I’ve shaped and glassed a few boards to varying degrees of success. By far the hardest part for me is the glassing, of course. I was messing around on youtube, and came across a short video from australia where a guy placed the glass cloth on the blank, then used a paint brush to paint the lam layer on. He just poured a little out on the board, then painted it on, instead of scraping around the blank with a squeegee. He did a real good job from the looks of it. The reason for my post is this: On the webpage for the video, there was a mention of how this guy got the idea for painting on the lam from swaylocks, but I cant seem to find it in the archives. Does anyone know about this technique? Are there any drawbacks? And from the color of the resin, it appeared that he was using epoxy, but he didnt mention it in the video. This makes sense to me since I understand that you dont need to push the resin into the glass when using epoxy.
This seems like an easier alternative to the regular technique. Any feedback on this (positive or negative) would be appreciated. I’m about to glass another board, and if I shouldnt go this route, then it’d be good to know now!
haven’t tried it but i can only imagine that you’re going to end up with too much resin left on the board from not being able to pull the excess off (a la squeegee method).
I have used a paintbrush to tuck the laps on an epoxy board. It really minimizes waste as opposed to “waterfalling” and i was down to my last drops. I did come back around with a squeegee to pull the excess resin off however.
Why NOT do it with a squeegee? I don’t think it would be any easier to do personally, but that’s just my 2 cents.
I would say try to tackle whatever problems you’re having with your squeegee technique instead of sidestepping to the paintbrush.
I like to use a brush. Epoxy needs to “soak” in - not be pushed in, so the too much resin is not much of a concern… Depends on how you are finishing after laming anyway. The reason I got started was from something I read hear about using a brush for the rails… I liked it so much I just kept using it for every thing. I still use a squeegees… for my finish coat, to get is as thin as possible.
Taylor- So you have no problems with the brush? I was planning on using epoxy, as the polyester stinks too much for my neighbors. When you use the brush, do you measure a certain amount of resin, and plan on using all of it, or do you brush on just enough to cover the board? That was kind of worded weird. i guess i’m asking: how do you know you are using enough resin when brushing? And why not use a brush for the hot coat, a la the traditional method?
Mooneemick- You’re right, I remember that name now. It definitely looked like the way to go with laminating. I personally dont like the squeegee method. Do you know if it was done with fast hardener, or a slower-kicking hardener?
The youtube clip is Hicksy (see the moderators) glassing, filmed by lavs, and observed by chipfish. Oh to live in Oz! It looks like a good evening was had by all.
I’m sure Hicksy wouldn’t mind you PMing him about it. (soz, if you do Hix).
I have only repaired broken boards and re laminated one longboard…so I am no expert …but I found using the squeegee method best as it made for a thinner and more even coat. It also got the glassing done before the resin got too gluggy and impossible to use. I do use a small brush for the rails and overlaps however.
I think the youtube vid was done by one of the mods here- Hicksey.
He’s using epoxy to lam that board and you have so much more working time that you can push it around with a brush and let it soak in.
Another advantage with this method is you hardly waste a drop of resin.
Cheers
Mooneemick
This is for anyone using the brush method. After allowing the resin to soak in and brushing it all out, take a squeegee (I use a bondo spreader for laminating with epoxy) and run it from the middle of the board at the stringer to the nose or tail pushing down semi firmly. How much resin gets pushed out? If the answer is none to very little, then you may have a tight lam. If you’re pushing a good bit of resin, which is what I’d suspect, you’ve got cloth that is floating in resin making for a heavier, not as strong lamination that needs to be squeegeed out.
I use a brush for glassing fins on, but brushes will tend to pull off threads from the cloth and leave a lot of excess resin. They work great for wetting out rails without it lot of waste, just don’t hit the ends of the cloth.
I would agree that a final sqeegee run after loading with the brush will remove any excess epoxy. Any areas where the cloth might be floating in resin appear as pools with little or no weave exposed and need to have excess removed.
Don’t use a brush to lam with epoxy myself but have found a brush used in conjunction with a plastic spreader very handy and economical on rails and laps.
I would agree that a final sqeegee run after loading with the brush will remove any excess epoxy. Any areas where the cloth might be floating in resin appear as pools with little or no weave exposed and need to have excess removed.
Don’t use a brush to lam with epoxy myself but have found a brush used in conjunction with a plastic spreader very handy and economical on rails and laps.
Cheers
Mooneemick
I’ve never done the brush or roller thing on the laps. Could you elaborate on your technique?
My technique with epoxy is to take the resin to the apex of the rail (or pour some right there if I can’t squeeze it out of the cloth), right where it wants to start runnning off onto the lap, then use the spreader to take it to the outer edge of the lap, working from the middle of the board to the nose and then to the tail, then tuck the laps as normal.
Typically when you are using epoxy you have either a wooden surface or eps surface, both of which have a thirsty habit of soaking resin. Squegee technique would require a lot of resin to get everything wet out and may lead to some areas being more resin soaked than others. By using a small paint roller you can make sure that the whole board surface is wet enough to be adhesive, you then roll out the cloth and you will find it sticks quite readily. By using the roller to further saturate the cloth you can get a clean lam with little resin waste or excess absorbtion into the underlaying surface.
Typically when you are using epoxy you have either a wooden surface or eps surface, both of which have a thirsty habit of soaking resin. Squegee technique would require a lot of resin to get everything wet out and may lead to some areas being more resin soaked than others. By using a small paint roller you can make sure that the whole board surface is wet enough to be adhesive, you then roll out the cloth and you will find it sticks quite readily. By using the roller to further saturate the cloth you can get a clean lam with little resin waste or excess absorbtion into the underlaying surface.
No offense, but I doubt I’ll ever do what you’re suggesting. I’ve never had much luck positioning cloth on a resin sticky surface, just curious as to how to brush out laps (and its benefits) as opposed to just dragging the resin onto the lap with a squeegee.
HI LEWIS, I JUST SAW YOU’RE QUESTION, ONE THING TO REMEMBER IS TO USE A SQUEEGEE WHEN DEALING WITH POLYESTER RESIN DURING THE LAMINATION STAGE. YOU ALWAYS WANT TO HOLD THE SQUEEGEE AT A 45 DEGREE ANGLE AND AFTER WORKING THE RESIN IN, WORK THE RESIN TOWARDS THE EDGES. THE OBJECT IS TO GET AS MUCH RESIN SQUEEGEED OUT OF THE CLOTH.AVOIDING ANY POOLED AREAS. YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO THAT WITH A BRUSH. THE BRUSH IS BEST LEFT FOR THE HOT COAT AND GLOSS. THE SQUEEGEE IS A TIME PROVEN METHOD, AND I KNOW MANY ARE OPEN FOR NEW METHODS, YOU CAN’T BEAT THE OLD SQUEEGEE. JUST PULL THE SQUEEGEE, BUT NOT HARD ENOUGH TO MOVE ANY CLOTH.
I’ve only done a few epoxy boards learning about it as I go and given the cost of quality epoxy here in Oz I don’t want to waste a drop if I don’t have to . So…
I pour most out on the flats and use the spreader to move it out to the rail edge then using the brush to wetout the rails getting additional resin out of the bucket as needed. No need to flood the rails to wet them out and tuck the laps can be done out of the bucket using the brush with hardly a drop on the floor. One of the blessings of epoxy is the time it gives you. Again I do it this way only because I’m an epoxy miser.
I’ve only done a few epoxy boards learning about it as I go and given the cost of quality epoxy here in Oz I don’t want to waste a drop if I don’t have to . So…
I pour most out on the flats and use the spreader to move it out to the rail edge then using the brush to wetout the rails getting additional resin out of the bucket as needed. No need to flood the rails to wet them out and tuck the laps can be done out of the bucket using the brush with hardly a drop on the floor. One of the blessings of epoxy is the time it gives you. Again I do it this way only because I’m an epoxy miser.
Cheers
Mooneemick
I think you’ve got it right, that is the beauty of epoxy is the extra time it gives you, but that can pose a problem as well. If you let the resin soak in too much, you’ll have too heavy a lamination. Sounds like you’re doing with a brush what some do with a squeegee. I’d suggest touching up the laps with a squeegee if you’re not doing that already.