laying up a fibreglass fin panel ....

General Discussion
41

oh dear !

sorry to hear of your misfortune Dave

…perhaps I should have written at the very beginning of this thread

in capital letters …

" WARNING …THIS THREAD IS ABOUT POLYESTER RESIN FIN PANELS " …???

And , this will make you either laugh or cry , Dave … do you know how I got Hicksy’s epoxy one off the glass it stuck to ? [this is true] …

I wrapped it in THREE thick garbage bags , put on thick gardening gloves , full protective gear [including goggles , headphones , mask and cap .]

Put it inside a big plastic “wheelie bin” [a mobile garbage bin we have here in west australia .

then … guess what I did ?

yep …

got the biggest , strongest hammer Hicksy had .

and …

SMASHED THE CRAP OUT OF THE GLASS , TILL EVERY LAST SPLINTER WAS OFF THE PANEL .

yep , dangerous ,

yep , scary …

yep … lesson learnt !

I wonder if those ‘overhead transparency’ thick plastic thingys would work with mould release , when using epoxy ?

Blakestah [and others who make epoxy fin panels regularly …halcyon ?? ] …

WHAT do YOU guys lay your panels up on , and do you HAVE to use mould release agent [?a wax?] with epoxy fin panels ALL the time ?

Any help / advice MUCH appreciated , as I , too, will be laying up epoxy in the future at some stage [less smell, for close-quarter living , such as my habitation …]

cheers !

ben

42
Quote:

blakestah [and others who make epoxy fin panels regularly …halcyon ?? ] …WHAT do you guys lay your panels up on , and do you HAVE to use mould release agent [?a wax?] with epoxy fin panels ALL the time ?

I used either

  1. wax paper

  2. formica leftover from a kitchen remodel

The epoxy wouldn’t stick to either. Any plastic plate will work fine - like a cutting board (polypropylene or nylon).

I was setting my fin cants in teflon before I redesigned the boxes to include cant in the box. The teflon never had a problem.

43

thanks very much Dave !

cheers

ben
44

Surfer Dave, give it another day. I’ve done that on glass too, and also on a piece of synthetic granite countertop (epoxy substrate). And when the epoxy is still the slightest bit ‘green’ it won’t let go for love nor money nor any number of bad words. But wait a couple days and you can slip a putty knife right under the edge & pop the whole panel right off… :slight_smile: The epoxy just needs to be completely finished doing its thing. And I think the reaction is a little slower than the typical 24 hours when its cut off from air & heat…

45

I hope so , in Dave’s case .

Because , in hicksy’s case , it was a full WEEK after he laminated it . That one was NOT coming off .

But , I just remembered , he weighted it down with bricks , for some unknown reason ?

THAT was probably having something to do with the kryptonite grip the resin had on the glass , I’m guessing …

[no more bricks , promise me , hicksy , please …]

cheers !

ben

46

Aha… I will let the thing rest a day or two then… no wukkin’ furries, in the meantime I got some darn ugly cutlaps to fix up on my EPS/Epoxy #1 Yellow Banana Longboard… dang that thing came out awefully yellow…

47

48

Chip, I know you love pictures… so voila!

This wonderful unique masterpiece of modern art will be up for auction soon, unless it comes off in a day or two… the tape on the sides came off like a charm… only the rest stayed…

49
Quote:
Chip, I know you love pictures.. so voila!

This wonderful unique masterpiece of modern art will be up for auction soon, unless it comes off in a day or two… the tape on the sides came off like a charm… only the rest stayed…

You can get it off by sacrificing the glass. Use a chisel and hammel and WEAR PROTECTIVE GOGGLES. You can start by bending it, the epoxy will bend more than the glass. Then, chip away at it.

I suppose it depends on how hard up you are for glass and resin, you could lay up another for the same cost and not deal with the glass.

50

Hi Dave,

I noticed in your pic that the epoxy/fiberglass is “wrapping” around the mirror glass panel. That might be the reason why it’s not comming off. Try using a craft knife to cut through a small portion of the fiberglass on the side and pry it from there.

FWIW, I use mylar for making my prefabs so I think those overheads should work out.

Cheers,

Rio

51

ach ja neen jawelofnie…

I’m not too worried about it, got loadsa glass ( I have 100cm rolls so I get lots of off-cut material…) an the mirror, wel thats life, I really think I will turn it into an artwork, test some resin swirls on it or so…

yah the resin dipped over the edges but there was some tape on the edge, the tape came out all tacky but the rest just stuck in place. I’ll give it some and then if it wants to stay on, so be it.

in future though I guess I should get PVA and/or some mylar/plastic sheets… will look into that tomorrow.

52

Chip, another noobie question. For a finbox fin, how do you add the bit that goes into, and locks the fin into the base??. Do you finish the fin, then use a mold to add the base ??. And would you have to use fibreglass cloth for the base to strengthen it??. I hope im explaining myself properly, im talking about the bottom part of the fin where the screw goes through, and that has a pin to hold it in place.

Keepin ya on ya toes,

Mark

53

hi mark !

just lay up your forty layers of 6oz , and that should give you the right thickness .

Trace around an existing finbox fin for the template . Mark the hole for the pin . Drill it …straight.

Drill the hole for the screw CAREFULLY … a drill press may help .

cheers

ben
54

yep , I “say” again [but this is only if as Dave said you are hard up for glass

" … got the biggest , strongest hammer Hicksy had .

and …

SMASHED THE CRAP OUT OF THE GLASS , TILL EVERY LAST SPLINTER WAS OFF THE PANEL .

yep , dangerous ,

yep , scary ! …

yep … lesson learnt ! "

[only do this with COMPLETE face and body protection , with the panel well wrapped in a few thick plastic garbage bags , wearing THICK STRONG GLOVES [eg: gardening gloves !]

cheers

ben

…otherwise , some sucker will probably pay too much money on ebay for it , and you will have resin and glass to last …woohooo … "stylin’ ! "

55

Hi Chip

This may be a really dumb question but how come everyone seems to do their fin panels in a square shape?

Is it possible to cut out a rough shape of the fin from the glass layers before you pour on the resin?

I just thought it might make it easier to cut out.

Cheers, JD

56

It is a lot easier to cut a good straight line after the panel is done. Otherwise the glass frays and becomes a mess.

I’ve done a bunch of rectangles…

57
Quote:

SMASHED THE CRAP OUT OF THE GLASS , TILL EVERY LAST SPLINTER WAS OFF THE PANEL .

What Chip failed to mention was that after that vicious attack with a hammer and chisel, there was not a mark on the panel, no dings, chips, bruises no nothing.

Epoxy is really resilient…and strong…loves being close to glass objects…

Plastic next time…no glass ever again…

As far as the rear pin location, Ben and I used a partial finbox (ie broken) and drilled a hole through the side of it right in the middle of the channel the pin fits into. put the completed fin in the box and drill the hole in the correct spot every time…

Definitely use a drill press for the front hole…saves alot of tears…

58

Jd Hogg

People that do production glass fins use 30 inch fiberglass when they lay up the panels. and the guy who used to make mine used a 4 foot table. so 30 X 48 when its done.

Then he would rip them down on a table saw to 5 inches wide strips 5 X 48 Trace the fins and let the guys from down south have at it.

It was crazy to absorb the process on that scale.

59

good stuff , keep it coming !

Here’s a shot Josh posted of something similar on the fabric for inlay fin thread …

" What Chip failed to mention was that after that vicious attack with a hammer and chisel, there was not a mark on the panel, no dings, chips, bruises no nothing."

…it sounds incredible , eh ? ( but it is TRUE ! )

…There were really only a couple of scratches [which will ‘foil away’, anyhow ] !

… I know, because I have a small offcut from hicksy’s panel , which will become an f.c.s. “one-tabber” trailer for the ‘bushfire fish’ board… [ben the conservationist / frugal recycler , eh?!]

and , the side that contacted the glass …

        cheers !  



         ben



60

Ben

you’re getting to artsy here…

hemp seems a little cheechnchongy or was that chimichangy?

time to get punk with your fins…

https://wic003u.server-secure.com/…xfins/shop4/shop.asp

leave it to you aussie’s between these, the oceanfoam blanks, and those full scale lam feral daves using, the lineup gonna get down right comic book looking… The eve’s will be more than a little affended with full scale penthouse lams on your deck…