What a weekend!! I kicked off Saturday morning on the shaping stands, to shape a replica of a 7’2 Bilbo pin tail (A 1970’s British classic) which went really well. It’s only my second board, but I really felt I’d made alot of progress from the last one - it was a lot of fun. As you all know, I was going to push it with the glassing, by attempting a yellow tint in Volan with cut laps. I marked up the rails with a rail marking tool and taped up, it looked really neat. I mixed up the resin and added the tint, and also added some white to make it more opaque. I began to glass around mid day and all was going well. I’d set the mix off on the slow side, but the sun had come out, and my lock up, had got alot warmer. The resin kicked in way too fast and I had to go like a maniac to get the laps down. I then, because of the opaque tint, couldn’t quite see the masking lines and stuggled to see where I was trimming (in hindsight I should have re marked and cut on the inner side of the pencil line perhaps). The colour bled through onto the deck so I couldn’t do the light coloured deck panel, so I decided to go for all yellow. The top went alot better, but half way through the masking for the underneath decided to come free, and so the disasters went on. So, not the best of starts really. However, I’m not giving up, and all is not lost. I will hot coat it tonight, and depending on how it looks through todays fresh eyes, I may do some acid splash action to hide the mistakes, and go from there. I think kokua and Mr Brucker made some very good points last week, about basically trying to run before you can walk. I like to think I know what makes a great glass job. But, thinking it and doing it are poles apart. It is a difficult and highly skilled art - as I’ve realised, and I take my hat off to the pro’s. So, when someone with a great deal of experience, suggests that, maybe its worth sticking to basics, and getting confident, it’s probably worth doing. It’s not that they’re trying to temper your enthusiasm, on the contrary. They’re trying help you along, because there’s nothing worse than being over faced, and out of depth when you’re trying to learn. Despite my endless enthusiasm, stumbling out of my lock up, covered in yellow resin, at god knows, what time last night, was not alot of fun. I’ll keep you upto speed with the salvage operation!! (It’ll be just fine) Have a good one A very bright yellow Peaman
i agree wholeheartedly!! what colour tape were you using, as i have now switched to the blue 3m just for tints and cutlaps the difference is amazing! you definetly learn from your mistakes! good luck paul
Howzit Peaman, sorry to hear about the glassing problems but it’s part of the learning process. One way to tell you are getting better at lamination is less mess. As you progress at laying up boards you’ll find you get less resin on you. This is because you’re settleing down and cocentrating on what you are doing and not worring about the resin kicking off on you. Once you get to this stage all of the sudden it’ll seem like the resin is kicking slower but in realality it isn’t. It’ll come with practice. Aloha, Kokua
Yes i know all about the problems with color. I am by no means a pro, but do have a nice bit of fiberglass experience. I was very comefortable doing a basic clear glass job so i figured adding color would be nothing more then just adding color to what i did before. Wrong… it takes more time and allot more thought and work… but i guess thats how we all learn right? Make our mistakes then figure out what we did wrong and how to change it for next time. well i would just like to thank them pros too, they are just Good at what they do… and the ones on here are actually nice and helpfull… who would have thought helpfull experienced people giving tips away… Seems almost unheard of in this industry… but I guess swaylocks is just full of good guys… See you in the water… on my imperfect but fun to ride boards…
Don’t worry…mistakes are part of the learning curve…Ride em and build another…cosmetics never affect the way a board rides.At least its something that is all yours and you didn’t pay retail.Have fun. R. Brucker
Thanks for all your good words folks! Actually, half a dozen cold ones, and a good nights sleep, and things didn’t look as bad as I first thought. I’ve cleaned up the rough bits and bobs and shot the deck with an opaque yellow (again) hot coat. I swear, if you squint, you’d bet your last dollar it was a Cooperfish creation!!! There’s still hope!! Laters Peaman
Peaman wrote: “So, not the best of starts really. However, I’m not giving up, and all is not lost. I will hot coat it tonight, and depending on how it looks through todays fresh eyes, I may do some acid splash action to hide the mistakes, and go from there.” What is an ‘acid splash action’? Thanks for everyone’s input. It has made building boards so much more successful and fun! (It is also nice to know I am not the only one that has things not always come out the way that I planned.) Fozzy
Hey Fozzy It looks funny eh? ‘A bit of Acid splash action’ sounds like a crazy weekend at Woodstock or something!! No, I meant some funky, swirly, resin patterns as you see on the Cooperfish boards. Laters Peaman