Hi,
I just finish to build a wood surfboard I got from http://www.woodsurfboardsupply.com, Acording to the instruccions, and what I have heard from the forums, It is a good idea to seal the wood before glassing it.
My question is, that cheater coat is using the epoxy resin mixed with the hardener, or just the resin? Or can I seal it with any wood sealer and then glass it?
Thanks
[quote="$1"]
Hi,
I just finish to build a wood surfboard I got from http://www.woodsurfboardsupply.com, Acording to the instruccions, and what I hace heard from the forums, It is a good idea to seal the wood before glassing it.
My question is, that cheater coat is using the epoxy resin mixed with the hardener, or just the resin? Or can I seal it with any wood sealer and then glass it?
Thanks
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It you don’t mix in the hardener you will get caught cheating. This type of fill coat is to help resolve problems that can arise from moisture, or tannins in the wood that can and will wreak havoc upon the neophyte. So whoever told you to seal the board is right, and I suggest thinning the resin with Additive F first then after it is hardened gently resand before attempting to glass. By doing this you can achieve better results. If your a hotshot-pro just glass it without and you’ll be fine, but if your not, follow this advice.
I just did this on a luan plywood paipo I glassed. If you use the same type squeegee you use for laminating, to apply the cheater coat, you can sort of massage it around, and a surprisingly small amount of resin goes a very long way! Made a nice, super thin but non-porous, “hard shell” seal on the wood.
I tried brushing it on first but the squeegee was world’s better, more even coverage with much less resin used.
Ok, Thanks.. So I do have to do the mix.
Another question is, I want to put a logo using rice paper. When do I put the logo, at the sealing or at the glassing.
I have my experience doing woodworking, but this is my first time working with glassing.
Thanks a lot.
Yes! You do need to mix the hardener and resin and proportions are pretty critical. I use a gram scale esp for small amounts. If you warm it up to thin, warm the resin first then add the hardener and stir. Alternative is to use heat gun to warm work surface before applying (I haven’t done this, just read about it). A little Additive F as mentioned also thins it out nicely.
No idea about the logo placement.
if you do glass over the wood without a cheater coat make sure you leave the lam pretty wet. Leaving the lam wet will allow more saturation into the wood and not get any air pins etc. If you pull the lam dry you will get lot of pins, and wierd dry spots....Not to mention you will see the weave on a dark wood, and squigglies where you poured the epoxy on thick..then moved it around. Leaving it pretty wet and saturates will make a crystal clear lamination. Heating up the mix will thin out the epoxy mix, and make a faster saturation......But if you do heat it up, get it on the board FAST. Heat the epoxy about 10 seconds in the micro....maybe 15?
Mix up your batch, spread it around pretty fast...get it alll wetted out, then walk away for a few minutes. Go get a cup of coffee, or a beer milk shake. ....make sure the glass is wet & saturated. Then do the lamination.
Laminate and keep the weave pretty wet. If you pull it to where it sounds like a zipper you have pulled out too much resin and it will make white dry spots...or the weave will show. You will know it it's too dry if you look closely at the weave and the spaces between the cloth (the little squares) are dry and look like little pools or holes. If you try to laminate too fast (not letting the cloth saturate) the board will have great wet out spots where you poured, but hazy spots where you tried to move the resin around too fast.
If you don't understand what I'm talking about, just make sure the resin has a chance to saturate the board equally all over the board before you start laminating.
You will have 30-45 minutes to work the board...Take your time. Epoxy has a SLOW kick time, you got a lot of time to work.
Mix the resin epoxy by volume, not weight. Just get a automotive paint cup that has 2:1 ratio on the side of the cup. If you mix by weight, well Epoxy is heavier than Epoxy hardener, so you have to do something like a 45:55 ratio.....way too much math for me to figure out.
and just to be clear, that long kick time is only if you get the resin/hardener mix out of the pot and spread around a bit on your work surface. In the pot, it will go off pretty fast and generate a fair bit of heat…
And don’t try to work the resin through the cloth. Just spread it around on top and let it sit a few minutes and it will soak through on its own, nice even saturation with out bubbles etc.