Frayed fibreglass laps

[Stoney]

Hi all

I have just shaped my first board and have done the lamination on the bottom. I’ve noticed now that the resin is dry that the fibreglass laps on the deck are quite frayed. Is it best to try and sand these down or cut them off or just leave them and when I do the top two lams will they be hidden??

Cheers

[HerbSpitzer]

sand.

herb

[ghettorat]

It takes a deftness of feeling how much pressure to apply to the squeegee to take just enough resin to spread and pull out, and at the same time not damage the structure of the fiberglass, as to fray, and dislodge the fibers, which is something to think about before you attempt to laminate anything let alone a surfboard.  In another thread someone said it doesn’t matter, and he is absolutely wrong, for the strength, flex, and weight of a board is determined mainly by how well a board is laminated.  

Alright now I’ll get corny, laminating is a lot like making love.  I wrote something here but it sounded too filthy, so I deleted it.  Think about it, and approach it like that (metaphorically), and you’ll have more success each time.

[cleanlines]

You can sand like herb said but it takes a steady hand. A good beginner trick is to take a a small 2 inch brush and paint a coat of lam resin over the mess. Then you can come back and sand with less chance of gouging the foam. I use a an air powered 3"disc grinder but you can use a block. I like to make my lap block with a bit of curve (rocker) and glue some 60 grit paper to it. By having a curved face the block only touches the surface where it needs to. ANother simple block is to just glue sand paper on to a wood paint stir stick. The long handle gives you great control. A very handy device indeed.  RB

[ghettorat]

@$1

You can sand like herb said but it takes a steady hand. A good beginner trick is to take a a small 2 inch brush and paint a coat of lam resin over the mess. Then you can come back and sand with less chance of gouging the foam. I use a an air powered 3"disc grinder but you can use a block. I like to make my lap block with a bit of curve (rocker) and glue some 60 grit paper to it. By having a curved face the block only touches the surface where it needs to. ANother simple block is to just glue sand paper on to a wood paint stir stick. The long handle gives you great control. A very handy device indeed.  RB

That’s good advice…

[ghettorat]

@$1

You can sand like herb said but it takes a steady hand. A good beginner trick is to take a a small 2 inch brush and paint a coat of lam resin over the mess. Then you can come back and sand with less chance of gouging the foam. I use a an air powered 3"disc grinder but you can use a block. I like to make my lap block with a bit of curve (rocker) and glue some 60 grit paper to it. By having a curved face the block only touches the surface where it needs to. ANother simple block is to just glue sand paper on to a wood paint stir stick. The long handle gives you great control. A very handy device indeed.  RB

That’s good advice…  Even worth threepeating!

[LeeD]

Dried frays and bunched up cloth, you SUREFORM flush, using just a blade bent in your hand. Sureform until it’s close to flush with the foam, that’s good enough for the next rail wrap. Cut about 2/3rds of the offending cloth, that’s done.

[kensurf]

as everone else said will work for you

next time , cause your sloppy,,,, mask off the deck side so any stray strands will go on the tape and you can nip them off and pull the tape and not have to f up your board by sanding them stray fibers.

[Stoney]

Thanks for the help I’ll be a bit more careful with the next one.