my last couple of boards have been fine exept i havent really mastered the overlap yet. apart from air bubbles, i find it hard to get the overlap to stay stuck down, and for the edge not to be to promenent. I have heard you can smooth the edge down with a credit card, does this work? or are there any other ways i can get a smoothed edge. Its just when it sticks up, i have to try and sand it down which doesnt work, then put two hot coats on it just to cover it, otherwise it sticks up. can anyone help? alos i need advice on how to not get air bubbles, but the adge thing is more difficult. thanks
Howzit Huw, You don’t say if thr problem is with the bottom lam or the deck. Could you be a little more specific. Aloha, Kokua
…Make sure your lap it long enough.This will end the sticking up thing,and your set off time is probably too slow.That’s why you get air…bet there heavy,huh?Herb
Not sure about a credit card. But, I have used a “bondo” squeegee on the lap before. This is a hard squeegee you will find in the auto parts store. It should not be that hard to get the lap to stick if its the right size. It should overlap about 3/4 to an inch. Make sure its good and wet before you try and turn it under. Use SunCure Lam if you are not already so you can take your time. Its never going to be perfect. Don’t use sand paper on lam resin – it will just gum up and make the lap look dirty. Use a large, curved Sureform blade to knock the edges down. Places the stick up a good bit should be removed with a razor blade. Be careful not to gouge the foam. Before the next glass job, read Bruce Gabrelson’s article on glassing. It is quite comprehensive. http://www.blackmagic.com/ses/book/ch7new.html
Shine,Credit cards work great!Better than bondo blades actually.Try one,then chuck it.Also plastic coated/laminated billboard cards work killer too!Herb
yeah its both the top and the bottom that i find hard. but i will use a credit card this time to try and smooth it down. Its my 3rd board so im more confident, just going to order the stuff actually! and i can start shaping tomorrow! yey
I only do epoxy so I don’t know if this is applicable, but has anyone dared to flip the board over during laminating (before it sets up) and do the laps that way? Then flip it back over and cleam up the area where it rested on the rack? I’ve been tempted.
I’ll take that for a no?
Howzit Greg, Herb posted some info about glassing the deck first a while back. He pointed out the fact that glassing thr deck first may cause the blank to twist. Check the archives. Aloha, Kokua
twist?? how could it i wonder. if your racks are even and the board is placed on well. hmmm guess just another thing to look into. the never ending battle [smile]
Howzit John, Copied this from the archives, it’s one of herbs posts. Aloha, Kokua Re: Lamination order. Why? Herb Spitzer – Wednesday, 12 December 2001, at 6:10 p.m.It has alot to do with flex,and twist.As a lam dries it shrinks,pulling on the rails,and rocker. If you reverse lam… you’d better know what you are doing!Herb.
Greg, how much does the lam shrink on an epoxy lam vs. a polyester lam? regards, Håvard
I don’t know how much shinkage there is with epoxy. Clearly a question for the Master (Greg Loehr). Very good question, tho. In the never ending quest to advance scientific knowledge, on my next board I think I’ll set up a little experiment. Maybe put a few premeasured dots on the lam and measure again after setup. I’ll report back, here. But my real (sheepish) question was can you survive flipping the board over briefly to do the laps properly and then flip it back over to let it set up properly without screwing the whole thing up. Maybe put some wax paper on the rack to keep resin off? I dunno. It sure is hard doing laps standing on your head looking up. Kokua, thx for all your posts. Your stuff has been enormously helpful. As has so many others here.
And another thing… wouldn’t lam shrinkage tend to alter the rocker of a board? IOW, when you lam the bottom and if it were to shrink, the rocker would be flatter. Then, when you lam’d the top and the bottom was already setup, it couldn’t alter it as much. Ergo, flatter rocker than what you measured without resin. Is this an observed phenomenon?
Because of it’s high solids chemistry , epoxy only shinks 1/3 of surfboard polyesters. I have seen twisting problems related to shrinkage in poly boards in Fl., in the summer particularly. Epoxy does keep the rockers truer to the original shape.
Howzit Greg, I don’t think wax paper is the best since the lam resin might pick up some of the wax and then you have to sand the area. Just use tapebut not with the sticky side up.Aloha, Kokua
thanks a million, kokua