How long do i need to leave it!

General Discussion
1

Sorry for the newbie question;

How long should i leave a board after glassing before i can ride it??

Im building a board over christmas when i have access to a garage, but im heading down to Cornwall for new years eve to see friends and have a surf & hopefully the first ride on the new board!

I know epoxy takes 28 days to achieve full hardness, what about polyester?? And is there any way of speeding up the process without damaging the board (elevated bake out after cure?)?

Any info would be great,

James

2

Just surf it. One method you can do is to get the board warm to about 35 C then pour some water at 2 - 4 C.

do this about 3 times. This will acelerate the cure rate by changing the molecular bond of the resin.

Most good surfers like it when the board gets pressure dings. It’s like breaking in a new pair of shoes. Your feet get planted.

Keep your shortboards light.

2.0 EPS = 2x4oz deck + 2x4oz Bottom

PU = 2x4oz deck + 1x4oz bottom

Your in England so make sure your shop is not frigid. Use a space heater and keep the area warm but not so hot you make the resin kick.

25 C is a nice room temp.

3

…the chemical reaction is: at 25 C CTE (24 hrs) takes 7 days and this is true, in the past I asked directly in 2 resin factories (Cray Valley, Erequeiroz) to the chemical guys

so if you have variations of temp, you do the math

a proved it in many situations

is really better for the board

for ex. in 1990 I did a board with supergreen foam and 1 4oz in the deck (gloss finish), and 1 4oz bottom (speed finish)

then dee guy surfed the next day; he marked the deck. 1 surfin day; But then the board was stand up in a controlled room for 1 year. After that you can punch the board and the board resist pretty well and without marks…

-the tip that surfding told you is very good

I did it many times, but with ice