This is about building a board like Grant Newby is doing, Paulownia wood on EPS foam and oiled wood only, no glass (http://woodensurfboards.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-green-waxless-board.html). Grant told me that he is using Fix it Mate Glue by Fixtech and that I could use some from Selleys but I can't find any of these in Thailand where I am based. Went out yesterday for 6 hours looking for Poly glue in all hardware shop and boat building shops but couldn't find any Fixtech nor Selleys. I bought different other things like Sikaflex, Bostik "No More Nails", Würth etc… Made tests but the results are not convincing. None of the tested glues seems to penetrate the foam much, the Bostik No More Nails been a bit better but it leaves gaps and looks porous (probably not watertight), nothing bounds close to how Epoxy does. As you can see on the pics Sika and Würth seem to seal very well and bound to wood nicely but not much on the foam side (and white).
No I can think of two options:
1- Use Epoxy with some micro balloons to make it a bit thicker to maybe seal the foam?!?
2- Use Sika or Würth on "scratched" foam to get a better bounding. And then epoxy for the rails build up to avoid the white joints. What option would be best? If any…
if you can get sikaflex you should be able to get sikabond, this is similar to what Grant uses and I bought it for a similar project I'm still getting to
If you can't find some moisture cure PU glue in Thailand [hard to believe] then Epoxy is your ONLY alternative and yes indeed mix it big time [mayo] with Q-cell is definately the way to go. I'd even mix some dust from the job with the brew. Helps with any glue line colour.
Wasn't the ticket. We ain't talkin green. We's talkin about bond. … Don't doubt PU at all and forget LN's … Write LN out of the script! As for Epoxy? well it's a beautiful thing however it bonds no better than PU and is far less flexible by orders of magnitude … also poo glu It's cheaper than epoxy, Lighter than … more quicker kick than… The list might continue… under Water/Moisture Cure bonding agents. JMO
Haavard, the reason not to use Epoxy was the curing time (Grant's "fix it Mate Glue" cures in 2 hours) but I want my EPS blan to be 100% protected from any water and I know that there are some small holes left when using epoxy. I just put the second test board in the vacbag using Epoxy but with a lot of micro baloons… we will see!
Performance-wise , PU is not in the race…wood laminated to foam with epoxy , then externally sealed with epoxy , creates a 3ply beam structure in itself , with a flexibility and spring back that cannot be achieved with PU glue…in comparison PU adds nothing , similar to using contact adhesive…it bonds well , but does little else.
Performance-wise , PU is not in the race…wood laminated to foam with epoxy , then externally sealed with epoxy , creates a 3ply beam structure in itself , with a flexibility and spring back that cannot be achieved with PU glue…in comparison PU adds nothing , similar to using contact adhesive…it bonds well , but does little else.
KAYU, I have to refute what you are saying. If you take a piece of veneer … a piece of f/glass… bond them with Epoxy …
then take the same sample piece of veneer and bond her [ wif pooglue] to the f/glass and let them both set up. The next day instead of whittling wood you can time your flex test and see for yourself how PU is FAR more flexable than Epoxy. Also, I don't understand how you can say that a PU bond to veneer with an epoxy coating is NOT 'a 3ply beam structure' .
Dave , PU is cheap , easy and convenient…but it does not give anywhere close to the performance of epoxy…I tried it for comparison years back , and moved on…great for wallhangers and great for wood on wood bonding , but no good for surfboard deck or bottom skins , where performance is required.
Many thanks again for all your input guys Much appreciated here in Thailand, what could I do without you?!?
So I finally glued everything with Epoxy and micro balloon. Set the plugs tonight and will do the final sanding tomorrow. Next step will be to use linseed oil. I could only find what they call “Teak oil” but nowhere on the can is written what it is made of, and the only linseed oil I found here is a “refined linseed oil” used for painting (art). It’s clear and thin but I did some test and it looked all right. Couldn’t find any info about a difference between refined and non, I guess that it is finer and clearer to mix with paint… I hope so at least!
OK so now the board is "finished", sanded and everything ready for "the coat" but I am deeply confused as doing researches on linseed oil kind of told me not to use it. I may go back the epoxy way (one layer with 10% thinner + one "normal" layer) but that would add 400gramms to my 2.800kg board…
I recently installed some wooden doors that will be exposed to the weather. I thinned some epoxy with acetone and did 2 coats on each side followed by a coat of unthinned. Each layer was lightly sanded before the subsequent coat.
I also 'babysat' a few areas with additional touchups where there were exposed seams that didn't quite fill in. Your woodwork looks tight but there are bound to be little gaps where epoxy disappears.
A couple UV resistent sprayed-on clearcoats followed.
Beware of touching the wood with your fingers from start to finish. I had a few fisheyes where I had touched the surface while sanding.
PS - I like the way you 'overlapped' your nose seam. Nice work overall!
3mm paulownia perimeter glued with epoxy and microballoon
3mm paulownia deck skin and 130g (4oz) on deck and 3mm paulownia and 130g tail patch on bottom with epoxy (without and with micro balloon), in the vac bag.
5x 3mm paulownia on one rail and 3x 3mm on tail
5x 3mm paulownia on the other rail (clean tail and nose “overlap”)
shaping rails and “final” sanding
here I set finplugs and leash plugs thinking that I will oil the wood, otherwise better to set them after coating
1 coat of epoxy thinned out with 15% thinner on each side (it penetrate very well in the wood) but need “longer” curing time
