Is there any problems with having a shaped blank sit for period of time before glassing. (several weeks)
Dust!!! Get some dry cleaners clothing bags and cover that blank to keep the dust, bugs, etc. off. Nothings worse than having to “clean” a previously shaped board. Quick horror story, I’ve been working in a friends garage and left a finished longboard blank on the racks for about a week. Evidently he has a mouse or two, and one of them has some gastro-intestinal problems. I went in to glass it and the rat had crapped all over the deck. I couldn’t lightly sand it out as it had stained the foam well past the surface.
Thats the shits!
I’ve always felt that the shaped blank is more prone to twisting and moisture absorption. The other problems have been mentioned- contamination or damage. I have a large crow get in my glassing room before I glassed a longboard. He left all kinds of footprints and droppings on that board. I try to laminate ASAP after shaping then sometimes it will sit until I’ve synced up the hotcoat/fins etc. with another board. Switching to SunCure UV catalyst has helped in the pre-lamination anticipation I used to go through. (sounds like some adv. copywriter could come up with some great Swayaholic’s confessions here!) Tom>>> Is there any problems with having a shaped blank sit for period of time > before glassing. (several weeks)
Smoke…I agree with Tom…seems that when you skin a new blank, it appears to be more susceptible to twist and moisture when you take that outer crust off. If you have to leave your shaped blank for some time, dry cleaning bags are a good idea (they must breathe, though). I throw a few packets of silica gel in there when I’m paranoid (am currently living in the northeast and the autumn temps can vary 40 degrees, some days{condensation!!!}). If you’re storing your shaped blanks outside - in your garage, and not inside your house - as always - keep 'em away from heat generating sources. Glass as soon as possible if you’re able. (best policy to avoid gouges and other mishaps like the aforementioned “critters”)…In Hawaii, it’s the “747’s” and the geccos!
I’m currently in the midst of this problem: I’ve left two almost-complete blanks on my racks in my garage. They’ve been there for a few weeks. One night, I went in and noticed a bunch of insect wings on the deck of one, then I noticed a few small, pencil-lead-sized holes in the foam. I knew that wasn’t where I had placed my little nails for measurement marks, so I inspected closer. I saw a tiny brown thing moving around in one of the holes. My instant thought: Termites! Fortunately the holes were no deeper than about 1/4-inch, which wasn’t too bad on a 3.5-inch thick 10-footer blank. I took the ink-tube out of a ball-point pen, poked it in the holes (perfect size!), got the bug stuck up inside the ink tube, and pulled it out…and pinched its little demon head! After fishing out about three termites from one blank, I figured I’d better cover my blanks up. I used some towels and stuff, thinking that I just neeed to cover the deck surfaces. That worked for a few days. But just the other night, I uncovered them to make sure, and to my horror, I saw several more termite wings after lifting up one of my towels. This time I caught two in the act! One had drilled a little hole almost completely through the foam on the thin nose on my 6’5" blank. The other was nearby…right in the middle of the stringer! Fortunately, the basswood was harder for them to drill into, and the hole was really shallow, but I’ll still have to fill it. I’m thinking about using brown wood glue, maybe mixed with a little sawdust, to fill up the hole in the stringer. I’ll probably use spackle to patch up the holes in the foam. Any other ideas??? HELP! BTW, now I’ve got the blanks covered up a lot better. But I’m still going to get some of those dry-cleaner bags to cover them up. So just a caution: Definitely cover your blanks up NICE AND TIGHT if you’re going to let them lay around a while. This was the longest time I’ve let blanks stay in my garage…and I won’t let any stay in there this long again without taking precautions!
Wow! I’ve never heard of termites going after foam. Of a more serious concern, where are they coming from? I’d be checking the garage and house very carefully for wings, holes and droppings. Sorry - I know this is supposed to be surfboard related but…
i had a shaped longboard in my garage for about a week and same thing, came out there and saw a set of tiny little wings sticking out of the blank as it burrowed its way into the foam. i know the garage has termites but had no clue they liked foam. thought it would be kinda cool to glass him in there(dead of course), but it was actually a friends blank. i use bubble wrap sheets taped together on the sides, it comes in 24" wide rolls(and wider i’m sure) and works better than cleaner bags for storage/transport.
Wow! I’ve never heard of termites going after foam. Of a more serious > concern, where are they coming from? I’d be checking the garage and house > very carefully for wings, holes and droppings. Sorry - I know this is > supposed to be surfboard related but… One of the very few advantages of being a renter instead of an owner… I believe the bugs are only in the rafters of the garage, although they’ve also gone after the patio wood (It’s completely destroyed). Haven’t noticed any inside the house. It seems they can get in anywhere there’s crawl space for them, but they can’t get in anywhere that’s really sealed…unless they’re desperate, then they’ll eat through anything I guess. Also, I may note that most of the termites I salvaged out of the foam were already dead. It seems they probably can’t digest foam. I also noticed they liked Classic weight better than Superblue. Maybe the more-dense texture is a little more like wood.??? Maybe it’s just my imagination.??? Any entomologists out there?
I’m currently in the midst of this problem: I’ve left two almost-complete > blanks on my racks in my garage. They’ve been there for a few weeks. One > night, I went in and noticed a bunch of insect wings on the deck of one, > then I noticed a few small, pencil-lead-sized holes in the foam. I knew > that wasn’t where I had placed my little nails for measurement marks, so I > inspected closer. I saw a tiny brown thing moving around in one of the > holes. My instant thought: Termites! Fortunately the holes were no deeper > than about 1/4-inch, which wasn’t too bad on a 3.5-inch thick 10-footer > blank. I took the ink-tube out of a ball-point pen, poked it in the holes > (perfect size!), got the bug stuck up inside the ink tube, and pulled it > out…and pinched its little demon head!>>> After fishing out about three termites from one blank, I figured I’d > better cover my blanks up. I used some towels and stuff, thinking that I > just neeed to cover the deck surfaces. That worked for a few days. But > just the other night, I uncovered them to make sure, and to my horror, I > saw several more termite wings after lifting up one of my towels. This > time I caught two in the act! One had drilled a little hole almost > completely through the foam on the thin nose on my 6’5" blank. The > other was nearby…right in the middle of the stringer! Fortunately, the > basswood was harder for them to drill into, and the hole was really > shallow, but I’ll still have to fill it.>>> I’m thinking about using brown wood glue, maybe mixed with a little > sawdust, to fill up the hole in the stringer. I’ll probably use spackle to > patch up the holes in the foam. Any other ideas??? HELP!>>> BTW, now I’ve got the blanks covered up a lot better. But I’m still going > to get some of those dry-cleaner bags to cover them up. So just a caution: > Definitely cover your blanks up NICE AND TIGHT if you’re going to let them > lay around a while. This was the longest time I’ve let blanks stay in my > garage…and I won’t let any stay in there this long again without taking > precautions! Deeb, when I had my factory in lovely Cocoa, Fla., my termite ridden place would explode come spring. One day I came in to find not only termites burrowing into the foam, paper towel, toilet paper, but the Palmetto Roaches eating away the foam to get these tasty protein morsels. The roaches would go as deep as neccesary to dig them out. This was the day of day glo air sprays and no amount of color could cover the carnage.
Holy crap, DEEB…after reading your story, I’m tying up my bags. P.S. I’m investing in sentricon, and you should too! (I get da kine chicken skin.) P.P.S…ever seen what a rotten squirrel can do to a blank?! Oh, the humanity!
Roaches like red paint on the blanks(they will eat it off!)and the silver fish like yellow.Herb.