My first exposed cork deck came out pretty well. cosmetics aside (pinline nightmare) … i love the way it feels under foot. a couple questions:
does anyone else think that perhaps one should fill coat the deck prior to vac bagging on the cork? I’m thinking since the pores not filled by resin in the cork allow water (there is a weight difference pre and post surf) would allow water to sit on the weave of the glass underneath? maybe i’m just beoing paranoid…
opinions on woven peel ply vs perforated release bag for vac bagging exposed cork decks? i used woven peel ply with breather to absorb excess resin but somehow i think it sucked too much resin out of the cork and left too many voids for water to fill in.
3. i’m just using some 1/16" cork sheet from Jelinek (a canadian distributor of cork products). it seems high quality and can be cut to outline shape without glassing 2oz on the back. i think maybe it is absorbing more water than core cork would??
4. does anyone know if core cork has binders that are any different than another high quality cork product? i beleive Jelinek uses a polyurethane binder. core cork super hard to get up on the west coast of canada… and this Jelinek roll got shipped to my door for around $125 for a 50’ roll!
5. who on the west coast has ordered from core composites? they seem to not get back to me, maybe i’m not cool enough.
There are many ways to build an exposed cork deck. I do it all at one time with the top lamination and use peel ply. The resin will engulf all nooks and crannies of the cork. After pulling the peel ply the cork is pristine and needs NOOOOOOOOOO sanding of any resin pools. The other way is the after the fact lam of the deck which in my opinion makes it a deck grip pad and is not as effective as the all in one composite layered pull. If you use fiberglass cloth under the cork and peel ply the resin will fill all the nooks and crannies the the peel ply will keep it perfect. sand and bevel the edges and go surf.
ok great. thanks for that. i take it you are using the core cork product? i think maybe i goofed by using the stuff i did… the board feels REALLY heavy after i surf. lots of water being absorbed by the cork. back to the drawing board… and try to track down some core cork.
Yes and yes. The bottom is done first with whatever(wood, CF,fiberglass,cork). The deck is done with wraping the rails and of special note, the fiberglass combo under the deck cork overlaps on the bottom 2 or 3 inches. if it is a non fiberglass product on the bottom(wood,cork,etc) the bottom is glassed with 4 oz fiberglass and cut lap on deck leaving the exposed cork. If fiberglass bottom…after the cork deck with over lapped fiberglass combo, You can do a 6 inch wide plus or minus rail of 6 oz fiberglass and cut lap the top for exposed deck. Sand, final coat,sand and polish or spray.
pic of sup with fiberglass patched out nose also. Exposed cork deck otherwise as aobve with wood/cork bottom.
hi bb30, thanks for responding. your build style has been an inspiration to me. can you divulge what you mean when you say ‘spray’? what product are you finding to be best? i tried the whole exterior grade water based varathane thing and the board turned slightly milky blue every time it gets wet!
