What techniques, tips or “tricks” do any of you folks (those who glass their own boards) have for wetting out your laminations?! I’m talking personal routines…from the pouring stage (including your pouring patterns)…to the favorite type of squeegies you might use…to the lapping of the rails -(preferred method and WHY). How do you get your best results? It’s like magic watching a really good glasser go to town…getting it all on there, quick and smoothe (with minimal waste)…and in the blink of an eye! Oh, the rapture! T.
I like taped laps because it makes the deck smoother since you cut off all the loose strands and you don’t have to come back and grind it, it think in the end it takes about the same amount of time either way. When I wet out the cloth I actually pour the resin down the opposite rail and work it over the board. I keep the resin on the board until the whole surface is laminated and the bubbles out then I wet out the laps by squeeging resin over them. I feel this saves resin by using it to wet out the board and not using it to pour on the floor. On hand lay up you usually figure the cloth to resin ratio is 50% so if you are using 6 oz cloth on a 9’ longboard the most resin that should be in the final laminate is 18 oz (VERY crude calculation) a quart of resin weighs 2.3 pounds or 36.8 oz so over a pound of resin is ending up on the floor if that is what you use. This is also another reason why I prefer to use UV curing resin. With UV resin you can start out using less resin and if you run out you can use more. The object is to minimize waste while still properly laminating the board. As for a squeege the “standard” white latex thalco brand is what I use. I cut it so it fits in an acetone can cut lengthwise in half for ease of cleaning. Its profile I cut in a trapezoid shape and I round the edge of the blade by wet sanding it with 220 grit so it rides more smoothly over the cloth and works resin down to push out the bubbles. I like to leave the sqeege in acetone because it makes it nice and pliable, infact once you’ve done it you’ll cringe if you have to go back to a hard one, especially on decks and curvey areas. This might be getting a little past what Tom is after but I also LOVE! finboxes and leash cups that can be glassed in with the Lam. They are so awesome because you can take the finished shape and in 2&1/2-3 hours have a sanded finished board working at a leisurely pace. Plus they look good. I had a guy drive up on a Sat. afternoon, and we shaped his board, glassed it, sanded it and sent him home with it on the same day, boy was he stoked, he thought it would be at least a week before he saw it again after we shaped it. Anyway I should probably get to work. Matthew>>> What techniques, tips or “tricks” do any of you folks (those who > glass their own boards) have for wetting out your laminations?! I’m > talking personal routines…from the pouring stage (including your pouring > patterns)…to the favorite type of squeegies you might use…to the > lapping of the rails -(preferred method and WHY). How do you get your best > results? It’s like magic watching a really good glasser go to > town…getting it all on there, quick and smoothe (with minimal > waste)…and in the blink of an eye! Oh, the rapture! T.
Matthew…thanks, very much for your valuable info…much appreciated, Tom.