there was a thread recently about what could be called an “optimal” time for shaping… that got me thinking.
how much time do you spend wet sanding and polishing a glossed board? (I have two of them waiting for me to finish!!)
I saw a photo posted on the internet with this caption:
“This is _________ our polisher, wet sanding a custom
surfboard. To get the best polish ______ spends two hours on each board.”
I always figured I was on the slow side, but that sounds about in my ballpark… anyone do it a lot faster, or a lot slower? I mean, while producing a nice finish, no burn-throughs? Assume you’re doing a board in the 8-9 foot range, just for consistent answers.
[I have the same question for other steps in board-making, but let’s leave those for another thread.]
I sand the bottom to 320, and I sometimes put polish wax on the bottom by hand, or I’ve occasionally spray finished with clear acrylic. I try to get the deck such that my “sand coat” doesn’t need much, if any, sanding, and call it good.
Yeah, most of the time is in the sanding. The very best pro rubout guys I know can spend 2 hours total on a showpiece. And it all depends on the quality of the gloss coat too. Ripply gloss = more sanding.
But most production work is done in about 45 minutes.
as a board builder (included fins, airbrushing, do inlays, pinlines, stringers if it s the case, etc)
since mid 80s and doing most custom orders now,
I see that to have a show gloss finish, you need fine tools, technique and time.
(but we all discussed that in an old gloss thread that shows most of the gloss tips)
anyway,
yes, you can do a “normal” gloss work and that is good too.
less time, less effort, more money.
Sometimes depends in the quality of the resin application or “cureness” of the coat
so, if you have a perfect coat, the sand will be easier and with less steps. The farther away from the perfect coat the more steps involved to provide a show finish gloss.
Then, you have intrincated custom orders:
-all type of channels, multi finned with channels, deep concaves turning to V, very sharp tail edges, etc
all stuff that you must be very careful to avoid burns
-The fins, the fins with gloss are the most time consuming (to really avoid burns) and useless.
plus, doing the sanding between the fins (4 finned, bonzer types, places that the polisher dont fit) and with channels is very time consuming
here, we try to avoid scratches too. Why? because normally we finish those by hand; and by hand the paper scratch more than with the e tools.
Not the same to start with the first sandpaper then next and final one (3 total) than use 5 or 6 per side and by hand in the intrincated areas with (always, to avoid scratches from previous grit) 1 more finner grit (so rise to 6 or 7 grits)
Changing pads (super soft and super soft in 4" for the fins and some rails–the 4" is even “softer” and great due to the sand/polisher weight–) is more time.
If its in production, better to have 2 or 3 polishers tools ready with the pad in its.
Then the shine (luster) with the wool pad, the PU foam pad, etc
Sometimes, after you finished, you check and see some scratches here and there and you need to go back and repeat some steps to get rid of those.
well, plenty of time, but these type of boards are a bit in the pricey side so I try to (no matter if the surfer nevermind about it) provide my best job as possible.
I’ll do the major sanding on the hotcoat, then try to lay down a very thin but perfect gloss. If it comes out nice, I’ll skip the heavy grits and start with 320 or 400, and after about an hour and a half, I’m done.
I can start sanding my glosscoats at 320, then 500, then 600 using a 7" disk. On a 9’ board, I use one piece per side. I let the 320 wear down, and then go back over everything, so that’s why I have a gap between 320 - 500. Rails are done using a 5" dia x 2" thick foam pad, same sequence of paper. Any tape lines are lightly touched with 220 in a 5" random-orbit before the initial sanding. Polishing is pretty conventional for me, I use Trewax brand fiberglass compound (paste). I spend about 2 hours max for all of the sanding, then 30-45 mins for polish. I then wash the board to remove any compound residues, dry and apply car wax if it’s a premium board. All in all, I allocate about 1/2 day when planning; something always happens or there’s interuptions.
Oneula, yes, I think the same every time I do these
but you know is the way that is supposed to do
I mean, you expect that a car, for ex., have all the finishes well done and the factory do that no matter if you next street crash the car or go to beach and let rust everywhere, etc
My weak point is finishing. Luckily, I’m just making boards for myself. If I want to move to the next level, I need to pay a lot of attention to this thread.
It seems to me that there’s a big difference if you work with epoxy or poly. I have a terrible time trying to get the epoxy boards to finish up really nice, and I go through a lot more sandpaper/disks. Less problems with poly.
