I’m glassing #2 tomorrow and have a few questions:
Grinding/sanding laps: What exactly am i doing here? how much am i sanding, grinding down? does it matter if i expose weave? What’s the point? I’m clueless here - can anyone explain?
Second question: is it all right to blow off tools and blanks with computer duster? im asking cause i dont have a compressor.
Done on first lam before next side and then on second lap line before hot coating, so you will aready be seeing weave or you’ve used too much resin in your lam.
Just feather the edge to tapper it to the foam/prev lam, like sanding a patch on a ding repair (careful not to hit the exposed foam on the first side). If doing clear? then you can baste the lap egde with a coat of resin this helps a lot with a tacky poly lam but is not needed so much with an epoxy one.
Also knock down any lumps, bumps, strings or high spots. usually concerntated around the nose tip, corners of the tail and relief cuts ( I dont bother with these)
Basicaly your just trying to get things nice and smooth for the next layer, and then for the hot coat, so theres no bunps in that, it help prevent hitting the weave around the lap line when you come to sanding the board.
Hope this helps.
I’m glassing #2 tomorrow and have a few questions:
Grinding/sanding laps: What exactly am i doing here? how much am i sanding, grinding down? does it matter if i expose weave? What’s the point? I’m clueless here - can anyone explain?
wherever you cut the lap, it will leave a ridge. you need to get rid of that ridge before glassing the other side, otherwise the glass on side #2 won’t be able to make a smooth transition around the lap from side #1. i use a 5.5" surform to take down my laps. at this point, you have not yet hotcoated the board, so all the weave should be exposed.
Second question: is it all right to blow off tools and blanks with computer duster? im asking cause i dont have a compressor.
i have a shop vac that also functions as a blower, and that was adequate enough for blowing off the blank prior to glassing. you should be able to manage with some sort of duster, though (the kind used on pool tables works okay). after you’ve cleaned off the blank as best you can, take some 2" masking tape and drag the sticky side across the blank. you’ll have to make several passes with a couple different pieces, but you’ll pick up a lot more dust.
Rather than blowing your blank, use a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment. No more foam dust in the air waiting to land again on everything, including the blank…
the wide attachment designed to suck water off the floor has a soft thin rubber squeegee built in, won’t cause dents/scrapes. Just have to hold the hose away from damaging the rails.
works well for me -it’s very qucik - two long sweeps and I’ve cleaned the whole deck/bottom. means less clean up later too
Howzit soulstice,I used the tape trick for years to get the dust off to make tape stick better for airbrushing. Then I figured that a soft round vacumm brush attached to my shop vac would work better, it does. You don't want to use the ones that come with a shop vac because the bristles are to stiff and will leave scratch grooves on the blank,use the kind that comes with a home vac.Aloha,Kokua
You don’t want to use the ones that come with a shop vac because the bristles are to stiff and will leave scratch grooves on the blank,use the kind that comes with a home vac.
yeah, i knew the one that came with my shop vac was no good…gonna have to go do some shopping!