamps. Lots in the archives on this method. Vac bagging would have clear advantages
Once again, Great pictures. Your craftsmanship is incredible.
Another question I have regarding the balsa rail bands. The nose & tail blocks is a great idea, but I was wondering if you are making each rail out of one long piece of balsa or multiple shorter segments on each side?
As for the “picklefork” kiteboard pictured, that nose looks like it could do some serious damage if in contact with a human. Very unique. What was the thought behind that design? Is it a performance issue or just an aesthectic idea? Did you modify the bottom in the front to take advantage of this design (such as a “channeled” V to direct water flow) similar to the Firewire Vanguard?
One of the boards in my next build will be for “lighter wind” days with a little more volume & quicker “planing”. My preliminary idea is sort of a mix between the vanguard & the sweet potato (incorporating a channeled bottom) but without the chisel nose of the vanguard ( i think I understand the concept behind it, but am just not “sold” on that nose).
The board in the pic was a jeff alexander tow board. Actually a Jeff Alexander board I narrowed by 4 inches and thinned out .8". very complex bottom with a double hulled front to inverted v tail. The guy is a genius with this set up. Too hard for the masses to accept. The best surf boards i have ever ridden were his shapes. Fortunate to have crossed paths with Jeff back in the day to get a couple dozen of his QC rejects and I was able to make something of them.
with balsa rails I run 40" lengths from tail to nose and the the same from nose to tail. Alternating every other layer to build out a rail. usually 6 to 8 layers.
note pic with seams linining up every other layer.
