Glassing... upside down.

General Discussion
1

  I'm a bit slow at glassing and I know if I get it wrong and it sets, then its screwed forever. So I glass my boards upside down.

I smooth out the fabric and then apply the mixed resin to the centre of the deck or hull. But only to within 3 inches or so from the rails.

So when it sets it forms a neat smooth central panel that holds the matt to the board.

[IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/g1.jpg[/IMG]

I put the board on a small table for the next bit.

 [IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/g2.jpg[/IMG]

So  when the deck patch sets,(usually the next day), I then wet out the rest of the matt, flatten it around the rails and then flip the board over so it rests on the deck patch thats already cured.

[IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/g21.jpg[/IMG]

 With the wet matt over the rails,it leaves me plenty of time to make sure it conforms to the underside of the rail without bending over time and time again to see whats happening. 

 [IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/g22.jpg[/IMG]

 It also makes it more comfortable to attend to the laps that should be under the board.

 I can also mix up less resin and then I can just do the left or right side rail and then come back and do the other side.  

 [IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/g3.jpg[/IMG]

 So I can glass at my own speed not bothering about resin going off in the tub as well as doing it more comfortably and do it with the care I want to.

 Im sure theres many reasons why its wrong, but it works for me. Might also work for beginners too....

 

2

 

Interesting,  How many have you done that way?  PE or epoxy?  That is why UV cure is better for long working times.  I would think the edges of the cured area would be semi-saturated, and prevent a good fresh saturation on the next pour.  I guess the fill/hot coat would cover it though.  I will keep the technique in mind for future diabolical experiments.

 

Sickdog

3

Thanks Sickdog, and maybe 20 or 30 boards, all epoxy.

 It allows you to just mix up any amount of resin and  just use that amount and come back with more any time later.

  I take a bit of care to make sure the edges are either saturated or not, a little tension on the cloth keeps it flat too while it cures.

 Its good for complex curves like these channels in rails, that are also in the fourth pic of the top post ...


4

Wow, those rails are a another new concept to me also.  I just thought my vison was blured the first time I saw your work in the rail photos.  Nice first polish too!

 

Sickdog

5

Those rails are awesome. Please elaborate on the ‘whats’ , ‘whys’, and ‘hows’ of those rails.

IE: What was the reasoning behind those rails, why did you do it like that, how do they work?

6

Paipo?

7

Paipo yes, the rails channels are an attempt to give grip to finless craft, bodyboards/paipos.

 Ive tried sticking things onto boards but in the end I think the solution will be from some sort of channel/groove/slot or series of same.... like in the 1st diagram below.

 Heres a few more attempts....








8

Thin, knifey, parallel rails (like on ply paipos) not doing it for you?

It was a brave experiment, but glueing cats onto bodyboards was a bit of a dead end! LOLs

9

gadgetuk, the best paipo I have is a 1/4 in flat ply with aluminium fins (see below)

The planshape I adapted from all the old paipo pics with the WP behind 1/2 way because it allows the board to turn where the rider turns.. from the hips. Modern bodyboard planshapes have the WP up the front which does nothing to facilitate turning.

The paipos rails are square, knifey and while they have some grip, but Ive been looking for a technique / design / add-on that would give a finless craft the same or similar grip / hold / drive that finned boards have.

 Ive tried lots of channel /concaves but channels can track and concaves seem to dilute the lift that you get from a flat bottom.With concaves Ive had less success with tapered or divergent concaves. And channels need to be at least 10 mm deep to be effective.

 This led me to try all sorts of ideas including the grey screw-on side panels ( Orange cat) That led me to do the more restrained and slimmer 'ventilated rails' version in the post above, which worked quite well.

 But it feels like its all about cant and toe-out to get it up to an acceptable level.

 Certainly the "Cat" panels were too big and I planned to reshape them after each test-surf, but they tore off on the first wave. But they did provide feedback that told me that the area has to be less and the way they were tilted in towards the middle of the board ( See angle C in diagram below)  was wrong. Even with just a few turns I could tell the tilted-in panels gave a very strong 'scoop' effect that was not controlled or moderate.

 Ive used many fins with a straight upright stance, angle B , and that feels quite neutral with a bit of snap. Ive tried board with the standard toe out , angle A , but angle B seems more responsive for paipos/ bodyboards.

 Heres a few pics of other things Ive tried, the blue fins were standard surfboard size but they were too big /dominant.

 The best fins I have for paipos are these aluminium ones below that have the right area, base length and angle, IMHO.