Done my first lamination and I’ m not happy with the result. It looks so easy on youtube:)
Using Gurit sp-115 epoxy and 166g and 224g/m² Glass filament fabric Silane Plain HP-P220E from hp-textiles.com.
When I laminated the bottom (fiber224g). I was a little low on epoxy so I thought its was the problem. I made 300g more for the deck (fiber166g+224g), but still problem to get the fiber wet. I worked like crazy to get to wet out everywhere . I pulled and pushed down the squeegee to force it down, but still ended up with lots of white spots.
Is it the epoxy or fiber or maybe the akrylic paint on the board it eill not stick to? Or is it just me the rookie
There are some explanations, I guess it´s a combination of a least two of them in your case.
I´ve once used the 166gr. silane finish from HP. The finish is not good for surfboard purpose / if you want a good looking lam. It´s hard to wet out and even if you let the epoxy soak in untouched for a long time, the cloth stays milky and won´t get clear. There are sometimes spots with very bad saturation. Could be theres contamination on the cloth. (Fingerprints or whatever)
Better use cloth with a dedicated finish. It makes a big difference. Saturates much easier and is a lot clearer.
Overworking epoxy just makes things worse. You push small bubbles in the resin and in the cloth, you get frothing and end up with a cloudy mess. Once you get frothing, it is impossible to get it cleer again.
The right angle and pressure on the squeegee takes time and experience to get right. It will get better with every board.
Flat angle, pressing down more than pulling.
From the picture it looks like you worked it to much, to hard and to dry.
Someone (I think it was resinhead) over here compared it to squeezing a sponge. He said something like “Squeeze the sponge just enough that it holds all water without dripping, but not more. If you squeeze it to much, it will suck air back in.”
That was something that stayed in my mind and helped me understand how wet/dry a lam should be.
I would:
Try the more expensive cloth with a finish.
(In simple words: silane is the cheapest agent, it´s used for the weave process and stays on the cloth lateron as the saturation agent.
Cloth with dedicated finish is washed/burnt after the weaving process and then finished with a better saturation agent / finish.)
Different finishes (FK144, FE 800, and many others) behave different. Some are more stable/rigid when cutting, some are perfectly clear, others show reflections in the weave under some angles of lighting, and so on. Test samples aren´t a bad thing if you decide to try a new / a different cloth.
Give the epoxy time to saok in. Jack Reeves rail saturation method for example gives good results for me. Your deck soaks while you saturate the flipped over rails.
Most epoxy give you all the time in the world to let it sit and saturate by it´s own.
Don´t overwork the epoxy. If in doubt, use more resin on your first boards and pull it from the board where it is to much. Insted of pulling it around long ways to the spots where it´s to dry.
Try different squegee angles and pressure techniques.
Thanks MiWie for your very informative reply. Yes i start to think its the fiberglass. I did a small test with the 166g before i started on the board and it seemed to saturate ok, but never did a test with the 224g.
Thanks for very good advice. I need it.
Is it even worth it to finish this build? Will it delaminate? I think i will finish it just to learn in the process. Drilling fcs plugs for fins and hotcoat
Looks like you are in europe. I started investing in the good fibres from Hexcel and I would never go back. After the “Brexit” it got ways cheaper to order from seabase Or viral-surf in france.
But i also used your P163E on my first board and it worked ok even with the cheapest resin from HP-textiles and no experience. I guess it’s your technique.
No pro on this subject. But wax on the top does the job, so just rails and bottom left
Or just surf it like it is. It’s not beautiful but who cares for the first board anyway. you will for sure build a second improved version after surfing it. Improve that one and leave this one as it is? It will float you.
Or viral-surf in france.