Hey all, Can’t seem to “pin” down why these tiny pinholes seem to show up sometimes and not others.
Board is 5’10" / Used 20oz of SilmarB to spread on an even hot using a 4" chip brush after pulling hairs / Temperature was mildy dropping as it was getting later here on the Gulfcoast of Florida. 70 degrees or so. 2 hours between pulling tape, flipping and repeating other side.
No real issues with the hotcoat on the bottom of the board. Pinholes only seem to be a problem in the deck. I hotcoated 2 other boards that same day same relative time and havent had these pinhole problems in any of those either.
Using an identical process, I’m not sure of the variable thats causing these little buggers. In looking up information here on sway I think a possibility might be too dry of a lam. I have been pulling lams pretty hard trying to work out those pesky little bubbles you see in “less than pro” glass jobs.
Any info or idea are greatly appreciated. Think ill give this a try to fix the problem and get the board done. Saw “SPEEDNEEDLE” say something about it in an ancient post. Working in a new batch of sanding resing with a squeege and sand and repeat. not stoked on waiting for the res to cure but gotta do what ya gotta do
Put the hot coat down and squeegee it. Then tip it off with a brush. When you are doing a hot coat; If you lay it down hard and then tip it OFF, you should have no problems. I don’t even “cross hatch” my hotcoat. I can usually lay it down with enough pressure that everything fills and then just tip it off and let it set. I do this with a 3 or 4 inch throw away brush.
If I understand correctly. You would dump something like 5ounces of resin on an approx 6foot board. Work that in good and hard with a squeege. Then dump the additional resin, like 15ounces on the board and work it in with a 4" throw away brush?
To avoid the squeege step, is there a method of working the resin in harder with just the brush? like hold the brush at a more downwards angle with more pressure. really moving the resin around? or is putting too much pressure on the brush, actually creating these tiny bubble?
Im left scratching my head a little after doing multiple hotcoats in the same day. With what As far as I can tell, identical processes. And achieving different quality results. There’s some subtle variables im over looking.
I don’t do OZ’s. Been doing this awhile so I can eyeball what I need. But no I don’t squeege on resin and then poor more on. I pour it on as I go and use a brush only. The Squeege recommendation is for anyone who seems to be having issue with hotcoats in general. I lay it on fat all over the board and then pull off excess if needed by cross strokes. Then tip it off lightly. When I used to have problems with hotcoats; I found that after sanding I could rub out with a neutral colored compound and the pinholes would fill and disappear. The hotcoat is a three step process; 1. Pour and spread resin over the entire board. 2. Cross stroke to pull off excess resin. 3. Tip off from nose to tail, tail to nose. That’s it! I do occasionally skip step #2 when things are going well and the spread is good.
I polished the board up without filling the holes and the creme colored polish really got deep into those pinholes and it looked awful! Had to blast away with the air gun for a good while, wipping away whatever I could dislodge. Will definitely be looking for a nice white compound to use first and hopefully avoid that problem, again.
I think Ill try a hotcoat with skipping the cross stroke. Using just a bit of extra resin to really make sure i have the rails saturated. Brush it in with a 4" throw away. And see how it goes. Im thinking the pinholes might show up when the resin is worked too hard or too thin while doing the cross stroke. That, or either not working the resin in quick enough to let it really self-level.
And thanks on the compliment. I agree the board came out a bit busy. Wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I threw the resin down but, another board, another lesson. Future boards will be the benefactor! These swirls can be both complicated or simple depending on what you’re expected results are.
Give me a run down on how you did it? I’m confused on how you were able to get the straight cut lap line at the rail. You started with black and then went to what color?
I used to get those pinholes all the time in my hotcoat. For me it was about the viscosity of the resin, make sure the resin is warm, set the can in the sun for 15-20 minutes . The better the flow the better the bubbles will surface. To me its all about letting the bubbles get to the surface. if not you will never get rid of them…the more you sand the more you expose.
Also getting the proper amount of cat to the temp is critical. Too fast and the bubbles wont have time to rise…to slow the resin will slab off and leave canyons of sticky.
Heres what I do usually. for 1 quart of resin use about 15 cc of hardner. This gives me approximately 3-5 mins brush time, then another 5-8 minutes to let the bubbles and wax rise. I get the resin down fast, cross stroke 2x, tip out 2x…then walk away…just walk away.
And yes…if you pull the lam too dry you will make big areas to be filled with the hotcoat…that will never fill properly. Think of doing your lam like a sponge…think of it like this: if you squeeze the sponge too dry it will suck up air (airpins), if you dont squeeze it, it will be over saturated (puddles). Some place in the middle is perfection…cant tell ya, could show ya, its a feeling or a rythum you get use to.
Was a bit of a hack job. I laminated the bottom first. cut lap. All those rasta colors mixed when waterfalling the rails and made this streaky ugly brown color. (since the making of this board, Ive printed out one of those " primary and secondary color wheels" just so I know what im getting into with these resin swirls lol colors mixing can be good and bad) Wasnt happy with the initial look. decided to tape off for another cut lap. taping both the top and bottom. laminated basically just the rails with the red yellow and green at 3% pigment to try and really knock out the ugliness underneath the “patch”. Used the excess cloth from the deck for repairs. always can use extra cloth. cut the laps. grinded. lammed the deck… Not a very cost effective manner but the final look is pretty unique.
Had some more of these pinholes in another board yesterday. Theres a first hand learning curve with the temp and viscosity that cant really be explained. (Especially when the seasons change). Ive got a board right now im finishing up with both puddles and airpins haha. progress not perfection.
Update: Changed the amount of mekp Im putting in my poly hotcoat and noticed a big difference. I was catalyzing at 1%. (Or as close to it is as I can eyeball) Today I bumped that up to 2 % mekp and 4% Sanding Aid in 25oz of poly silmar b. Laid it down quick and let sit. Noticeable less running off of resin on the rails. When the resin kicks it kicks, stays where it should! keeps the rails and concaves from draining. Laying it down quick and leaving it is GOLDEN advice and easy over looked.
Its funny how problems can develop in stages of a build youve done tons of times previously. Not being able to pinpoint whats changed in the process.
no issues with the resin yellowing faster than usual? I have some of that UV powder that i mix in with silmar b. Only tend to use it on repair rush jobs
Honestly I have heard less knowledgeable people claim that it yellows, but Idon’t think they know what they are talking about. I’ve been Glassing whole boards with it since the early 90’s. They stay good. I use silmar 249 Opti-Bright. Colors pop and white is bright. The Opti-bright is the difference.
Fiberglass FL rep doesnt seem to know where the silmar optibright is available… any idea where I might be able to get some in Florida? looked like there was a douglassurf.com on google that mentioned silmar 249 A Optibright
When you mix the powder, put it in and stir really well or use a paint stirrer on a drill and do a gallon at a time. Let it sit overnight and stir again the next day. This will allow the crystals to fully dissolve. One of the nice things about UV is that catalyst can be used with it if necessary. It’s been my experience that it will set with exposure to any amount of UV. Even overcast or cloudy days. Catalyst is handy on those rainy days. I’ve yet to build myself a UV box, but plan on doing so early next year. We are probably going to get all our rain in January thru March this year or it’s going to be dry this season.
Ive noticed after letting it sit that the crystals do dissolve. I try not to drop the powder in too clunky either. pour a little, stir. pour a little, stir.
Only time I had a pinhole problem was trying to skip a hot coat/gloss coat, and only brush on one layer of finish. Apparently the finish coat didn’t sink into the little holes in the lam, or the lam was too dry, leaving holes between the strands.
As it’s a board I don’t ride often, I just lived with it, and made a note never to try that single-coat stunt again.
It’s a b*cth to clean out pinholes filled with sanding dust, or polishing compound, whatever. Best I’ve used is a a thumb over the end of a garden hose. The high-velocity water will soften and clean out the dry or semi-dry dust MUCH more quickly than high pressure air, and it’s certainly more readily available.
