I’m doing my first glassjob on my 5’10 twinfish. I’m using 2 layers of 4oz and epoxy resin for this. One thing i have not figured out yet is how i should cut the cloth to cover the foam at the tail to make a good fit. I have some different ideas but i don’t feel confident. Guessing that one method is to cut the two layers different from eachother. Any help on this is greatly appreciated. There are some pictures on the board posted here:
there is a thread about this already, but if you cant find it:
you can do a “V” cut, with the point of the v facing the tips of the swallows. if that dont make since then try this: before you wet anything out, fold the lap under with your hand by the tail. you can easily see the excess glass poking out the oppisite sides of the tail…that excess is what you have to trim off to avoid a bubbly nightmare. after you do that it should look like a “V”. also leave 1/8 of glass between the point of the V and the tip of the tail, so that when you lap them the tip of the tail does not poke thru un-covered.
“you can do a “V” cut, with the point of the v facing the tips of the swallows.”
This is what I just did on my 5’10" fish. I tried to line the V cuts up with the outline of the blank. When it was wet, it layed down flat…came out good.
I get the idea here that i should just trim the cloth, following the outline of my board basicly and cut to “V” at the tips op the tail. This works for the whole bottom of the board but leaves a small area near the stringer on the deck side that wont be covered by any cloth. This board having a relatively thick tail with steep rails in between the tips of the tail. Thought there might be some good trick to this.
After I cut the swallow v, I went back and cut straight in toward the stringer at the center of the v. You are right, as this lays over there is a v in the crotch that does not have cloth in it. After the lam, I sanded the lap as flush as I could. Then I poured a THICK hotcoat ensuring that I painted this area well. It all filled in. I did not do any color on the board so it is nice and white. Pics are on here under title, “First Fish…Fins by Pro Box Larry”.
the V cut is for the tips. for the crotch of the swallow tail (stringer) when doing the bottom, i dont cut any V out, i just cut a staright line to about 1/8 of and inch to the stringer. if it is a resin color lamination i’ll have a little tear drop shape piece of glass to lay in that void as my last step just before the resin kicks…or you can do it after your done laying up the board with a serparate batch of resin ( like a dixie cup). the idea is to do it while the glass is wet and soft so the patch lays down flat. with clear laminations i just put the patch in the crotch of the swallow on the deck.
I glassed it yesterday. First time glassing a whole board, epic. Cut the laps like the pinline on that green fish in the picture. When i was done it looked good and when it started to gel it still looked good. This morning when i came out in the garage i noticed some dry cloth or blisters near the tail where the cloth wraps around the sharp railedge. These blisters are small but i think i’ll try and fill them and sand if necessary before wrapping over the decklayer. Guess that small errors will be covered by the hotcoat but i want the cloth to stick well to the core, of course.
Howzit bramberg, The dry areas are most likely where the epoxy took to long to set up and it drained in to the foam. The blisters are where the glass wasn’t wrapped tight enough and didn’t stay adhered to the board. Did you dull the edge in the tail area before glassing? A sharp edge is hard to wrap so I always dull it then put it back before the hotcoat. By all means fill the blisters then sand. As for the dry areas thin your epoxy and you might be able to force it into the cloth. Aloha,Kokua
Hey kokua! I think that you might be right about the epoxy draining into the foam. I used BGF Aerialite 4oz E-Cloth. Supposed to be a good cloth so i dont think that’s the prob. Probably a good idea to dull the sharp edge on the blank, like you say, before glassing and then build it up with hotcoat making it sharp again. Once again, this beeing my first board, i’ve learned so much for my next one. Like shaping the core the way the core should be and not the way the finished board is going to be. It’s a small difference but still, a difference. This board looks like it’s going to surf really well though. Travelling back to my surf sanctuary in two weeks to stay there for a coupple of months and do nothing but surf the autumn swell. High hopes.
Didn't finish the board in time for leaving but since the glassing was done I figured it safe to store untill I got back from this trip and then finish it. As things went, I left in late august 2008 and didn't get back untill june 2009. It was a great fall, winter and spring, with lots of good surf. Getting back from this prolonged adventure, the first thing I did when i got back home was to go out in the garage and unwrap the bubbleplastic from this first shape of mine. Thought of the posibility that I might have developed my surfing skills and outgrown this design. Luckily, the board is even more pleasing to me now somehow. Maybe I haven't developed as much as i thought, or maybe I am more ready for this boards design, and the way I see it should be ridden, now. I made three sets of fins before I was pleased with the weight to flex ratio. The first ones was made with a foiled balsa wood core and then laminated with 2 layers of 6oz each side. They turned out beautiful but sadly the balsa wood soaked resin and bent as it hardened. They were also a bit to flexy but this might have been resolved when laying up the laps as i will do glass ons and not plugs. Second pair made out of glasfiber/carbonfiber and epoxy. These were really stiff but the weight didn't appeal to me. Finally I took a fine birch plywood and foiled a set of fins that I am very pleased with. I laminated them with 2 layer of 6oz each side and a bead going around the edge. Right now I am sanding down some minor mistakes from the top lam, getting ready to glass these fins on. I've had so much help from you guys here at swaylocks so I thought I let you know that the board is almost finished.
