I have been gluing up and glassing 50’s wood fins and on the last two fins and after applying the finish resin coat the glass appears to have a white haze. Does anyone know what is causing that? If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it. Aloha, bucky
Did you coat the fin with resin before you started to lam?
No I did not cost the fin with resin before the lam.
Are you using epxoy with additive F? From what I hear, the F adds a slight cloud to the resin and tends to show through more on darker boards. I see it over my redwood tail block, so I would guess it would show on a wood fin. You probaly also had multiple layers of glass/hot coat, which would compound the problem… or I could be full of $h!t.
Wipe the fin with acetone, while it's wet baste the fin with lam resin. Do this before glassing, you need to seal the wood before glassing. Some oily woods do strange things with glass and resin.
Me I cover the entire fin with sand resin real thick.....then I sand it really smooth. now it's all sealed up and I glass it with 4 oz cloth, 2 layers at a time, I do about 4 layers total. 4oz doesn't hold the bubbles like 6oz, so the fin turns out really crystal clear. Hot coat as usual and sand out.
Good information!
I am not using epxoy resin, and it looks like tbod and resin head have uncovered the root of my problem. Great advice, and I like the 4 oz glass idea. aloha
Hey bucky I've made about two fins for each board so far and I'm making single fins. I'm having a fit with the bubbles at the fin base. It's making me nuts.
Resinhead have any advice for that? Maybe save bucky some hardship if he runs into that and restore some sanity here.
I'm guessing your talking about the filet at the base where the fin meets the board.
I like use 4oz threads of glass for my rope. Make sure it fuzzed up a bit. Kick your resin just a bit slower so you have time to work with it. Saturate you rope, but don't wring it out..keep it pretty wet. lay that down. Now put your 4 oz glass patch over that......use your fingers (gloved fingers i might add) to smooth out any bubbles...keep the glove finger wet with resin...wet resin finger pulls bubbles out, dry fingers put bubbles back in, push the bubbles out...and replace with resin finger....get it? it's better to show than to tell... . Now lay more 4 oz rope, and put another patch over that.
Laminate the glass down on the flat surfaces...but use your finger of a small paint brush to work the filet area. Put a nice layer of resin over the filet area in case it wants to burp or drink, or think about making more bubbles....fricking bubbles
The trick is not to over work the resin...thats when you get the micro bubbles. Once you get the micro bubbles it's all over, you lose.... Try to be nice to the resin from the beginning...don't froth it up when you mix in the cat, and don't pull the resin out of the rope like you were trying to take the fur off a cats tail
Also bubbles come from how you tack the fin down. I use a glue gun...but a glue gun get bubbles under the fin some times. The best way (or less bubble way) is to lay a bead of lam resin down and lay the fin in that.............but most of the time I'm in a hurry, so i just use a glue gun.
Thanks resinhead. I guess cussin the resin as I stir is bad technique.
Thanks bucky for the thread time.
No, no......noooooo, any alcohol fueled rage is great for keep resin in check. Drop lot's of four letter F Bombs.....with a preference to Mother-F'er, Dick-F'er, or some semblence to that. You need to keep the resin in it's place, if not it will take advantage of you.
I like to do my resin work with a cigar in my mouth...just to show the resin who's boss. I always tell the resin..one mother-F'ing screw up and light this thing and blow the f-ing place up, you, me, everything. Ka-Boom!!