Should the centre of the squeegee bend towards you or away from you? I’m having some difficulty telling which is backward, particularly with the yellow spreaders which have curve built in.
Aloha Deanbo
The answer to your question is more complicated then you expected. Depending on the surface contours you are running the squeegee over you need to bend the squeegee to conform to those contours, especially if you are doing colored laminations. The process of laminating is very dynamic, rarely will your squeegee have a consistent arc like your question implies. Proper bend in the squeegee depends on what you are trying to do at that moment. Sometimes you are trying to move resin and that means having a concaved side toward the direction of movement. Sometimes you are trying to spill resin into an area that doesn’t have enough and that means a flatter or convex side toward the direction of movement. These are, of course, in addition to the horizontal angles that you run the squeegee at to perform equal distribution of the resin over the whole board as quickly as possible.
Sometimes you want the squeegee more vertical to bite into the cloth and resin so as to force the resin into the fabric and foam and compress the lam and thin it out. Sometimes you want it angled forward to flow more resin into the fabric.
When doing the rail laps you would normally induce a tight arc in the squeegee to conform its shape to that of the rail or contour you are running it over. Watch as many laminating videos as possible and watch how the resin moves relative to the shape of the squeegee. There is a lot to learn there regardless of how good the laminator actually is. Good luck!
Thank you for the advice. I remember the person from glassing 101 saying that it’s more of a feel, and the more I glass the more I agree.
i couldnt agree more…all of the above with a little sight and sound and, laminating becomes the “feel” you want.
a sgueegy is a laminators most important tool.
Clear board…Wet out, let saturate, pull off excess and laminate. more pressure of the squeegee at each step. More feel than science.
Aloha Darthvader
Good points about the sound and feel as strong aids to knowing how the lamination is going down.
By the way mr vader, your workmanship that has been posted elsewhere on Swaylocks is simply awesome! Clearly you are among those who understand the proper use of a squeegee. That said, a couple of questions for you.
What kind of squeegee do you regularly use?
How long is it?
Do you modify yours in any particular ways?
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is the differences in techniques in doing epoxy vs poly layups. If you use the usual poly approach to epoxy you’ll get a lot a froth going in no time. Time is on your side when doing epoxy. Allow the stuff to soak in. If you work it too much, it will froth up.
Another thing, most pro glasser use Thalco squeegees. They keep the things soaking in acetone to soften them up and make them more pliable. They also will reshape the things to their own liking and will use a couple different ones during the layup.
Atomized,
Ive been told soaking the Squeegee in acetone helps soften it up, how long do you usually soak it for?
bill,
i use thalco squeegy rubber and blue seems to hold up the longest between sharpenings. the white works and so does the grey but obie wan and i find that blue can do more boards between sharpenings.
my mentor in laminating showed me the importance and benefits of having a “tuned” squeegy. some might say we take it tooo far. lol, but its a must for good tints.
i like mine around 8 to 10 inches long and foiled out and the tips rounded off. ill get a pick of the current one im am using. its one of obie wans old ones resharpened to my liking.
its always stored in clean acetone to keep the rubber soft. and i use it for clears or color work and i use it all the way through. we dont use multipal sueegys just one, the key is to understand how to use it on flats ,rails,and laps. basically different pitch anlges and pressures. its not somthing i can easily put into words, it like a golfer you have a tee off swing and a finese putt, to end the hole.
aloha
Nainoa
Howzit Shorts. Only takes a couple of days for a squeegee to become flexable in acetone. What you need to know is once you start soaking it in acetone you can’t leave it out of the acetone for to long or it hardens and will crack then it’s shot.I cut 1" off the length on the top to make it even more flexable, wraps the rails real nice.Aloha,Kokua
Aloha DVader
I also use the Thalco squeegee, but white. Haven’t tried the blue one but will get around to it. In my semi retired cruise mode, I don’t wear out many squeegees so time between sharpenings doesn’t matter that much to me. But I surely understand that when working in a production environment.
I use my squeegees around 7" long. My fingers are on the shorter side so too long of a squeegee gets harder to control and longer doesn’t add enough speed as I am not in a production laminating mode. I keep mine fairly stock. I manipulate the squeegee angles, pressure and tilt, rather then “tune” the rubber too much. But I can see were a 10" squeegee might need some reworking to keep it under control and comfortable.
As you also noted, mine is kept in acetone continually and like you, I use the same one for clears or color work. I do have a smaller one though, about 4", that is really thinned out and flexy at the tip and has 1/2"+ rounded corners, that I use for glass on fins. But I only use one squeegee for all laminations.
There are so many different ways to do things as a million posts on any subject on Swaylocks will testify to, but the more time one spends really “hands on” working, in a professional production environment, the more things distill down to certain basics that are often shared by others facing similar circumstances.
If you are ever on the North Shore stop in and visit!