say, for example, i’m glassing a board with a red tinted bottom and a yellow tinted deck, and i want the cutlap on the deck to show the red a few inches in from the rails. so i glass the bottom red and do a nice clean cutlap. but then, how do i glass the deck so that the yellow doesn’t wrap out around the rails? if i overlap the yellow over the red, won’t it screw up the color? so how do i keep the yellow deck with red rails and bottom? should i cut the glass to fit the deck inside the cutlap, glass that yellow, and then do another layer of glass wrapped over the rails in a clear, non-tinted resin? what is the proper procedure for achieving the finish i’m looking for? thanx…
Most boards are simply sprayed. The deck inlay method you describe is the way to do it with colored resin the lamination. Use a rail marking tool and good tape.
i’m aware of that, but that’s not what i’m asking. when doing a 2-color resin tint (different colored bottom and deck), i want the bottom color to continue up around to the deck, but i don’t want the deck color to interfere with the bottom. doing the cutlap is no problem, but how do i keep the deck color inside the cutlap from the bottom?
You more less answered your own question. The way you described it is what you would do if you wanted to tint the resin. Glass bottom, cut lap, then tape the very edge of the red lap, glass the deck with one layer of yellow tinted resin, trim that off in the same manner as a cut lap. After that has cured then glas the top overlapping to the bottom rail with clear resin. Be careful if you are using volan cloth, because it will turn the red rail a sightly darker shade of red.
Otherwise you could spray the deck yellow and then glass clear.
When using tinted resin, you will always have a different color where two differening colors overlap (unless the tint is opaque). In this case, red and yellow make orange. So if you glassed it wih yellow on the deck, then you’d have orange rails.
thanks for the response. the way i imagined was the only one that really seemed feasible to do it. i was just curious to know if that was the way it is actually done or if there is some other way that i hadn’t considered. thanks for backing up my logic…i appreciate it.
you could do the cutlap on the bottom and then just tape off the deck area and tint the foam with yellow tinted resin, let it harden and tehn glass as usual, over the yellow tint.
This is my method. Do your red bottom lam with a cut lap rails, just like you mentioned. Flip the board deck up. Surform the new cut lap lightly, and push the edge into the foam with your thumb or stick. Now lay some kind good tape around the new fresh cut lap, and cover the rails with a heavy butcher paper to prevent bleeding. Now lay the cloth out and cut it like a deck lam, just to the break in the rail. Laminate it just like the bottom lam, except when your done you cut the tape line just like the bottom lam, and you have a perfect inlayed color top. If you have any bleeding its only on the rail color lam and you can clean it up with a little Acetone and rag action or a surform. Now do a full top free lap with clear to cover the cut lap line and give it more strength. Once that is done, you lay a pin line over the joint there the two colors meet, usually 1/8 inch or so. Lot of work, but looks great.
but just out of curiosity, is it still necessary to grind down the lap line even though another layer of glass is put down to fill the void? also (i think i already know the answer, but just to confirm…), would using volan treated cloth on that final layer on the deck that wraps around the rails darken up the tints that it covers? and one more things…i always do my resin pin lines on top of the hot coat. are you suggesting that i lay the resin pins over the lam coat, before the hotcoat? does it matter one way or the other? thanks…
Look closly at any adds, pictures etc. that you can find, Longboarder, SJ etc. I think you will see that the common production or factory method involves painting the deck the lighter color(in your case yellow) and then an opaque tint with a cut-lap on the bottom. Pinlne on the sanded hot-coat to coverup, the lap on the deck. An “old school” way of doing it strictly with tint or pigment is to glass the deck first with the lighter color using tint. Then glass the bottom with a nice cut-lap using an opaque. Mix the opaque dark enough to cover the lighter color. If you are worried about coverage, sample your colors on an old scrap of glass before you layup. McDing
Grinding down the cut lap edge is just part of the process i do everytime. I think it imperative that you get a smooth transition from glass to foam everytime. If you have a big ridge and lay cloth over it you get two things, 1) a bubble line where your glass meets, 2) a big ridge that asking to be sanded through. If your looking not to lay a pinline down when your done, then you have to grind the cut lap down some or, you’ll have a bubble line around your cut lap and you’ll be pissed off when you gloss it and all these bubbles start showing up in the lamination. But then thats what pinlines were invented for!
I would recommend using regular 6 oz cloth on the last deck lamination because you can free lap it, and it’s clear. But if your bent on using Volan then you need to do another tape and cut lap job on the bottom.
Your doing your pinlines right, Yeah it matters a lot, if you try to do it on the lamination coat, the’ll bleed all over the place, They need to be applied to a smooth pin hole free surface sanded to 220 grit. They go over the sanded hot coat once the board is in its final sanded phase and ready to be glossed.
I agree with Jay on the lap grinding. Because of the two colors, you need to be careful on the lap line. What I do is wait until the bottom lam is fairly cured and then baste the line with clear lam resin. I mask about 1/2" from the line all around the cutlap before basting. Leave the tape in place to protect the foam when you grind it. I use a air die grinder and 2" #60 disk. I would then proceed as Jay outlined, but I recommend another cutlap on the bottom. This may seem like a lot of extra work, but if you want a 1/4" or less wide pinline, this is the way to do it. Unless you want a special color from the volan + tint, there’s no real reason to use volan if pigmented.
I am amazed at how many folks know how to answer these questions correctly nowadays.Two years ago there was not much info on this.Swaylocks has really grown.Don’t forget that if you are going to put a Label (lam) on the deck do it between the tinted inlay and the last clear lamination.Ironically this three step lamination method is good for beginners even if the board is clear…getting bubbles(pin air) out of two layers of 6ounce can be tricky for a newbie,especially on a longboard.There is some controversy about the resin to glass ratio but it has worked fine for me.I actually tend to think it makes the deck stronger but thats just my opinion I guess.I never use superlight foam. RB
Mr. Clean, you’ve been the catalyst of all of us backyard builders getting better. You are the Master and we are the Weedhoppers,…When you can snatch this squeegee from my hand weedhopper, you will be a glasser. I can finally say that I can produce as professional looking product as anybody, and its all because of your help (and others) Thanks for sharing the little secrets over the years. ( I have to stop typing because I’m getting all teary eyed, thanks, sniff sniff)
These guys know what they are talkining about. Listen-up and you’ll get it. Go out on your own, trying to be creative and you may be sellin’ that board at a garage sell for the cost of materials. McDing