I glossed three boards this morning at four thirty am, 2 fish and a longboard the fish came out perfect the longboard fisheyed and rippeled. Preparation for all three boards was the same , the only difference was the longboard was laminated with a different batch of resin. Bad or old resin? Peace.
I don’t know if the laminating resin would affect it like that. Were they hot coated with the same batch of resin? Did you do the fish first and then the longboard? Temperature variations during the process or possible residue, airborne or otherwise, if they were all in the same room and the fish were done first. Hope somebody knows.
Ride on, Tom
Howzit Delayney, different resin should not be the cause since it’s been sanded. 2 causes come to mind, surface contamination or to much gloss resin on the board but that shouldn’t cause the fish eyes. Fish eyes usually are3 from contamination and with 3 boards in the process you may have not realized it happened toone of the boards. That is why I wash the board and rinse to see any bad spots which will show up after you rinse the soap off the board. if there is contamination there will be spots where the water doesn’t stick to the board, dry those areas and acetone then rewash and rinse again and the spots should be gone. As for the wrinkles, was there separation also, if so you probably left to much resin and gravity takes over and makes the resin separate. One thing you would notice if the resin was bad is it would take a long time to kick off, like over twice the normal time. Aloha,Kokua
3 boards, was it 3 buckets, 3 batches, 3 brushes? I pull the plastic off a new brush & use a new paper bucket for every hot & gloss coat…
.Howzit Benny, Doesn't that get a little expensive using a new brush every time. I use the same brush over and over for years until the bristles get to worn down,but both my hot coat brush and my glossing brush are always soaking in acetone. For hot coats and glosses I use a plastic container with 2 ounce measurements on it since after the resin hardens I can squeeze the plastic and the resin pops off and i can reuse it again and again. With the amount of boards I do it would be cost prohibitive to do what you do.Aloha,Kokua
Yeah, Kokua, if I did as many boards as you, it would 
Epoxy is pretty hard to clean off brushes, even with alcohol or orange goop, or whatever. So its not quite like dunking it back in the old acetone. So after frustrating myself with ruining good brushes, I went to the $.99 chip variety. The good thing about epoxy is that it takes a little longer to go off, so the resin self-levels a bit more & erases the strokes.
Although I hate the waste, $4 per board is acceptable. Heck, with the prices of solvents these days, I’d probably be spending that much cleaning up instead!
Oh yeah. I build about one board a month.
Howzit Benny, The containers I soak my brushes in have lids and it takes about 2-3 months for the acetone to evaporate, but I keep the containers topped off. Really doesn't cost that much and I hate new brushes since they want to shed bristles for a while which is a pain when you have to remove them from the board before the resin kicks.Aloha,Kokua
I’m with Benny. With epoxy I don’t like having acetone in the shop. We usually do 6 board batches and hotcoat six at a time. 99 cents comes out to 35 cents a board for both sides. Wrap 2 inch tape around your hand sticky side out and push the bristles into the tape. All the loose ones come out … easy. No more shedding. And NO SOLVENTS. Fire marshal loves us and so does the insurance company. EPA too.
Also, your wax solution may not have been mixed to the bottom of the bucket. This would make the last board shy causing some fish eyes. Could also be that it was next to a door and caught some breeze or contamination the others didn’t.
Fish eyes = surface contamination. Sometimes there’s crap on your sanding racks, wax /oil may have got on the sander disk, or it was wiped with a dirty rag. If your air system has an oiler for using air tools, it may have happened when you blew it off. You need to locate the problem so it doesn’t happen on your next board.
After hotcoat sanding, I always soap and water wash the board, soaping it down with a soft brush. When you rinse it, the water film will show any contamination. I then blow the water off and dry it with a clean towel. After taping the rails for the gloss, I wipe it down using a clean paper towel moistened with acetone. One pass, no rubbing, and get a new one after each pass. To fix the current problem, sand down a small area where the fish eyes are the worst. Test gloss the area again and see what happens.
Aloha! I honestly can’t understand why some guys make such a huge production out of doing finish coats. Soap and water? The #1 trick that I’ve ever used is to use the soap and water to WASH YOUR HANDS. Wash 'em a lot, keep them clean! Dry them with clean paper towels. The idea is to keep the side dry and clean. Why use water? Keep your gloss area clean. Don’t ever let any surf wax near your zone. Don’t use wax paper to handle a sanded finish before glossing. Put clean, sticky side up tape on your glassing stands. WASH YOUR HANDS. Not with acetone, with soap and water. I’ve always sanded my glossables with clean 100grit. First, blow the side off with air. WASH YOUR HANDS. Wipe the side with your bare hands, clapping frequently to get the fine dust off. You can feel any dust particles with your hands. Tape the side off and go. Pull the tape at the proper time. WASH YOUR HANDS. Flip the thing over, file the edge. Lightly hand sand with clean 100git. WASH YOUR HANDS. Repeat the process on side2. I would never wipe the side with anything but my bare hands. If there is a dust problem, drag a piece of fresh sticky-side down tape over the side. Never wipe the side with paper towels, rags, acetone, or anything. Gloss coats are one of the most tricky things to do. Temperature, brush control. timing the tape pull, all are pretty critical, but the #1 rule is WASH YOUR HANDS. The polishers can be some of the most grumpy characters in the industry. A good gloss is essential to keep them happy. Keep it clean!!! Aloha…RH
Howzit Rick…
Man your hands must smell pretty good!!!
I am with you on teh clean hands thing. I’ll wipe the board down with acetone. I used to do the acetone wipe-down thing, but switched to sopa and water. After the cleaning I let it air dry or blow it off wiht a leaf blower…ghettto, but it works.
BUT After that i slide on a pairt of “powder-free” surgical gloves. If you keep your gloves in dust free container, and if your careful when handling the board, then they should never get any residu whatsover on it. One pair of glove - no hand washing. Works well for me.
A HUGE key is to minimize handling of the boarrd. The more it is moved about, the greater the chance of contaminates. After washing I stick on the tape rack and then only move it once I flip it over.
Drew
Howzit Rick, Ever notice how the tape on the racks will leave resisue ( even new tape)spots that need to be cleaned with acetone. Those are the only spots it seems I have to attend to before glossing.Aloha,Kokua
Aloha! I’ve found that it’s better to pick up the tape goo with a piece of tape. Sticks right to it, and comes right off. Could actually write a whole book on finish coats. For sure the trickiest part of doing glue. So many variables. Still, keeping the whole process clean is a major part of the deal. Aloha…RH
Howzit Rick, What I meant was not actual residue from the tape but where the tape touched the board I find the water sheets off so I clean it off. Yes gloss work is definitly a trip but I’ve been very lucky in that process.Terry C. once told Sau that glossing in a dirt floor room would never work but I’ve proven that idea wrong.Aloha,Kokua