im going to be glassing my first board. ive seen pictures of a boards with the fibre glass looking 'dry',like all the resin has been squeegeed off. is this what is best? should i leave it wet??
thanks!!
Not too dry, not too wet. Wet it out completely and pull the resin out....just don't pull out so much that air gets into the weeve.
You have to wet out the glass and wet the foam. Then pull out resin until you can see the tops of the glass, but there is still resin in the weave. It shouldn't be so dry that you can see between the glass strands right down to foam.
Better to leave it a little wet - then you need less of a hot coat. If too dry, the hot coat may not fill well and you'll have pinholes. Those are a bitttch, DAMHIK.
What is more trouble is figuring out how much of the $50/gallon lam resin to use, and that's where UV cure is worth the extra few bucks. Glass in the garage, save what you don't use, it'll be good for the next lam as long as you keep it in a fairly dark place. Since you don't say how big a board, or what weight glass, I won't advance any noise about how much resin you should expect to use.
Also, it will be well worth it if you have someone standing by to help you, and show you a few things on your first job. Again, UV cure is your friend because it gives you a lot of time to do the job. Youtube videos will demonstrate proper technique if you're paying attention.
With UV resin, I pour it straight from the can. Spread it out, and if I need some more, just pour it on. No waste. Might not be a good idea in production where time is money. When I’m glassing, its for fun, so I’ve got all the time I need.
Once it hits the bucket and the board, its contaminated and shouldn’t be put back in the can with the new. Also, once its aired out, and outgassed its solvent, it gets thicker. Doesn’t spread around as nicely.