Hi everyone. i’m in the process of adding extra glass to the front foot area of my surfboard (it needs strengthened for kitesurfing with). this forum has been a great help to me. so far the patch has been laminated and i have now to do my hot coat. as im a student and trying to save money i dont plan a gloss coat. i plan to sand the hot coat, progressing to sanding it with wet paper. the finish from that is ok, but duller than the rest of the board. is there any way to improve on that finish without using a full on compound and polisher? would car polish and a cloth or any other household kit help? im not looking for a perfect finish as the board already has a few years under its belt, but is there any way to improve on the dullness of the sanding? i had thought of even painting a very this layer of resin over the top again , this would be very shiny, but would likely fade with time.
Pictures could help us to understand the situation, anyway, if the glass job doesn’t leave too much work (resin excess, fabric crisps, irregularities on the edges, etc), I would suggest a 100 grit (not wet sanding paper) overall sanding for leveling the surface, then a 220 grit (wet one), but without water, just to smoth the 100 sanding marks. If you want a more glass like finish, use a 360 - 400 - 600 in sequence. Finally, a polisher wax (or car polish) can be applied to obtain a certain bright. Probably, some fabric marks will appear, but it’s normal, given the nature of the job. Just take care to not oversand the parts where the new glass encounters the old glass. Good luck!
my $.02 - sand area with 120, 320, 600 - wet sand with 1200. spray area with krylon crystal clear (2 thin coats, 1 thick final coat). polish with rubbing compound (i use 3m) and buffing pad. seal with dolphin skin (or other acrylic sealer). the result will not be as nice as a gloss coat, but i think it will provide you with what you are looking for.