I’m an EPS shaper but just shaped my first PU. My planner left some chips in the foam and I really can’t sand them out with out drastically changing the deck roll etc. Whats the best way to fill them before I paint it, them lam?
Thanks
OP just needs to run planer a little slower last passes on PU. EPS doesn’t ‘‘tear’’ like PU. so if you’re used to planing fast on EPS it’s normal to have to think about slowing down some on PU. ‘‘Shotgun air’’ is another thing entirely, but if you’re going to patch the techniques are same, as McDing said.
Thanks! As I think back, I planned it just like EPS; probably too fast. It’s just a few dings along the stringer but I like a smooth board especially when I’m getting ready to airbrush. Yeah, I could probably take care of it during glassing but I just don’t like dings. That’s not my style.
In 2006 with Clarks closing everybody was scrounging for foam. In the Islands and on Maui Fiberglass Hawaii brought in some foam from Argentina. I think it was called Elova. The glue-ups and rockers weren't too bad, but the foam itself was full of "worm holes". I shaped a few of them and threw a few in the dumpster. Almost every blank at the glass shop in Haiku had holes in them that had to be fixed by the glasser. Usually he attempted to fill them with resin during the lamination. I couldn't stand taking a blank to the glass shop with friggin' worm holes in it. So I figured out the spackle method. I don't know the name of the spackle, whether it was patch'n'paint or something differant. You know when you pick it up. The liteweight puffy "cool whip" stuff. If you dab it with your finger on the hole only and do not smear it on the foam around the hole the repair is un-detectable to the average eye. Not every shaper is a rat. Even foam made in the USA occasionally has a worm hole. If you are tearing Poly; you are either planing too fast or using dull blades. No need to re-shape your blank into some potatoe chip just to get a tear out of it. Just fill it and screen it.
I can only imagine how crappy the thing looks. I would plane out the scars slowly and carefully, then sand and screen it out because it sounds like you have no idea of what your doing. Filling your deck with that crap is asking for trouble, and never looks that good. If your that new to shaping you can’t be that good of designer, so the extra work will do you good. Besides when its glassed the rails always fill up a bit on the top because of the glassing schedule especially if you glass like you shape!
Honesty sucks sometimes, and sometimes new shaper’s shapes suck too. Still I could be wrong!
Good call!
The new foam formulas are to bright for the spackle method. It stands out like a sore thumb.
I just had to do a creative logo placement on a board becausecyou could tell from several feet away.
Yea that’s what I was thinking McDing. I’ve personally seen many a pro board and backyard board with wormholes. Most of the time its only one per blank/shape so can be fixed with resin.
You definitly called that bloke out ghettorat. Not worth getting on the wrong side of you.
Be good to see pictures Bmatthews.
Hi McDing -
After much research I concluded that 'Patch N Paint' and 'Fast and Final' are basically the same product. I'm pretty sure that 'Patch N Paint' is now owned by DAP. In any case, it's an acrylic base with microballoons as filler, hence the light weight. I've used both PNP and FAF and couldn't tell the difference. I've also blended my own filler using 'Killz' white acrylic with my own addition of microballoon filler... It didn't sand as nicely as the other two, but good enough.
I'd recommend that the original poster use an equivalent product and 'prime' the entire blank... just like it was an EPS blank. Hit it lightly with drywall screen after it dries and glass it. If you prime the entire blank (including the divots) with some lightweight spackle, there will be no identifiable 'patch.'
Thanks for the feedback!
The lightest liteweight spackle you can buy. Not Fast'n'Final. I think "Patch'n'Paint makes one. The stuff that is soo lite that when you pick up the can off the shelf you can't believe there is anything in the can. Dab it onto the hole only. Do not smear it into the foam surrounding the hole. Let it dry throughly. Preferably overnite. Screen with 220 screen and blow it off with air.
When you paint over a spackled filled hole on a PU/PE, it will most likely crystallize. If you do a resin tint over a spackle hole, it will show lighter that the surronding foam in the resin tint. Best thing to do is to glass the board as a resin opaque.
Learn to use that planer properly. Sloooooooooow down.
Spackle does work. I learned a cool trick from Gary linden. After you apply spackle, (usually done with a razor blade) the area around the divits is usually very smooth and not the same texture as the foam. When it is still wet, try sprinkling some clean, fine foam dust on the spackle. Let dry. Leave it alone. makes the holes look almost like they were never there.
McDing, when I was at my old shop with my friend Rat, we were the So-Cal distributor for Elova Foam.We had a lot of that stuff! A little hard and many holes like you describe. Basham’s in San Clemete bought some too. It was nice to have until the other foams set up shop and started production. I still have some. All brown now. Glad that’s over!
Barry
Yeah. You should of heard the complaints up at Gott's in Haiku. One of the guys at Fiberglass Hawaii on Maui is Argentine. He had the connections and made a great effort, but the stuff just wasn't up to snuff. One of the key reasons Ted Wilson and Fiberglass Hawaii will never get caught without foam or at the mercy of another supplier again. ie. US Blanks