Can anyone help out with some information? Im trying to glass a longboard eps blank and cant seem to distinguish between good and bad advice right and wrong. To start with what type of spackle do i use and how heavy? How many layers of cloth on each side, do i lay these on top of one another and resin over them at the same time or one layer at a time? After glassing do i sand or just knock down drip marks and bumps? What mixtures do i use? Thanks in advance for any help.
Here's what I do and I never have any problems with my EPS boards.
1) Buy DAP fast n Final. in the red top bucket. kind of expensive, but it's really light weight
2) mix the fast and final with distilled water. mix it till it's like mayonaise
3) spread it on thin with a bondo spreader, let it dry, then sand smooth with 150 or 220 till you hit the top of the eps. The FnF is only supposed to fill the voids between the eps beads. it's not a float coat over the top of the eps.
4) Depending on how durable you want the board, and what lb the eps. For 1.5 lb use 2x 6 oz top, 1x 6 oz bottom. For 2 lb eps use 2x4 with a 1x 4 bottom. If you want more durable then use 6oz for the 2lb eps.
5) you should be able to wet out a 2x regular fiberglass cloth. If you are using fancy cloth like impact cloth then you might need to roll one layer back...wet out, then roll the other layer back and wet out the top.
Most problems come from wrong stringer material, poor mixing of epoxy, poor lamination skills, poor sanding technique. The build schedule above will net out a lightweight, medium durability surfboard.
Nice RH
Yeah... do what resinhead says. Type in the following search string into Google to get a complete listing of his postings, minus all of his ranting posts about seals.
resinhead epoxy -seals site:swaylocks.com
You should also get Greg Loehrs Epoxy 101 video.
No need to “sand” the lamination. Just fair the edge of the lap. You shouldn’t have drips if you do a good lam job. I take it a step further and scratch the lamination with 80 grit before hotcoating. Make sure you wear gloves when you handle the board, or your next post will be asking how to get rid of fisheyes.
Resinhead's advice is solid...
make sure the spackle is DRY before you move on to the next step...
Stingray posts some solid tips here ...
It looks like you've got some really good advice today.
2lb EPS :2x4oz Top and 1x4oz bottom for a longboard !!.
2x4oz on spackle 2lb EPS dent a lot no ?.
I found that epoxy/cab-o-sil past as first coat on blank when lam give a stronger skin against dent for not so much weight. But not good look.
Sorry for my frenglish.
Hello Lemat.....
Clark Foam closed. People like me went out and bought 2# EPS foam and learned to make surfboards with it. About 3 years later we found out that the foam was closer to 1.75. It's a long story. Some people actually have 1.5 foam and think it's 2#.
Today people like Resinhead are shaping true 2# foam. The range of EPS foam I've seen in the last few years is amazing.
For a longboard go with the 6 oz. There's a good chance your 2# foam is not really 2#.
My 2# is sold to be 1,9# (30kg/m3). I weight some blocks and foam it’s between 30 and 28,5 kg/m3.
I use an EPS US blanks and do some test with sample (static water intrusion, compression) and my foam (from atuacores) is really near.
Many here in France use it and lam without sealing with no problem. I repair many boards with light lam (like 2x4oz on deck) because they over dent and crack along stringer and hotcoat (often polyester) peel off. I think that it’s better to save weight on stringer and to put a bit more glass and if possible low crimp fiber in multiaxial way.
But i an just a garage shaper so…
Sorry for my frenglish
My standard build is #2 lb EPS (which is slightly less in reality) with 2x6 deck and 6 bottom. That’s the advantage of EPS… you can build a stronger board that lasts longer for the same or slightly LESS weight as PU/PE 2x4 deck 4 bottom. That’s what I’m after. But the shape’s gotta be right to get the performance you want because the 6oz all around will stiffen the board.
But if your after the lightest board possible, and don’t care about durability, go with the standard PU/PE glass bill over EPS. I believe the standard PU blank in the normal shortboard density, and #2 EPS flex about the same unglassed.
I’ve never heard of spackle - any explanation of what it is?
I assume it’s to seal the voids in the eps, do you really need it?
It’s a cheap lightweight filler commonly used by painters in prep work. No it isn’t necessary. It’s optional. Search the archives, been discussed plenty, even inspired a few brawls IIRC.