i’d like to get that nice “showroom shine” on a longboard that i’m doing for my father (although i’ll probably ride it more than the old man), but the guy i’m shaping it with has indicated that he’s had difficulty in the past getting the gloss and polish finish to come out properly. can’t figure out why?!? we’re using silmar gloss resin. any ideas as to what might not give me the effect i’m looking for? also, i came across a product called “Dolphin Skin”. it’s an acryllic sealant that supposedly gives that nice luster without hours of polishing. the application is very simple – wipe it on, wipe it off – but i’m not sure about using this acryllic sealant instead of the traditional gloss and polish. the board is a very classic style longboard (something of a cross between the Hobie Vintage and the G&S Perfecto), and i’d like to maintain that classic feel throughout the entire production of the board.
so…if anyone can give me some tips as to how to get that high gloss showroom shine, and some insight as to what we might be doing wrong, that would totally rock me. also, if someone can tell me about the ups and downs of an acryllic finish and whether or not you think this Dolphin Skin stuff is worth a shot, this would be quite spiffy as well.
Sand the board flat. Don’t go too fine, 80 or 100 grit at finest.
Make sure you’re glossing in a clean room. If there is any lacquer or acrylic around, get it out of the room and air the room out for a month or so.
Using an old, clean brush, brush the sanding dust off the board.
Run tape as wide as the board with sticky side down up and down the board to grab any dust that the brush missed. Do this 2 or 3 times.
Tape off your rail.
Is the room 70-75 degrees?
Pour the catalyzed resin on the board and, with your Purdy brush, wet it out from the middle outwards.
Cross stroke up one direction then back the other direction.
Feather stroke once.
Turn your back and walk away.
Sanding
If you can, get a variable speed sander with an ez-pull trigger. It will allow you to “walk” the sanding pad. The main reason fine grit papers gum up is they get too hot when sanded at high speeds. The paper gums and you get spirals.
If your board was shaped w/o dips, laminated and hotcoated well, sanded flat, and glossed flat in a clean, warm room , start with 400 grit and your sander reostat turned down to 1000 rpm’s or lower. A medium or soft pad. If you don’t heat up the paper, and you won’t with the reostat turned way down and flicking the trigger, you’ll feel the wax cut as you go. You’ll likely need 1 sheet per side. No need to bear down if the gloss is flat and there are a minimum of tits. Just do the flats. You won’t need to go down the rail with the 400 unless it’s a crummy gloss.
You can use one of the old pieces of 400 to sand down the bead on the rail. Do it with the machine. Slow and easy.
Repeat step 2 with 500 grit.
Fold the used 500 and wetsand the rail to break the wax.
Polishing
A big wool pad, a 5000 rpm machine or your sander turned all the way up, and some Sure Luster #2. A couple passes with this stuff and the scratches will disappear.
A small polyester pad, a slower speed, and some Meguire’s #7 or #8. This will bring out the shine.
thanks for all the info…i’ll let ya know how it turns out.
just for clarification, though…
Quote:
8. Cross stroke up one direction then back the other direction.
[indent]what exactly do you mean by this? do you mean brush from the center out to one of the rails horizontally, and then back across the center to the other rail?
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Quote:
9. Feather stroke once.
[indent]feather stroke? can you explain this technique a little more for me (this is my first…i’m a gloss coat virgin)?
Cross-stroke – Instead of brushing from nose to tail, brush across the board from nose to tail, then from tail to nose. This may only need to be done once depending on how much resin is on the board in the first place. It insures that the board is wetted out, and that any excess resin has been eliminated.
Feathering – Once you’ve cross-stroked the board, the resin, being viscous, will have inherited that brush pattern. You need to go back and brush, very lightly, the whole board from nose to tail or from tail to nose. Hold the brush light as a feather at a forward angle and run it up and down the board so that the bristles are barely touching. You’re not adding any resin at this point and, if resin is coming off the board because of your brushing, you’re holding the brush too tightly and bearing down too much. If done well, the resin will relax, so to speak, spread out evenly and flat. Ideally, as soon as it spreads flat after feathering, it will kick.
I don’t mean to step on Spence’s remarks. Everything sounds right on. I just want to be nit picky about the cross stroke thing. Cross stroke: Brushing from Rail to Rail.
Also, Lay the gloss on thick. Once you have layed the gloss on as Spence mentions, Grab under the board, and jiggle or tap it lightly for about 15 seconds. This will help speed up the smooth out of the glossing brush lines, and let the wax rise and sit faster. Caution: Don’t do this if the board is near kicking off! if you do you might get that lovely orange peal effect to your gloss.
Howzit spence, One thing I do is after sanding the board is scrub it with soap and water then rinse really good. After rinsing watch for any areas that shed water to fast, this can indicate any contamination from oily fingers or other things. If I see this happening I hit the area with some acetone and re wash. It's amazing how much sanding dust gets left in the sanding scratches. Plus there's always some sanding dust left in pins holes in the hot coat and rinsing with full blast water stream will clean those out. Just another tip. Aloha, Kokua