Is there a reason why I should not paint over the stringer with acrylic paints?
yes – don’t paint the stringer or the fiberglass won’t bond.
So is there a good way to paint the entire board?
…You can paint the stringer,the bond isn’t as good ,but over the life of the board it’s not usually going to make a noticible difference in it. …It will however look uglyy in spots due to paint separations,and color fades,etc.Herb
so herb… does that meen you cant paint the whole board with acrilic paints before glassing? Im guessing the mechanical bond will not work if paint is covering the foams cells?Thaks
I tape up the stringer if I am doing a large area of colour- it can look ugly when you get little silvery bits were the resin crystalises on the stringer, though whether this is an actual structural weakness is not quantifiable. If i am doing small amount of detail colour, I paint over the stringer.In any case, a taped stringer is good for making a feature of the timber:- MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THE TAPE before laminating!!! http://www.speedneedle.com.au
…Yes,you can paint the blank solid.Herb
I’m experimenting (personal inquiry…many of you probably have done this or do this) painting post laminating/hot coating. On top of the paint job I plan to put a gloss coat. Hopefully this will enhance my colors a bit more than if I painted the blank. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Actually what you’ll get is a very plastic-looking, surftech type finish. That is if you paint the entire boarrd or large portions of it. What happens is that the paint will cover the weave of the glass and look like a composite board. I paint on the hotcoat for logos and small pattern designs, but stau away from large color areas.
Howzit Mike S., I’ve seen tha paint on stringers crystallyze due to moisture in the wood. I’d advise against painting stringer. Aloha, Kokua
One: if you want a complete color board, then go “old style” and tint or lightly pigment your resin. The blank better be ALL smooth (scratch- and tool-mark free), and you better be a competent laminator to get even color, particularly on darker hues. Advantage: you won’t have to tape off the stringer. Two: I’ve done full deck or full bottom acrylic colors though I have seen some “crystallization” along the stringer. I think what’s happening is that there is moisture absorbed into the stringer from the paint, which is released after glassing, forming pocket/bubbles under the lam. Pending dissection which I’ll never do, I don’t believe they are actually crystals in the mineral sense of the word, just look like them. Maybe these would be eliminated if the blank were thoroughly dried after painting, think of using a heat gun along the stringer.
Might a heat gun used to dry out the stringer expand the foam around it?
Be very careful with heat gunsanywhere near a board! I find the airline blower nozzle to be the failsafe way to dry anything! http://www.speedneedle.com.au