glass on process...

ok here’s what i have in my head on how to do a single glass on fin… set fin with un-catalyzed resin. then use 2 pieces of 6 oz. for each side. wet out fin then cloth and lam. like normal. next, after lam. sets, trim up fin, and area to prep for hot coat. hot coat bottom of board and fin. sand board…ride??but i have one question…when doing a hot coat or gloss coat, how do you keep the resin from running and causing puddles? one side at a time, up side down?

forgot a step…putting on roving before cloth. is the roving soaked with catalyzed resin? cold mix?

Teddy - After laminating both sides of your board, mask off an apron and hot coat the deck. When that goes off, put the bottom side up and mask off an apron for your bottom hot coat, but don’t hot coat it yet. Place your fin. Tape from rail to rail over the fin to hold it and tack it with a dab of hot laminating resin. When that sets, remove the tape that was holding the fin, check it for vertical alignment, and build up a fillet with plenty of glass patches and/or fin rope. I’d say 3/8" radius at the base of the fin sounds about right. I build up a couple of pieces along the sides and out onto the bottom of the board. I hot coat the bottom and brush some resin up the sides of the fin. Don’t worry too much about puddles at this point. Sand the bottom and fin - do some hand sanding on the fin to get it smooth - especially around the base. Mask an apron and gloss the bottom and up the base of the fin but don’t try to do the sides yet. After that cures, you can mask one side of the fin and around the base and gloss one side at a time with the board sideways in your racks. You’ll have to deal with some seams but fins glossed vertically do tend to leave puddles around the base and since so much resin runs off, are easy to sand through when wet and dry sanding before buff out.

ok here’s what i have in my head on how to do a single glass on fin… > set fin with un-catalyzed resin. then use 2 pieces of 6 oz. for each side. > wet out fin then cloth and lam. like normal. next, after lam. sets, trim > up fin, and area to prep for hot coat. hot coat bottom of board and fin. > sand board…ride??but i have one question…when doing a hot coat or > gloss coat, how do you keep the resin from running and causing puddles? > one side at a time, up side down? Well I have been working with composites for about two years now but never on a surfboard. I am assuming that if you have already covered the foam with resin and fiberglass and made a box for a single fin, you could use an epoxy paste and stick the fin it. Then use mylar and flaten out the epoxy paste. That way there will be minimal sanding needed, no extra mess, and the hold should be just as strong. As a side note, if you had already polished the box, you may want to rough it up with 100 grit sand paper.

how about the fin roving? how do i approach this? soak in a cold batch? how much to use for a longboard fin?

forgot a step…putting on roving before cloth. is the roving soaked > with catalyzed resin? cold mix? Use a hot glue gun to tack the fin on. If you set it wrong you can detach the fin and do it again til it’s how you want it. I then brush a little resin around the base of the fin to set it good. Sounds like you’ve got the next few steps right. To avoid resin puddling I brush the fin first with hot coat or gloss resin,if done correctly, by the time you brush the bottom of the board the resin on the fin should have run down and be smoothed out by your brush. Hope this helps, Kokua

Hi Kokua, If hot glue gun used for fin positioning, should I use glass strands/ropes with resin to reinforce it before glassing? Regards, Crabie

fin roving. when and how?

Hi Kokua,>>> If hot glue gun used for fin positioning, should I use glass strands/ropes > with resin to reinforce it before glassing?>>> Regards,>>> Crabie After getting the fin set, every thing is done in one session. Wet out the rope and apply at base of fin, then lay on your fiber glass and smooth every thing out. Doing all 3 fins at once might be a little hectic at first so you could do a fin at a time, or if you are using UV resin you can do all at one time then let the sun do the rest. I’ve been setting fins for over 40 years and since I went to UV it’s easier then ever. A little trick I do is before I hot cot the fins I baste with a layer of lam resin,makes a big difference when you sand. Aloha Kokua

Hi Kokua, Thanks for your advice. I use epoxy resin only cos here cant get poly lam/sanding resin. Few more questions needs your help: 1)hot glue the fins and position in the right place. 2)apply fin ropes to reinforce it. 3)should I wait the fin ropes cured before glassing? I have slow kick epoxy resin give me plenty of time to glass the fin. 4)how many layers of fabric should I lam on the fins? I do have both 3oz and 6oz fabric in hand. Regards, Crabie

Hi Kokua, Thanks for your advice. I use epoxy resin only cos here cant get > poly lam/sanding resin. Few more questions needs your help:>>> 1)hot glue the fins and position in the right place. 2)apply fin ropes to > reinforce it. 3)should I wait the fin ropes cured before glassing? I have > slow kick epoxy resin give me plenty of time to glass the fin. 4)how many > layers of fabric should I lam on the fins? I do have both 3oz and 6oz > fabric in hand.>>> Regards,>>> Crabie Glass rope and glass patches are applied at the same time,that way you can mold the rope to a nice curve at the fin base. 2 layers is enough,6oz first then 3oz. Aloha,Kokua

how much roving should i use for a single 8"? i have it in a roll.

how much roving should i use for a single 8"? i have it in a roll. 8 strands should do the trick for a single fin.Aloha, Kokua