Greg Tate asked the question of what we ere experimenting with on an earlier thread. I replied that I was playing around with foam staining with epoxy. I posted earlier about a SUP board shaped from 1# EPS that I sealed and did an acid splash foam stain in one step. I think this will be a winner method that can create some great looking EPS/epoxy boards and save a bunch of time. I quote from that thread:
“1#EPS is such ugly foam when compared to the Clark stuff I am use to. I knew the blank needed sealing with all the pours and gaps in between the stringer and foam. I read most of the threads on sealing EPS and the debates on creating a good bond. One description that caught my attention was comparing sealing the blank with old fashion foam staining. Bells and whistles went off in my head. I can do this. I abandon my original plan to seal with spackle and decided to use a mixture of epoxy, Q-Cel and pigment. My goal was to seal and color in one step.
I did the deck with yellow and it came out pretty good. I started doing the bottom using the same method and I asked myself if I could do an acid splash seal job. I mixed red and yellow batches of epoxy/Q-Cel sealer and went at it. It came out pretty good. The trick was to squeegee as much off the board as possible. The sealer even helped fill in those gaps between the stringer and foam. I let the sealer sit over night and sanded it down using 120 grit sanding screen. I later sealed the tail block and stringer with clear epoxy. I really think this method has the potential to create some really beautiful boards. It will need more experimentation and perfecting”.
Recently, I picked up a 3# EPS blank from CMP Hawaii. I got Mike Casey to shape an old school template Waikiki Special longboard with updated rails and rockers. The dimensions came out 10’2” x 20” x 25.5” x 16.5” x 4”. I wanted this be a Pops special board and also serve as a SUP for my daughter.
I wanted a completely yellow board and still show off the wood stringer and tail block. So I sealed the stringer and tail block with clear epoxy. After drying, I taped them off and did a foam stain using epoxy and lemon pigment and epoxy. I prefer to use pigment over tint because the color appear more even when dried. The trick again is to squeeze out all the excess epoxy with a squeegee.
This allowed the board be to glass with clear epoxy and lay down my laminates. This included my last big Hawaii Longboard Surfing Association (HLSA) and Hawaiian Salt laminates. The glassing schedule was bottom – 6 and 4 oz. e-glass; deck – 5.7 oz. k-glass and 6 oz e-glass. The hot coat was epoxy and gloss coat was also epoxy with 5% surfacing agent. All epoxy products were Fiberglass Hawaii 2-to-1 clear epoxy. I even managed to get a decent gloss after polishing the epoxy.
so, you sealed the foam with a mixture of pigmented epoxy and glass bubbles? – when you look at it up close and in person, is the color nice and even? decided on purple deck and rails for my next board, but it’s a bead foam that needs to be sealed. would you recommend i give this method a shot?
Here is what I am dying to know. How do you get an even color across the rough surface of EPS? When I tried it, the pigmented mix of micro-balloons and epoxy went on easy enough, but the crevices held more color than the ridges and it looked “dappled”. EPS is just so rough. Could I be scrapping too hard with the squeegee? Is it a thick coat? or just a filler ?
Soulstice: I never did purple. I found yellows, pale blue and orange to go on even. The darker blue based colors are not as even. I did a mixture with Q-Cel that also help even out the color for 1# EPS. The 3# was just pigment and epoxy. The color does appear even except places I had to fill because of sand throughs. Pigments instead of tints make the color a lot more even.
Greg: Try using yellow pigment as a first color. I sanded the ridge lines with sanding screen on the SUP. For blanks wih losts of holes, try an acid splash instead of a solid color. This is totally fun to do. The 3# EPS came out really even with no Q-cel.
My next board will a foam stain using UV PE resin acid splash over a PU blank. I want to control the areas that I place the various colors and speed up the drying process. I will still glass with epoxy.
Here is what I am dying to know. How do you get an even color across the rough surface of EPS? When I tried it, the pigmented mix of micro-balloons and epoxy went on easy enough, but the crevices held more color than the ridges and it looked “dappled”. EPS is just so rough. Could I be scrapping too hard with the squeegee? Is it a thick coat? or just a filler ?
I squeezed hard but I did not scrape. It is a filler. The Q-cel did even out the color and made the color more paste looking on the SUP. I did not use mico-balloons. Manoa and I are using this technique to fill holes on the junk PU blanks we have been receiving also.
Just to clarify: Fiberglass Hawaii makes a distinction between Q-cel and Micro-balloons. They are both Micro-spheres but I think Q-cell is a name brand. Sorry about the confusion.
thanks for sharing , mate ! [ i always enjoy the hawaiians posts here , you guys do some GREAT creative stuff , i reckon . keep up the good work , guys !]
I am not sure if it will make a difference. I use Q-cel to fix dings so I use what I got. I am sure they will all work well. I would do a test with the purple first on a block of foam before I try the entire board.
ChipFish:
Here are more photos. I really like the fin from Steve of Island Fin Design. He is a great guy with great products. I custom ordered it when I went to pick up the shaped blank. The shaper Mike Casey rents his shaping room from Steve. The colors remind me of a sunset and it’s kind of old school nose rider style.
Here is logo lanimate:
Here is some eye candy if you are tired of looking at surfboards. Two local beauties and my nieces:
Howzit UncleD, The difference is Q-sel expands when adding resin and the more Q-sel will result in a less dense and lighter weight mixture. Micro ballons don’t expand but just make for thicker and heavier mix, plus it is harder to sand due to the density.Aloha,Kokua
Putting the color on the blank first really saves a lot of headaches. I’m getting ready to dive into some eps in the near future and will definately give your method a try.
When I lived in Town, Lighthouse was my main break. But then I met my old girlfriend and taught her how to surf. That when I started surfing Populars. Got to tell ya, that is a really fun break, especially on my old 10-0. Nothing like 100+ yard rides. That looks like a great Pops board.
One last thing…you need to repost the eye candy. It’s not showing up. I may be happily married, but I love to look.
I tried the board out today at Paradise and Pops. The waves were great. The board worked pretty good and I caught a bunch of waves. The fin held well and was still loose. I am very happy with the board.
My experimentation with epoxy foam staining continues. This time I attempted a solid red bottom and rails with a two color acid splash deck. The bottom was glassed with 7.5 oz E-glass and the deck with 5.7 oz. K-glass and 6 E-glass.
Lessons learned. Solid red epoxy foam stain: very hard to get it even. Acid Splash epoxy foam stain: very cool, neat affects and very fun to do.
For those who need dems on this board: 12’ x 18" x 26" x 16" x 4". The blank is a Bufford 12-3. This was made to be a Waikiki crowd control and prone paddler.
Hey that sounds similar to Rich Harbours / Channin glassing technique of shell 2. They use a light 2 oz cloth and epoxy (non colored ) to cover the EPS blank. Then you can paint etc or what not (I would think that you could color during the 2 oz coating but haven’t tried it myself). Then lam as usual.
That’s interesting.
On a side note, dude, your nieces are beautiful. When they get of age, their parents will have to shoo away the tons of suitors chasing after them!
