Hello Swaylocks,
I need a little advice. To make a long story short: I have a stringerless EPS blank that I glassed with 4 oz. S-glass, 3 layers on deck, 2 on bottom and Resin Research epoxy. I don’t know what weight the blank is but it is very light. I have finished the hot coat and am about to gloss, but the thing is too soft. I stood on the board in my living room and it got a heel dent (I weigh 150 lbs.) Should I add more glass or will a thick gloss coat add any strength? Thanks for any advice. Here is a picture of the board so far:
For those of you with more time, here is a longer version of the story:
A friend of mine, who shapes professionally, gave me a shaped blank about 6 months ago. It is a stringerless EPS blank that is so light it twists in a gentle breeze. He shaped a slew of different types of blanks after Clark went away to see what he liked. This particular blank sat in his shop for months because he never planed to glass it. I’m new to board building, so he gave it to me to practice glassing. I was busy with my balsa project (http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=318494 ) so the blank sat around my shop for months as well.
I used left over Resin Research epoxy from the balsa project and 4 oz S-glass. The blank had some dings, so if filled them with spackle. The white blank and white spackle were not the same white so I added white pigment to the first layers of glass on the deck and bottom (one layer each side). This made the blank uniformly white but the pigmented epoxy drips on my floor seemed much weaker than the clear drips left over from the balsa board. I assumed (maybe incorrectly) that the pigment somehow made the resin weaker, so I opted to glass the rest of the board clear instead of red as I had originally intended.
I really wanted some color on the board, so I added red pinlines. Keep in mind this is the second board I have glassed, the first being clear free laps over balsa that turned out well. Also keep in mind that this board will be surfed in the end, but the glassing journey is purely for my learning enjoyment. So, I put down some tape and then some red-pigmented resin. I pulled the tape at the right time and realized one of my many mistakes: pinlines go AFTER a hot coat! That makes sense now after looking at a board that looks like it was drawn on by a crayon wielding 3-year old. Needless to say, the pigment went under the tape and into the weave.
So, I taped over the pinlines and rails and did a clear hot coat over the deck, then taped over the clear hot-coat and did a red hot coat on the bottom and rails, covering, ever so slightly, the original pinlines. See above picture. Now I plan to add a yellow pin line over the seam, then a gloss, but the board is soft, so I need advice. Thanks for reading this far.
-cmg