Details: Started with the deck (I suck laminating so my sched is deck - bottom - deck). Heated up my shaping tent in my garage with space heater, got to approx 85. In a moment of inspiration came up with the brilliant idea of putting the epoxy in front of the heater while it warmed the room. Mixed the batch, started the pour and wetted out like a champ for a few minutes. Bucket starts burning my hand and the glue becomes glue before I can get my laps wet. Spastically try to wet out, no luck. Stick what is wet on. Drop this batch, mix another, start again. Same issue, thickens before complete, wet out fast as I can and stick this.
I just flipped to inspect and got butterflies in my stomach when I saw the mess. Bunched up cloth, dry spots, air bubbles galore.
Bright Idea: Sand out the aforementioned travesties and repair before laminating bottom. Right path?? Advice!!
I think you’d need to post photos for us to see if it’s salvagable. I had a boss who used to say, “You can fix anything.” The question is- is it worth the time?
Just and the lap till its flush then make sure you lap both other layers for strength. Always pour all your epoxy out of your bucket right at the begining. epoxy will make itslef kick faster and exotherm to the point of burning you and your bucket. Check your mix ratio also, you should have at the least 10 min to lam. Also I might bast that whole lap to make it a little easier on yourself sanding. My lam schedule is bottom, deck, deck. Hope this helps.
At least you didn’t chicken out. Here’s something you can try. Get a flat block of wood (not too wide) some 60 grit, and a surform and knock down the worst. Don’t try and sand out any dry spots as you’ll just gouge the foam. The nice thing about a surform is that it will just hit the high spots on your fibreglass unless you use it on a tight radius or sharp corner (say tucked under edge). Then it will hit the low spots if you know what I mean. Get it as flat as you can. Glass the deck. Now sand the mess that is still sticking up from your bottom lap and patch. It should be much easier to hit any remaining high spots without sanding into the foam. Patch the areas you just re sanded and then hot coat.
I feel your pain. This past summer I laminated a board when my garage was around 40 Celcius (around 100 F I believe?) and my expoy went completely solid within 4-5 minutes. I just ripped off the glass and started again that night when the temp was around 25 Celcius. Less work in the long run, compared to sanding and filling and sanding and…
How attached are you to this board and how good of a shape is it? If its a good shape I’d say save it, if its mediocare or sucks, then trash it, learn from it and move on.
Details: Started with the deck (I suck laminating so my sched is deck - bottom - deck). Heated up my shaping tent in my garage with space heater, got to approx 85. In a moment of inspiration came up with the brilliant idea of putting the epoxy in front of the heater while it warmed the room. Mixed the batch, started the pour and wetted out like a champ for a few minutes. Bucket starts burning my hand and the glue becomes glue before I can get my laps wet. Spastically try to wet out, no luck. Stick what is wet on. Drop this batch, mix another, start again. Same issue, thickens before complete, wet out fast as I can and stick this.
I just flipped to inspect and got butterflies in my stomach when I saw the mess. Bunched up cloth, dry spots, air bubbles galore.
Bright Idea: Sand out the aforementioned travesties and repair before laminating bottom. Right path?? Advice!!
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Is it your own board? How perfect does it have to be? It can be hard to grind or sand out the bad spots without gouging the foam at the laps. If the rails aren't too bad you might try to make a cut line and pull off the bad cloth like a cut lap in an even line.
If it was my own board I'd just write it off as a lesson. Grind it down as flat as you can, cut out the air bubbles, and continue laminating. Yeah it will look bad but so what it's your creation, go ride it and be stoked.
Thanks for all the advice. Here is the update: Took my old man's advice from years ago 'Son if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough' and decided to fix the crap I created. Used my soft pad with 60 grit and sanded all the bunched cloth and air bubbles out. I only hit foam in on spot which I will screen out. I then tok a razor to remove all the thin layers which were not completely sanded through. Cut patches for all the spots, mixed a batch of epoxy and proceeded to put the repairs on. AFTER I was done, I turned on the space heater to help the epoxy set up. I plan on sanding the lap down tomorrow or the next day. I will keep you updated on the progress. Maybe the next poor schmuck who craps it up will find some benefit from my drama.
To answer some of the questions posted earlier - Is the shape worth saving? Yes, this is by far the best board I have ever done. I am making this for a co-worker who was going to do an import. I do my best not to allow this to occur. I have too many friends struggling to make surfing a career to not help show kooks the real meaning of surfing. If this does not turn out correctly, I will let him have the board for material cost. I will post some pics if this works.
As a future reference, it is always best to get the epoxy out of the pot as quick as possible. Epoxy kicks quicker in the pot…once you have it on the deck you will have plenty of time to work with the epoxy.