Did my first fabric inlay on the nose of my surfboard last night. Everything came out o.k. but I noticed one thing that has me worried. The fabric is 100% cotton but each petal on the flowers has what looks like paint on them to bring out the texture/shade. I didn’t notice it until the resin started to gel. The different texture of the material on the flowers seems to be trapping air under the cloth. I tried like crazy to use a syringe to suck out the air, but the surrounding fabric allowed more air under each of the flower’s petals. I made a small slit in each of the petals and after the resin kicked, I applied another layer of lam resin to the fabric. On this layer I really pressed down on the flowers to force out the air. Some bubbles dissapeared but others filled back up with air. I’m ready to put the second layer of 6oz. on the deck but I’m waiting to find out if there’s anything I should do with the bubbles in the fabric. I thought about injecting lam resin under the fabric using a syringe. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Any feedback would be appreciated. Todd
Just Found some info in the archives about air trapped under the fabric causing delam’s but I couldn’t find anything that addressed the way to fix the problem. Has anyone out there tried to fix this problem before? I’m thinking it’s probably similar to air trapped under the fiberglass??? Todd
fortunately i’ve never experienced air under the cloth. but i thinks it’s because i’ve always prepped the cloth. wash it first,(i’ve heard with vinegar in the water from some, but never tried it. {why?}), hang dry it, and then iron it out and store itflat until you are ready to use it. i’m sure you’ve likely done the same thing. anyways, i’d say cut into either end of the bubble with an x-acto, and start syringing in the resin. if it doesn’t want to lay flat, try laying waxpaper over it and adding a flat weight(careful that you don’t crush the foam). i’ve done that before with fibeglass and epoxy on a cedar stripped canoe, and it worked out good. But who knows on cloth
Thanks for the info. I thought I had everything squared away by preping the cloth but it went sideways. I’m spending the better part of tonight cutting and syringing. CHEERS!
The vinegar in cold water is a means of setting the dyes that may or may not be prone to bleeding during the lam process. I’ve never washed or rinsed the cloth I’ve used for inlays but I do test a small piece with lam resin if there is some doubt. I’ve also had an inlay that seemed to not want to lay flat after lamination. Seems on that occasion I set off my lam a bit too hot, some of the trapped resin gelled to the point that I couldn’t squeegee it out from under the cloth. Just kind of pushed the blob around under the cloth and caused it to raise up off the foam. Tom S.
Tom, Did the raised areas on the fabric cause any problems when you hotcoated? I imagine when I force the resin into the air bubbles, it will cause similar problems (with the raised areas). Todd
-Todd. I hope you got the bubbles out allright. it always sucks when it’s all set to go, and then you hit these probs. it could be the cloth maybe, i only use cloth if it is 100% cotton. and Tom, i’ve read a lot of your posts, and you seem to be one of the local gurus on this site. i appreciate the insight on the vinegar. i’ll be trying that out on my next board. as for washing the cloth, often the cloth has just been woven and then printed, and then shipped. because it is an organic material, water affects it, and if you wash it, you often find that cloth has shrunk. i know a few chicks who sew, and they always wash the cloth before cutting the patterns out. otherwise the shirt/whatever can skew when it is washed for the first time. because of shrink in different directions. as for ironong it, it lays it so flat that you hardly have to work out any creases or bubbles under the cloth. a little more work than laying it out and going, but i find it worth it. Regards, Red