Fairing The Deck Lap Without Nicks

I’m still getting slight ones. Would it be easier to reverse lam (fairing is easier on flatter surfaces). Or should I just learn how to do the bottom properly?

practice makes perfect deanbo… the better lam job you do on the bottom the better. also clean your laps up before or as they gel too. even long time laminators have trouble if the lights are are not good also.

Go slowly and cearfuly and by hand until you improve, use the very end of the sanding pad and don’t extend beyond the glass.

I seen a guy called J who is a master with an angle grinder and can do this in seconds without touching the foam, it’s amazing to watch, I’m no where near that level, so I cheat ; )

If its a clear lam you can baste the laps with hot coat resin this protects the foam a little, this also makes it easier to sand but you can’t do this with tints.

You can also lay down a layer of tape on the foam to help protect it.

A tip for tints as you’ll be doing a cut lap is to knock down and strings or bumps but dont take the lap down to the foam atall, instead to a full lenth deck patch with the same wieght glass, then there is no need to fair it in as the deck and the lap will be a uniform thickness. If you’re not great as cutting the cloth you can do it seperatley, this will also allow you to do a tint or swirl like an inlay on the deck.

Or you can sand down on o the tape before cutting it.

dean,

i use a snap-on air grinder with a 24 grit sanding disk if i have strands of glass that pull away from the lap i just press those into the foam so that they are flush with it. hope this helps.

cain

Dean,

You can also roll the higher lap into the foam with a smooth dowel. I use a 3/4" dowel that is 6" long, sanded smooth so there are no sharp edges on the ends. I roll it along the lap edge with one hand while pressing down with the other. The lap pushes into the foam leaving a nice flush transition.

Some guys use a hard rubber glue roller to do the same thing.

For the bumpy areas on the rail I use a 4" grinder with a sanding disk to smooth the bumps, feathering with light strokes.

Doug

Make a sanding block 3"wide…10"longwith curve in it.(Like the bottom rocker of a board).Glue some 40 grit to the curved side.The curve enables you to just hit the high spots without hitting the foam.I made my block from a foam scrap.I also have one made from wood with curves on both sides.40grit on one side…80grit on the other. Brucker

Yes good point, I’ve mashed a few laps in my time, works very well, I use a small plastic roller used for getting the edges of wallpaper down, it works great and only cost a couple of $

Thanks for the tip Rob I’ll will try that out on the next board.

Hey Deanbo

I use the Greenlight bamboo cloth and have had the same problem. Here’s a trick I stumbled upon.

I tape off the lap line with masking tape like Woody suggested, then tape off the deck with butcher paper and masking tape.

Then lam as usual and let cure.

I grind the lap before I cut. That way the tape and butcher paper act as a buffer between the grinder and the deck.

You can grind into the tape and not hit the deck.

The other advantage to doing this is that your lap is significantly thinner when it comes time to cut.

Often times cutting my lap is a simple as cutting a piece of paper.

I don’t have to use anywhere near as much force to get through the lam and my lap lines end up looking much cleaner.

If its still not quite flush, then I press it down into the foam as Doug mentioned.

Just my 1.874 cents

Hope this helps