Glossing

Hey, anyone help me here? I’ve made a number of my own boards (100+/-) but I’ve never done a gloss coat. I’m making my first longboard and want to gloss it. Can anybody here step by step me through the procedure? After the hotcoat I assume I’ll sand it to 100 grit. But do I need to sand finer or just gloss it after the 100? Then with the gloss coat I know I need to ultimately buff it with a polishing compound but what sanding steps are required first? What grits of paper? Wetsanding? Any other secrets I should know? Anyone?

Hey, anyone help me here? I’ve made a number of my own boards (100+/-) but > I’ve never done a gloss coat. I’m making my first longboard and want to > gloss it. Can anybody here step by step me through the procedure? After > the hotcoat I assume I’ll sand it to 100 grit. But do I need to sand finer > or just gloss it after the 100? Then with the gloss coat I know I need to > ultimately buff it with a polishing compound but what sanding steps are > required first? What grits of paper? Wetsanding? Any other secrets I > should know? Anyone? Here’s what I do. 1. Sand the board, sometimes to 80 grit, but 100 is better, I don’t go any smoother because the gloss resin is bonding with the grooves left from sanding, not chemically to the laminate. 2. Tack rag the board with a rag to get the dust off, don’t blow it down where you are glossing. 3. Tape off the rails, tape off all important parts, like leash cups and fin boxes 4. Prepare tools, measure out resin, if your gloss resin has sat for a while mix it up. 5. Tack rag board again. 6. Add catalyst to resin and mix. I shoot it off really hot. 7. Apply Resin with high quality brush. 8. Let gel, pull tape, and let cure until you can touch it and not leave finger prints, about an hour depending on catalyst amount used and temperature. 9. Flip board over and repeat. 10. Sand with wet/dry paper. I start with 320 on the grinder and work up to 600. The 320 gets most of the wax and bumps out the rest just smooths it. 11. With a random orbital and 320 paper I take down the seam on the rail then wet sand the rails with 320 to 600. 12. Then I dab the board with sureluster surfboard polish in a grid pattern and buff out to high gloss. That is pretty much it. If anybody knows a faster way I would love to hear about it. Matthew Weaver

Matt’s step are great. Addition. I haven’t heard many of you guys give this tip: to avoid gloss coats zits, strain the gloss resin thru a panty hose. It lets you start with 320 and not have to scrape zits with a razor blade or work out the zits with the 320–thus ensuring not sandi9ng thru gloss resin. Another tip. Use two steps in buffing: a good cutting compound and then a finishing compound to get that shiny gloss. PS. Gloss coats are a elbow grease intensive anyhow.

true or not?

true or not? Not sure on that, however I try to catalize the resin so it gels within 20 minutes or so of being applied. Not always having had a climate controled environment this at times has led to necessity of using a lot of catalyst. I have had boards that did not catalize in a timely manner and gravity caused the gel coat to slide and crack as it cured. Not a happy experience. Even if over catalizing gloss resin weakens it you still have to remember that it is a non structural coating. The strength of the board comes from the laminate. Matthew

true or not? …What will more commonly happen if you set it off too hot is …the gloss coat will ripple,looking like plowed fields.Try to gloss in temps under 80%F.Also cut your gloss resin 50/50 with sanding resin or just use sanding resin thinned with styrene.THIS WILL HELP YOU in contolling your surface.ALWAYS REMEMBER…HAPPINESS IS A CLEAN GLOSSING BRUSH!!!Herb. p.s.Use a better quality brush blond or white bristle.

I have found that any air movement will also cause those ripples.

Also,make sure that the board is level this will give you a better chance of an even coat.Make sure you use a healthy amount of resin,it’s better to have too much than too little!Herb.

Thanks for all the tips and help, guys. I much appreciate it.

Thanks for all the tips and help, guys. I much appreciate it. The best environment is: minimize air flowing into the room as it can cause ripples and blow dust onto the gloss, lock out the bugs, goe thick on the coat but don’t over brush it-quick quick brushing and cross strokes and a final length-wise run, Get the board level but we all know the resin drips at the nose and tail-that is another reason to go sorta hot on the cat., and here is a really good tip, mix the resin and cat really well or you’ll get non-cat. streaks that apear glossy and uncured–sticky stuff. Tip number? don’t be too quick to remove the tape. Make sure the resin start turning opaque, then remove the tape. Scrape the bead(when dry) with a razor or an old stringer plane.

Just one more… I’ve found that wearing rubber gloves helps while doing the final pre-gloss sanding. I’ve had a few spots where the gloss resin ran off where I believe I’d left some sort of greasy finger print. That was even after I’d tack ragged it. Also when smoothing down the masking tape “apron” - be careful about greasy finger prints along the tape line.