OK, so here is how I plan doing my first fabric inlay. Please feel free to correct any flaws in my procedure:
1. Glass the bottom of the board (yellow).
2. Tape off deck. Cut fabric and lay on deck. Fold back the cloth lengthwise and apply epoxy directly to foam. Smooth out fabric with squeegee and continue to apply epoxy to top of fabric.
3. Cut fabric at tape line the following day.
4. Apply fiberglass cloth to deck and laminate.
5. Hot coat.
6. Pin line.
Sound good?
Stay rad
Cut the line before it hardens all the way otherwise its a pain in the ass. While its pretty firm but not rock solid
The issue with fabric is that resin doesn’t penetrate the tight weave, so don’t put a lot under it since it squeegees out from the edges only. Brush a coat under it, squeegee the fabric flat, then brush another coat over it. Work from the center out towards the edges but not so much pressure that you misalign the fabric. I wouldn’t recommend fabric directly on the foam due to potential delam problems. I do it between the cloth layers. Focus on the taping around the fabric, the high squeegee pressure will pull threads from the fabric at the edges, and you need to cut this clean at the “B” stage of hardening.
One way I like to do it is to lay your fabric on the board, Make sure it is pulled tight, you could use tape to hold it down. Use a marking tool to scribe a line around the board where you would make the cut line. This is the same as marking a line to tape up your board for a cut lap, but your marking the fabric. Carefully cut out the fabric along the line you just made. Add a layer of fiberglass over that and cut it like you would for a normal lamination. Lam both the fabric and glass at one time.
If you do the top and do it first, you may want to add a little bevel or groove along the bottom where the glass will overlap the rail.
Hey Hawk-
Your list looks good. Keep in mind your pin line will need to be wide enough to cover up imperfections in your cut and misc threads. Usually ends up about 1/4" thick.
Hope that helps.
Good luck, Brad