Ive finally got the eletric planer/shaping down… i seem to almost always ruin my perfect shapes when it comes time for the glassing… my laps go down fine… but always seem to come undone as the resin sets… i dont know if its my resin… dust i missed on the board or other factors… maybe im cutting my laps to short… i usually leave a 1.5" - 2"… and for some reason (most likely my inexperience with glassing) the laps always bubble up and fray apart… esp. in the tail sections of my 70’s style twins with big fish tails…any tips would be much appreciated!! thanks all!
Practice, practice, and even more practice.
One day you will wonder what all the fuss was about.
Hey puravidasurf,
sounds like you need to be sure that your laps are wet enough before tucking them in. The size of the laps sounds about right, maybe even too big. If your laps are springing back, then they could be short. If your laps are just peeling off then it could either be that your laps are too dry or the blank not dusted-off well enough.
Once you tuck a wet lap, you can “dry” it up until the texture is just right. Use your spreader to pull away excess from the blank and from the lap itself. Most spreaders/squeegees have a sharp side which is for doing things like this.
Lastly, all strokes with the spreader are also “tightening” the glass job, much like tightening a drum head. This tightening carries over to the laps as well. Start by pulling straight down at the center and then outward toward the nose and tail from the center. The last foot or so of the lap is actually pulled the other way (kind of down and away from the nose or tail). The fact that the lamination is pulled tight like this really keeps it in place.
HTH,
George
And just to really irritate you, if they aren’t too dry, they could also be too wet.
If you have too much resin in your laps, they will be too heavy & sag away from being tucked up just because of gravity. Being too wet will also make the glass float up on the resin which can make it come off too as well as decreasing strength & increasing the risk of sand-throughs…
thanks for the suggestions guys… i glassed another board today and this time i used the air compressor to blow the dust off… i took care not to miss any spots, and the laps went down alot better… starting at the middle helped alot also… tight and light!