Pack it with flour

Whole wheat or the regular stuff? (: 

great for delams

 

herb

Yes-- But I don't know if it would be a trick that would be used much these days.  Futures boxes have a factory cap and so do some center boxes.  Most center boxes are installed after the lam so I was just wondering if anyone had found another application for this archaic trick/technique.  Used it to keep fittings clear of resin on sailboards.  Foot straps etc.  Also packed a few center boxes that were lammed under Carbon Fiber.  Haven't thought about it in a long time.  If you run up against something that can't be solved any other way;  I can vouch for this technique.  Always worked well for me.  Just cut out the glass with a Stanley knive or drill and grind a bit with the die grinder.

Strange use for flour.

We used it to THICKEN resin, for finbox installs and some ding repairs in place of cabosil.

Sounds like a good trick if you need to do a repair on/around a finbox or futures system where you aren’t replacing the whole box… So what, you fill the channels with flour and it repels the resin? Anyone ever try this when re-doing a hot or gloss coat over an area that has fin boxes/plugs?

 

Just pack the inside of the box or screw hole(foot strap inserts) with regular old household flour.  Pour it in and pack it down flush.  In a box you can  use a business card to level it off and take away the excess.  When you cap your insert or lay up your Carbon Fiber the flour will soak up the excess resin.  Once the lam has set just drill thru the hole with a next size smaller bit.   On a box just use a Stanley knive to cut out the glass. Then grind lightly around the inside edge of the box with a die grinder and a Roloc disk.  Blow or vacum the flour out of the hole.  Like I said I used this trick alot on sailboard foot strap inserts because they couldn’t be masked.  The reason we did a few finboxes that way was because it was easier to pack a Chinook box with flour than it was to mask it.  It was also cleaner.  If we routed a finbox or mastbox into Carbon Fiber or glass after the lam we would grind it down flush and then cap it with multiple cloth patches,  Easier to fill with flour once than to tape and cut out .multiple layers of glass and tape.  Lowel

Been doing boards for almost 50 years and never heard of that. Makes good sense. Any body ever heard of adding paint flattening agent to gloss resin for a matte finish? I heard that powdered chalk (calcium carbonate) works. (Google “chalk paint”)

Hey McDing.  I’ve done the same thing with regular boxes that I wanted to re-cap with a layer of glass.  If a board has a lot of tail rocker and the center of the fin box dips below the center of the route, you have to raise the box on popsicle sticks…I think many people know what I mean.  If you forget to do this (oh crap moment) it is is not possible to sand away all of the plastic since it is below the surface.  If you try to clean it up you end up with a divot around the box which has to be fixed.  Add the flower and then cap the box with cloth and laminate…

I have made this mistake twice so the next time I capped the box by wetting out the cloth on wax paper.  I pulled the resin from the cloth and laid it over the box.  It should not drip inside the opening if you are careful.  I can see the value of flower with small footstrap insert since any resin would mess up the thread for the screws.

baby rice cereal in the box........the flakey stuff............ is king for thickening.......

 

......but not quite as good as diaper filler for strength.

herb

  I used to glass directly over the inserts, for footstraps, and then poke a hole thru the new cured glass.  Didn't matter if resin dripped down the holes, as you use sheet metal or wood screws to secure footstraps onto the inserts.

All this stuff about baby cereal and diaper fill makes me wonder if some of the toothless  “Old Farts” around here have reached that stage in life where they’re ready for baby food and “depends”…  My comments have nothing to do with using flour as a filler or thicknerer…

I'm 2 months shy of 64 now, never ever been to a dentist that I had to pay for, have lost 5 of my upper molars, and am getting there.

I saw a dentist in junior high for sports, at the Army induction, and in the 1983 Surfer's Med Convention at SunsetBeach.

Looks like my front teeth are fine, but the molars are going away.

I wasn’t concerned about or wondering about what WE used to do.  Was more interested in finding out if anyone is using this technique currently with more modern applications.  I never used sheet metal or woodscrews on any sailboards “back when”…  The inserts were purchased from Fiberglass Hawaii and were all threaded and ready for straps to be attached when the board was finished.

I use modeling clay on the slot and screw hole for FCS plugs and then glass over (after they’re ground down).  Punch thru the glass with a drill on the hole and trim the slot with the Stanley knife.   This allows almost full coverage of the plug and holds them in better especially in eps.   Digging out the clay is a bit harder than vacuuming out the flour, but the clay can be reused over and over.

I’m not to that point myself but I’m a caregiver for someone who is. Never thought of using the diaper fiber as a filler but I do know it works great in compost – helps hold the moisture in the mixture.

got all my teeth too !

lol.

herb

 

I like this idea.  Sounds easier than taping off.  Been trying to think of another approach.

How do you keep the surplus flour off the foam when leveling?

Use a vacum lightly around the edge.  The key is to pour the flour and pack it without creating a big mess that has to be cleaned up.  Well it’s just an old trick we made use of at one time.  Thought I would throw it out there to see if anyone still uses it occasionally.  Also thought I would mention it for those who have never tried it.  If you know about it there may come a time when you can make use of it.

All the modern quality footstrap inserts come shipped with either silicone blobs inside the thread holes or  sticky magnetic plastic caps made out of that thin flexible fridge magnet material.  The magnetic caps are great for finding holes under darker glass like carbon or kevlar.   You just sprinkle on iron dust powder to locate the holes . then drill out the very top of the  fiberglass covered cap using a V beveled router bit or even a tapered burr bit.

I also read  that some dude poured Jello mix into the finboxes, then put them in the fridge to harden the mix , then install.

Apparently the chilled Jello-filled finboxes may also help reduce some of the exotherm when installing the boxes .

 I have used flour once.  It’s ok.

For the record:   I’m only short 2 wisdom teeth…

VanHelsing.

I will have need in the near future.  Definitely give it  a try.

Ever try something like corn meal or does it have to be more of a powder?