Inlay ???

I was wondering how to do a inlay job? Do you lay it on the foam or between the two layers of top glass? Is the inlay cotton that i see at sites like sun cure? Just wondering, because i like the jobs that i’ve seen on this boards site and was wanting to try one myself. Thanks guys and keep up the super work. Thanks, Stephen Berube

Stephen: The cloth inlays are laid directly on the foam on many cases. Choose a fabric (usually all cotton) that has stable colors proven by testing with your resin and squeegee techniques. There are several different techniques used. I prefer to the area out on the foam with light pencil or scribe lines that the fabric will cover and tape it off as you would a cut lap. You can either lay your fabric over the area and cut to the line or if the fabric won’t allow this, lay paper instead and trace a pattern on to it. Transfer the pattern to the fabric and cut it out to the line or just short of the mark (the fabric stretches some once you wet it out). Many times your fabric inlay is placed symmetrical in relation to the stringer so you can fold your cloth in half and use a 1/2 pattern to be more precise. Cut with a razor, sharp scissors or better yet a fabric cutting wheel. You can prewet the foam or just squeegee some fabrics as you would fiberglass cloth and lay it precisely inside the lines you laid out. Watch carefully for air bubbles and dry spots, any imperfections are going to be magnified when you lay your cloth over the top. If you chose to trim your cloth after you laminated it down, do it after the resin gels a bit, the cloth shouldn’t move as you use your razor blade. Remember that after you glass and hotcoat you will end up using pinlines to cover this cut edge, so make it as accurate as you can and avoid threads and frays. Guess that is about it. Good luck. Tom S. > I was wondering how to do a inlay job? Do you lay it on the foam or > between the two layers of top glass? Is the inlay cotton that i see at > sites like sun cure? Just wondering, because i like the jobs that i’ve > seen on this boards site and was wanting to try one myself. Thanks guys > and keep up the super work. Thanks, Stephen Berube

Stephen:>>> The cloth inlays are laid directly on the foam on many cases. Choose a > fabric (usually all cotton) that has stable colors proven by testing with > your resin and squeegee techniques. There are several different techniques > used. I prefer to the area out on the foam with light pencil or scribe > lines that the fabric will cover and tape it off as you would a cut lap. > You can either lay your fabric over the area and cut to the line or if the > fabric won’t allow this, lay paper instead and trace a pattern on to it. > Transfer the pattern to the fabric and cut it out to the line or just > short of the mark (the fabric stretches some once you wet it out). Many > times your fabric inlay is placed symmetrical in relation to the stringer > so you can fold your cloth in half and use a 1/2 pattern to be more > precise. Cut with a razor, sharp scissors or better yet a fabric cutting > wheel. You can prewet the foam or just squeegee some fabrics as you would > fiberglass cloth and lay it precisely inside the lines you laid out. Watch > carefully for air bubbles and dry spots, any imperfections are going to be > magnified when you lay your cloth over the top. If you chose to trim your > cloth after you laminated it down, do it after the resin gels a bit, the > cloth shouldn’t move as you use your razor blade. Remember that after you > glass and hotcoat you will end up using pinlines to cover this cut edge, > so make it as accurate as you can and avoid threads and frays. Guess that > is about it. Good luck.>>> Tom S. Thanks. for all the info. I’m guessing you did this a few times from the great directions. I just wanted to make sure that cotton fabric that i’ve seen was the right stuff. I can’t wait to try it. I think i’m going to try some inlay on my next board. I’m doing a summer board maybe a 7’2" Fun board. I goto school at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. but i’m heading home “Ormond Beach, Fl.” for the summer. Some of you might have hear of the place. That’s where Lisa Anderson is from and live. Well, thanks again for all the great help. I’ll post the board with the specs and pictures to let you know how it turned out. Thanks, Stephen Berube