Ghost VOLAN...Anyone?

General Discussion
1

Hey guys. Interesting predicament here. Hoping someone can help.

Best friends dad asks me to shape him a longboard. He doesn’t really surf too

much, but has watched me shape, glass, pinline, and is interested. (He just

built a classic car) He just wants a board that I shaped. His ONLY request

is VOLAN CLOTH. "That classic look, ya know, it’s a little green or gray,

just really clean." (double cutlaps, pinline optional) We check some boards at

the shop for confirmation. Got it.

I order a custom 9’8Y with a pretty fancy stringer. He comes over so we can

go through it together. Means a lot to me as it is my BEST FRIENDS DAD.

He’s stoked, I’m stoked, things are lookin good.

Glassing time comes, quite a while later due to whatever, but a long time.

I was gonna glass it cause I figured he wanted the whole package from me.

I was a bit nervous because I wanted THE LOOK he was asking for, but I’ve not been

glassing for too long, never used volan, and don’t have the cleanest cutlap.

Plus, I suck at sanding, and polish? Fuhgedddaboutit.

So last minute, I ask a (friend) of mine who owes me a favor, in the way

of TWO short board glass jobs, if he can do it… I explain, VOLAN cloth,

super clean, classic old school or whatever. He says ok, TWO glass jobs PLUS 50

bucks and you got an old style, VOLAN 9’6" glass job. Sweet…

I give him shaped blank with a full page of instructions, cause he is known

to take matters into his own hands, if ya know what I mean. VOLAN, add a

touch of green or gray if needed, whatever will get us to the outcome we are looking

for. (this could be where I went wrong, but I thought it

was pretty clear)

Just got the board back. As he pulls it out of the bag, all I see is GREEN.

BRIGHT GREEN. SEAFOAM GREEN. Seafoam??? Umm…

Super clean, YES.

Classic, YES.

Volan, ?

Few days later I ask, Where’s the volan?

"Oh it’s there, yeah man. That’s 6 oz. volan. Doesn’t show up like 8 oz or 10 oz.

I didn’t think you wanted a super heavy board. Plus, thats coke bottle green,

we did that a lot back then. If you add green to volan, you can’t see it as

well. "

Now, I know I’m new to all this action, but this just seems fishy. (not surfboard

fishy, just fishy) If anyone KNOWS volan, and I know that you do (!), please give me some insight into the different weights/looks of the mighty VOLAN.

THANX

2

Volan is just a treatment to the fibres so it can come in any wieght even 2oz, it takes a colour a lot better than normal cloth.

It has a slight coke bottle tint that would show if it were glassed with clear resin. Sounds like your friend may have gotten confused by you saying add a touch of green.

3

Just like Woody said, volan can be found in different weights, although it tends to be difficult to find in less than 8 oz. Of course, the heavier the weight, the thicker the cloth, hence a darker, more contrasted color between areas with 1 layer and those with 2 or more (rails, patches…) Just to give you an idea (but I’m sure you’ve already seen volan-glassed boards), here’s one I just made for a fellow swaylockian. It’s 8 oz volan and although the photo was taken in full sunlight, it still shows on rails and deck patch:

4

balsa is right about heavier weight volan showing a more contrasty look in a laminate.

I don’t know why he thinks it’s hard to find in weights under 8 oz, though. Fiberglass Supply has it in .58, 1.4, 2.7, 3.2, 3.7, 5.6, and more.

http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/Reinforcements/Glass_Fabrics/glass_fabrics.html

5

“I don’t know why he thinks it’s hard to find in weights under 8 oz, though. Fiberglass Supply has it in .58, 1.4, 2.7, 3.2, 3.7, 5.6, and more.”

Just think for a second that not everyone is lucky enough to live in the US… In some third world countries -such as France, for instance- where shapers depend upon what importers decide to stock or not, volan is not currently available but in 8 and 10 oz weights. But, of course, this does not apply to the US.

6

My rails are darker, but that happens with any cloth plus color. The

deck patch is an entirely different color. Maybe volan patch, no volan

board?

And what about green killing the visibility of the volan? Anybody

heard of that?

I’ve seen his deck patches with 2.7 oz volan and its very visible.

Wouldn’t 6 oz be more so?

Thanx again

7

if you wanted the “the volan look”, he def should have used at least 8oz volan,if not 10 oz.

you do not have to add any color what so ever if all you want is that volan look.

either he misunderstood you or he was only able to get 6oz volan and tried to compensate by adding some green,

which could be pulled off if your really good with color mixing… but it’s not the real deal.

lesson here is next time take it to a shop that specializes in the kind of work.

if your friend is not happy with the out come, sell the board and make a new one with some

real 8oz-10oz volan. at least you’ll get to shape it again and improve your craft!

8

I knew a reputable ( or so we thought) glasser who could fake a volan with a few drops of his mysto green tint.

Too many beers one afternoon and the cat was out of da bag.

All the more reason to glass your own.

9

You can’t fake a classic ten ounce volan glass job and make it look right.You need 10 ounce flat weave and it’s hard to find.The old classic volan has a “silvery” green look to it and the weave looks like it is not totally saturated.Can you still get it from marine suppliers???

10

can you post a pic of it?

11

yeah, hazy times but I think he targeted those that would not know the difference.

There are probably a few left out there. Try checking his scrap for volan and nothing but 6oz silane. Busted

12

You know, I was witness to part of a conversation just like this last Saturday afternoon just shortly before closing time. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.

In the conversation I happened to overhear, it was explained that a volan tint against clear will basically disappear if there’s any color in the resin. Even if it’s a light tint the deckpatch will look like just another layer of cloth. Volan takes color really well; that’s why they did a lot of resin tints and opaques with it back in the day.

I’ve glassed with volan a couple times before and I happen to know that everthing that was said in the conversation I overheard is true. I also have a 6’4" single fin w/ a volan deckpatch over clear from the same shaper/glasser involved in the conversation I overheard and it’s pretty plain to see. I have several other boards from him and well as a couple of his glass jobs on my shapes, most of which have at least some volan. The ones that have resin color don’t have the volan tint.

Bottom line here is that - looking in 20-20 hindsight - you probably would have been better off not asking for color enhancement for the volan look. The cloth just does it on its own. Not that this info helps you any at this point.

FTR, if your situation is indeed the one I overheard, I will personally guarantee you that you didn’t get shorted on the volan - if he said its there its there because he always has it onhand. It’s not like it’s real expensive stuff or he had something to gain by not including it.

OTOH, if we really are just talking about a coincidence then I have nothing to say about what is or isn’t.

Either way, I agree that it sucks that you didn’t get what you were actually looking for.

13

Here’s a few shots…

So… the deck patch is obviously darker, and different than the rails. The ONLY thing I could

think is that the patch was done AFTER lamination, and with clear resin. Is this common?

Wouldn’t the patch go under the rest of the cloth?

I just looked at a 7.5oz volan tint of mixed colors (acid) and you can still see the volanish

shine/silvery/tinge or whatnot, pretty obviously. Would a 6oz be that much different?

From what I’ve seen, volan cloth is a bit more expensive, reflecting in the total price of a

glass job. This is kinda why I am trying to figure this out. Don’t really want my buddy to

be workin me for my lack of knowledge, and his monetary gain, know what I mean?

And finally, should I just shut up?

Not tryin to start smack, just lookin fer an answer.

Thanx a lot for y’alls interest and input.

14

morg,

the patch will be darker cause the more layers of glass the more tint.

if i were you id tell your “buddy” that the jiggs up.

that board has a ice green tint not a volan glass job.

8 oz volan has huge weave thats notice able weather its clear or tinted or even opaqued.

V

15
  • VOLAN, add a

touch of green or gray if needed, whatever will get us to the outcome we are looking

for. (this could be where I went wrong, but I thought it

was pretty clear) -

yep thats where you went wrong - you got what you asked for - a touch of green! oh well - still looks killer anyways…im sure your buddies dad will be stoked!

16
Quote:

drool…

drooling some more…

hehe

17
Quote:

In some third world countries -such as France, for instance- where shapers depend upon what importers decide to stock or not, volan is not currently available but in 8 and 10 oz weights. But, of course, this does not apply to the US.

Yeah, but we can’t get any decent cheese.

18

OK, that’s 15-15, then…

Talk about bio-boards: what about glassing with cheese?

19

So cleanlines how you doing? I have not been posting much lately do to way too much travel at work. I’m not sure about getting 10oz flat but you can sure get 10oz volan.

If this guy said he used 6oz volan because he did not thing you want the board to be too heavy so he did not use 8 oz I would surly question this guy. Volan does not come in either 6 oz or 8oz. 7.5 oz is what you get. The board looks great to me but you should have not asked for any added tint and you would have more then likely gotten just what you were after. Volan glass is treated with a chromic acid which turns it a slight green tint doe to the Barium Chromite in the chromic acid, this was used to make the resin stick better to the glass and keep it from wicking water. We can fool ourselves and say that they did this for us the surfer, but they really did it for the printed circuit board people, thats really where the money is not us silly surfers. I have boards that were glassed with volan glass that have no green tint to them at all, which is a really bumber since you are paying at least 10% more for the volan because of the time it takes to do the cut lap, and the extra hotcoat that is needed to make sure you don’t sand through to the cloth and cut a white spot.

20

"drool…

drooling some more…

hehe"

Check your e-mail box, my friend.