does anyone use a rail line tool with a razor attachment to cut laps? i haven’t tried it, but it doesn;t seem like it would work well. like there isn’t enough force to cut. what are your guys methods for cutting laps, for tints?
I’ve used that method and it worked quite well, but mostly use just a razor.
Use and exacto knife or a scapel. Razors work but aren’t very sharp in comparison and dull quickly. A sharper blade will give a cleaner cut. Easier too.
…boxer cutter w/ a new blade is the ticket.Herb
Here is a way that an old Cali Glasser that worked for me did it.Use a rail tool with an exacto knife (he used one of the round end blades and used to hone them when dull)First off you lay down 2" tape…next you cut the tape with the tool.After glassing the bottom you use the tool to trim the lap(before the resin gets too stiff).As for the bottoms he eyeballed the tape line and cut the laps with a razor blade…this is kinda tricky as you have to peel the tape up and cut with blade horizontal to keep from cutting into the glass underneath.You can also do a free lap if you use Silene glass.The boards all got pins on the deck because of the foam score marks created by two cuts.For a clean cut lap most pro glassers use their eyes to lay down the tape,one cut…no pinline needed…R.B.
Is it possible to do a clear board, with no pin lines, using tape/cut lap technique and not see a score mark? I like the balance of a cut lap but not the score mark.
For that effect I would just freelap with silene glass. R.B.
In my humble experience I came up with a method with a rail tool similar to what Cleanlines described. Score the tape super carefully without piercing the foam if you can. The real key is cutting the cloth as the resin is kicking and is still only jelled. If you wait too late, the blade will follow the weave of the glass on curves and will jump off line, or it will take too much force to cut the glass. It doesn’t take much force with jelled resin and a sharp exacto blade. My big problem with taped cut-laps without pinstripes is getting any slivers of tape out of the cut, from under the glass. My cut tool is a block of plywood about 4" wide with a dowel on either side of the cutting bar. This provides bearing from two surfaces and will not rock when going around curves, keeping a clean line. My rail tool for shaping is my right hand and a pencil. You can draw lines accurate to within 1/16" with your finger(s) locked as an edge guide. Certainly as accurate as I can control my Hitachi. With practice, you can draw smooth tapering lines, as well. Try it. PS The best cut-laps/tint I’ve ever seen are on my Yater Spoon. Coke bottle green and impeccable. Clyde Beatty glassing?
I don’t know how guys like Beatty do it. I was just talking with Tim at Shoreline this morning. They do a 3" Volan cut lap for some of Jacob’s custom boards. He said those are especially hard on the blunt-nose orders because the Volan doesn’t want to bend easily up there. Any tricks to this?
If you want to use volan the trick is to only have one cut in the foam…therefore most of these glassers are using their eyes for taping and no tools.It just takes practice.I think that the Yaters are (or were) glassed at Channins.Jim Phillips could tell ya if he is around. R.B.