Have attempted two boards, and have sanded straight through my glass-job !!
the tutorial dvd i got, does a real brief explanation of how to sand and is really quite useless, can anyone give me some steps, or hints of how to do a nice job ?
…move the sander
i've only glassed and sanded four boards so far. first one was a complete disaster- sand throughs and patches everywhere. second one i had a couple of sand throughs but no where near as bad as the first. Third one only one sand through that was caused by a bubble in the lam coat. the fourth, no sand throughs. I think it just takes a bit of getting used to and getting a feel. as rogue state said never leave the sander still.
I have also learnt over 4 boards, making sure the step before is perfect makes the next step easier. ie sanding is easier if you have a good, even hot coat, good even hot coat you need good lams, good top lam you need to grind your bottom lap nicely, good bottom lam cut your glass neatly etc etc. the better you do each step, the easier the next step is.
Few tips to help you out:
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Keep the sanding pad flat and moving at a constant pace
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Hand sand the nose area
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Use a variable speed sander. Start slow until you get your mojo going then you can increase speed.
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Use Powerpads. They’re made for sanding surfboards. Medium density pad for 80 -150 grits on deck and bottom. Soft pad for 220 grit +
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Hand sand rails.
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Let the sander, pad, and sandpaper do the work. With more aggressive grits like 80 you are just knocking down high spots in the hotcoat and flattening it all out. Don’t try to get all the shinys out - you’ll burn through. The other grits will get them, if not hit them by hand sanding.
An easy sand job starts with a clean shape, clean glass job (no bumps or bubbles, especially on lap line) and a good hotcoat. Use more hotcoat resin if you need to and let it self level…
Hope this helps
~Brian
im on the lookout for a sander polisher at the moment, what size pads are you guys using that you find best
…one thing that I think is not covered in the archives is the fact that sanding process depends on what type of finish the board will have.
If you sand to put a gloss coat (buffed or not) on top, you can and must sand with coarser grit
if you sand to speed finish the board, start to the less agressive still coarse grit and change a bit the technique.
if you sanding the hot coat to not put anything on top better to have a fine technique, and fine everything
Howzit pirate, yep every time it gets easier and they come out better. Most board builders don't like to sand but I used to love it. When I first started in the business I didn't have to sand because we had a sander at the factory but when I went solo the only sander was me,so I just taught myself and in the end the boards came out nice and my shapers were happy. Aloha,Kokua
for sure kokua, i'm just getting stoked cause each one is coming out better and better. i don't mind it either, i love how the board starts to feel "finished" once you get those shinies out.
digger i use the 6 inch pads from shapers.com.au . i only use a medium and a soft, i think i'm still a little heavy handed for the hard pad. 6 inch is plent big for a shortboard. might want to get a 7 inch if you do a lot of long boards.
listen to Brian, he said it all!
my advice… do a good hot/filler coat with the right resin with the correct amount of wax in styrene. After you do the fillercoat, take out the drops, if you leave them you´ll have to sand them afterwards. Take your time to put the masking tape and pay attention to te tail.
Sanding: Take your time, only use the sander for the bottom and deck, don´t touch the rails with 100-120 grit. don´t trust the machine. It´s better doing it by hand (rails), if you have done a good hotcoat there will be no need of using the machine (if you´re a beginner). It will take you more time but it is much safer.
Move the sander always.
If you´re using fin plugs or boxes, watch out for the fin patches, it´s very common to see boards that have been sanded thru the glass.
I would recomend 8 inch pads for the flat zones, bottom, deck, and 6 inch por fins and deck nose rockers. I like the PowerPads, I use medium density (red) for 120 grit, and soft density (yellow) for 220 and +.
Howzit slash,I use a Ferro 8" soft pad to do rails and they work really well for it plus they are a lot faster than doing it by hand. Aloha,Kokua
yes, I also do it with the machine. My comment was for the beginner who is sanding his first, second or third board. ! :)
Cheers!
Howzit slash, Glad to hear it since that means you know what you are doing when it comes to sanding a board. I always found it was better to bring a wanna be sander into my sanding room and show him how to do it with a machine and give him an old beater and let him work on that for a bit since If you get a newbie to do it by hand ,he may get scared to use a machine and never want to use one because he thinks about all the bad things that can happen when using a power grinder. Aloha,Kokua
Great Advice, thanks guys