Can the pros please share their methods of hot coating / gloss coating boards with glass on fins and how they prevent runs or sags down the fins. I’ve tried a number of things without success… 1. applying very thin coat on the fin but it looks to dry, and you don’t get that even flow out and shine. And 2. going back with the brush just before the resin kicks to remove the sags… but this will almost always mess with the curing process and they remain tacky, cause I guess I’ve removed the wax from the surface making them a nightmare to sand.
Mako, I’m not sure I understand… what difference does it make whether the fins are facing down versus facing up…gravity is gravity. What stops the resin sagging downward? and wouldn’t you end up with a buildup of resin hanging off the end of the fin, like you see running off your masking tape?
Because the resin drips off the fins vs pooling at the base, you cut the excess off with a razor blade, sand and polish. You are right about the buildup, but again just a quick hit with a razor.
What about doing the fins as a seperate process of its own? By laying the board on rail in shaping stands so that fin is flat. Of course this makes two steps for fin, one for each side. A hastle that production guys can’t bother with though
Ive done both methods mentioned and the by far the best way is when you are hot coating the deck. The other methid fine, jsut takes longer and you also have some hassle with runover of the reson onto the other side of the fine when horozontal
Production guys don’t hassle because they don’t do friggin’ "Glass ons’. So no sweat. If you gotta do them, do them as Mako said ; when you do the deck. Fins pointing down. Hope you are an expert sander too.
Shit. And how did I miss this little tip after all these years. I prefer glass on fins and hate filing and sanding the pond at the base of my fins. Fins then flip and hotcoat deck…Thanks. Mike
Thanks everyone for their input. Seems like fins down is the way to go. Thanks for the heads up Mako. Single and Twin fins are my limit though. Anymore than 2 fins and I insist on plugs or they can go elsewhere. I charge extra for glass ons now, if a guy insists, and they seem quite happy to pay the extra, but there is so much extra time involved compared to doing a box or fcs.
As for the sanding McDing… I used to hate sanding with a passion, but now I don’t suffer the itch problems 'cos I suit up… I kind of get into the zen of it. It’s an integral part of the process, and I’ve learnt to finesse rather than grind.
How these guys sand and polish these glass on quad and 5 fin set ups is beyond me though. Now that takes some serious skill!
Good luck with it Shane. Fins down you’ll notice how much less sanding there is to it. Yeah Quad glass-ons are a bitch, The glass shops that do glass-ons don’t charge enough either. L
It should be helpful to understand that sanding, after glassing and hotcoat, is the final step in the shaping process. For years I would ALWAYS do the final sanding on my personal boards. Major attention being focused on the tail, and fin area, of the board. It does make a difference.
Apart from all the good advice above (yes, do two layers) the best way to get good at the resin layer thing is practice, practice, practice. Learn how it drips, how it sticks, how it gels, how it flattens, timing etc.
I always liked to do good fin gloss coat finish because I was the one who sanded and polished it. With gel timing and brush work, sagging can be minimized to almost nothing , and the fins can actually be reasonable to finish sand and polish with no rub-throughs.
I used to do a ton of polishing and sanding in several Brevard factories. The worst was when a lot of guys (travelling to Bali or somewhere else down Indo way) were wanting these Byrne inspired deep channel bottomed thrusters. Sander’s and polisher’s nightmare!
Someone above gave you some good insight. It’s fine to do the fins before the deck gets hot coated (and the same if the board’s getting glossed too) BUT … giving the lightly hot coated or glossed fins just the quickest bit of sanding, so that you can double gloss them is the key to avoiding burns.
Someone else mentioned pulling your excess resin out of your brush (just use the edge of your small resin bucket) so that you don’t have runs, and, cross brush. You do this when you don’t have your brush dripping with resin, but with just a bit in the bristles. Let your last pass be horizontal to help the resin stay in place. By all means, keep your brush out of the resin once it’s even getting close to kicking. All you’ll do if you can’t resist futzing with it when it’s getting close to kicking is remove the wax … which leaves you with a sticky mess.
Production shops used to HAVE to do lots of glass on fins back in the day because that’s what a lot of guys wanted. Even with good guys working in a shop and all of them knowing what they were doing, you’d sometimes get minor pools of resin at the base of fins. That’s when you get to discover the joys of hand sanding … because you ain’t gettin’ those pools gone with your machine. Well, you might … but you’ll have done damage in your haste.
Mainly, it’s just taking the time to double gloss, make a horizontal pass your last pass (without too darn much resin in your brush) and keep yourself from mucking with your work once the resin’s close to kicking. Easy, right?
Sound advice Wildy… speaking of polishing fins… Is there anything you can share regarding this. I have no trouble polishing fins when the trailing edge is facing right, as that is the direction my sander/polisher rotates, but I have all sorts of trouble when I flip the board over and the trailing edge is facing left. My lambswool pad grabs everytime causing all sorts of drama. I’ve tried switching to foam pads and they just get butchered on the sharp edge.
Thanks JR… Some very good tips included here and combined with the above advice shoud have a much better handle on the procedure next time round. I’ve got a 70’s inspired Pintail singlefin to glass next week, so I’ll let you know how I get on.