I finally found some time to laminate my first board today. Wow. I found fiberglassing really hard–particularly the laps. The glass job is a little rough… But I think it’s okay for my first go. I think I will definitely give cut laps a go for the next one. Anyways, I used suncure poly resin, and put two layers of 6 on the top and one layer of 6 on the bottom. I didn’t notice until just recently that the board looks a little yellow. Is this because the board didn’t fully cure? Should I leave it out in the sun all day tomorrow to see if it gets better? Any info would be great.
I think it looks pretty damn good - especially for a first go. Is it a first shape or just a first glass attempt? Plus, you all have had some pretty bad, rainy weather lately (my daughter lives in Lauderdale) so, it must have been tough to get a great UV cure…hear today was nice though.
Give it a hot coat then sand. You’ll find alot of stuff goes away then. Gloss and polish will make things nicer still.
It is a very nice looking board - especially for your area and waves. You need to fill us in on dimensions, contours (bottom - v, concaves, etc.) and fin set-up.
I like it - Good job. Bottom line - you did it…it’ll surf great…
Pete
Edit: I’m a straight poly user, so don’t know about the yellowing - and, don’t see it in the pics. Wax it-Ride it-Do another…
I had the same issue with fiberglass hawaii sun cure, except it was a little blue. They told me to leave it in the sun longer. I did and it got better.
Alright cool. I’m going to leave it in the sun all tomorrow morning before sanding the crappy laps…lol
Pete,
It’s my first shape too–7’2" x 21 1/4" x 2 7/8". I just kind of sketched a template of a Junod egg I liked, and let it flow from there. I’m going to go with a single fin–not sure what kind yet, but probably some kind of 9" flex fin. It has a flat bottom throughout with maybe a tiny bit of V towards the tail. I accidentally shaped a little concave in the nose. Oh well. Rails are pretty round. Overall, I’m stoked with it. I can’t wait to surf it and start on board two.
I actually glassed it on the west coast of FL so it’s been pretty sunny… It’s raining like hell on the other side.
I baked it in the sun for a few hours this morning. Seems like it whitened up a little bit, but it’s still a little off.
Laps are just difficult. I had a very small pair of scissors so cutting the cloth was rough. A good pair of scissors is pretty necessary. I will probably hot coat it tomorrow–it’s going to be thick as hell. I like the board a lot though. Thanks for all the advice and compliments.
The laps aren;t too bad, just do as suggested, get them as flat as you can before the hotcoat, and it’ll be sweet. A 2+1 setup, with the centre fin box set a little bit back in the box would work great, Single in the small stuff, thruster/2+1 in hollow/punchy stuff, but that’s just my preference, fin it however you want to, it’s yours!!!.
Any way you do it, you’ll forget about the ( minor ) problems you had with the laps when you come off the bottom on your first wave!!
Luckily it was with a Carbon Fiber 'board I made so it didn’t matter - BUT
Before I made the 'board and as soon as I got the resin and hardener I made a small mix and let it go off - it was absolutely clear.
When I came to make my board, I did the same mix ratio first, and the resin dried a bit Yellow - someone had put something in it to slightly discolour it !
A few things come to mind....and a few pointers for next time:
1: it looks pretty good
2: use good quality nitrate gloves, cheepo's sometimes leave funny colors in your lam as they melt off your hands. Use the good thick expensive blue ones...there worth it.
3: Get you glassing stands up high enough so you can see your bottom lap real easy. I put my racks at nipple high....so my face is right in the mix.
4: Don't be afraid to use those expensive nitrate gloves to wet out the little dry spots on your laps, nose ,and tail corners. A board is not lam'd by only a squeegee. If you don't want to use a glove hand, use a cheepo disposable brush. keeping the lam a bit full or resin on the nose and tail corners will keep the bubbles away....once it kicks you can grind down the drip bugger
5: Do a good job cutting you glass & prep work. Good clean even cuts of the glass around the board will make a nice even lap line to gring down once it kicks. If you have wobbles and pile up of cloth, then your going to have a funky sand line when you hot coat....and potentially a sand through when you try to make it flat after the hot coat
6: Prep the heck out of the lam before you hotcoat. Use new fresh 100 grit sand paper and go after the lams at least 24 hrs after it's cures....don't do it sooner, if the glass is still green then your going to mash the cloth and it will show up as hazy or white spots under you hot coat....they will be permenent....Use new paper. you want to cut away the glass and resin...not mash & burn it away....you can tell if it's clogging you paper...making it all gummy. Even lam resin will cut smooth after a few revolutions of the sander.
