I really need an 11-ft board but don’t want the huge weight with poly. Can I:
design or pick diff designs from Surftech or another importer with my name on it? I know there’s major companies that get their stock overseas, then slap their names on 'em.
if not, go ahead and shape my own board then get an experienced epoxy glasser to finish it?
I have zero experience with epoxy, alot with poly. I don’t have a dust-free environment, either.
220grit
Dude just glass it with epoxy yourself.
I don’t have much experience glassing surfboards, but I laminate with epoxy and poly almost every day. There really isn’t much difference. They both start out as a liquid and both harden into a solid. Really no big deal. Don’t listen to all the hype about epoxy. It’s only a resin. Besides you’ll only learn something if you glass it with the epoxy yourself. If you’re really that afraid of it, just glass a test panel or strip an old board and do a test on that. really nothing to be afraid of. Go for it bro, and good luck!!
It acts funny at first, but you get used to it and don’t notice the difference after a while… I’d do it.
Hey 220,
I just tried Resin research epoxy today and was pretty impressed thus far. The most amazing thing was it seemed almost completely odorless. Had to stick the nose way down in the bucket to find some odor.
Thanks for all the replies. Ya know what? I’m gonna dive in and try epoxy. Know of any good tutorials?
you may get weight advantages with going with epoxy, but I think most of that comes from having more working time and better wetout characteristics so you can get a dryer lam. If you are really looking for weight advantages then you want EPS/XPS and sandwich construction.
For straight epoxy lam, basically do it just like poly but:
use less and mix more as you need it
use a hard plastic squeegee
work the resin into the glass less agressively than poly (or it will tend to froth)
at least RR with aditive F will tend to flow into the weave nicely, don’t know about other epoxies
no tutorial needed, Gregg L. will give you some basic instructions when you order his RR epoxy
they have also been posted here several times
for sandwich, there are many active threads on this:
sandwich construction
vacuum bagging
veneer
project ASH
Bert, MrJ, Sabbs, Benny
search on some of these will give you lots of insight.
good luck
Yes, as much of a cliche as it is, check the archives. Rob Olliges posted a concise wrap on Greg Loehr’s stuff which is found in the articles section under resources…
http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/detail_page.cgi?ID=1029
I saved some of Greg’s stuff also… not sure if phone #s current. If I made a suggestion, it would be to use slightly more resin then these recipes call for. A couple of guys (myself included) have had problems with dry spots on laps.
Loads of more recent stuff but you’ll have to search. For nearly real time advice, ask.
I should also mention that the Clark Foam board I glassed with RR Resin turned out OK. It broke but not because of resin used. I put the broken board outside my house where it receives direct sun at least part of the day. After over a year, it’s still surprisingly white. Much whiter than a poly board would have been. Some other epoxies turn yellow very quickly, not Greg’s.
Resin Research epoxies are available by calling 321-223-5276 or 321-779-2369.
resin from attaining a full cure. Also the material must be THOROUGHLY
mixed. If not there can be soft spots. We use metered buckets (I’m sending
you one which we get at the local hardware store) to assure proper mix. We
use large paint stir sticks (like the ones hardware stores give you to stir
paint). All our resins are 2 to 1 mix ratio by volume. The metered buckets
work unreal, actually better than pumps and we laminate right out of those
buckets.
eliminates blush which is the biggest problem in building epoxy boards. It
only takes 1cc per ounce of hardener in the mix. We put it in after pouring
the resin and hardener into the bucket and then mix them all at once. It
makes the resin a bit cloudy but clears out when the resin cures.
spread it over the glass. You then wet the rails and tuck them. This gives
the resin time to soak into the cloth on the flats. Polyester must be pushed
through the cloth. Epoxy just soaks in and it does that in its own good
time. It can’t and shouldn’t be forced. Additive F actually helps with this
quite a bit. After it soaks in, squeegee out any air and remove any excess.
We use plastic, “spreader,” type squeegees. We’ve found that they move epoxy
better than rubber squeegees do. They take a couple boards to get wired but
after the initial learning curve laminating is much easier.
different size boards. As there is no “gel” time, any resin left over can be
used on the next board. If you run short you can easily mix up additional
resin to finish with. Usually we just work out of one bucket and simply keep
mixing more material as needed. It isn’t the same, "this bucket for this
board," as polyester. These are estimates for total mixed material.
6’ and under - 9 -12 oz. bottom 12-15oz. deck
7’ and under - 12 -15oz bottom 15-18 oz. deck
8’ and under - 18 - 21 oz bottom 21- 24 oz. deck
9’ and under - 24 - 27 oz bottom 27- 33 oz deck
Hot coats run just a bit more than an ounce per foot. For instance a 6’ board
would take about 7 oz. per side. Longboards, 9’, take about 12-15 oz. per
side. If your glossing use a bit less than a hot coat. We use 3" disposable
white bristle brushes for hot coating. We don’t clean them. We use them for
one batch and pitch em. Not only do we feel that their not worth cleaning
but we’ve also had problems in the past with contamination from cleaned
brushes which manifested itself in bad hot coats. New brushes always make
for clean hot coats.
the skin. Any toxicity problems we’ve seen in the past always included
contaminated acetone. Not only that but acetone doesn’t work that well with
epoxy anyway. Leaves everything sticky. For your hands use disposable vinyl
gloves. Clean gloves between boards with scrap fiberglass. I usually cut
scrap and pile it neatly on the table so I have plenty ready. Clean your
squeegee with scrap glass. Anytime the squeegee gets slick I just wipe it and
my gloves down. When the gloves get funky, peel em off and put on a new
pair. 10 cents a pair is cheaper than acetone. With so little resin being
used very little goes anywhere except on the board so things tend to stay
much cleaner. We don’t ever get more than a drop or two on us. If you do
get some on you, use Go-Jo or Fast Orange or some other waterless cleaner
with water to get it off. These clean epoxy more effectively and are much
safer to use than acetone.
I think that’s it. You shouldn’t have any problems but if you do my phone
number is on the bottle. I also have a cell # 321-223-5276 which I usually
have with me always.