Turn 42 recently and I find in the last 3 years my stamina in the water has degraded probably not totally noticeable to the rest of the usual crowd in the lineup but I’m pretty much ready to concede to riding bigger and longer boards full time I’ve always riden longboards and short boards I have a quiver about 30 raging 4 foot 3 to 12 foot 6 I think that I feel affected for days if not weeks after glassing in poly I get pretty bad dermatitis asthma symptoms excetera excetera if you’ve made a lot of boards chances are you know what I’m on about.
Here are some of my main queries.
Can I still use urethane blank to get the same Spring and feel in response I have had to styrene and epoxy boards I think they’re great but they are different to the feel that I’m after .
I did make my own board polystyrene core laminated completely in carbon fibre the Fins are also solid carbon fibre laminated as per standard fin panel I also use carbon fibre rovings etc to laminate the fins in place the thing was stiff as a board literally back at this time there was no such thing as a epoxy finishing resin you could have used the epoxy is filler but the stuff went so hard it was almost impossible to Sand . so is there such a thing these days this was about 16 years ago.
Is the sanding and polishing the same with epoxy and can I get away laying down more glass to establish the equivalent weight Polly 66 on top 6 on bottom.
Also what are the best brands or types of resins I should be using.
I think all that Carbon is most likely your problem not Poly Resin. Depends more than anything on your immune system. Once your dialed into Poly it is very easy to work with provided you take necessary safety precautions. Having said that; Epoxy is great. Most manufacturers believe the strongest combination is a Poly blank with an Epoxy glass job. The health hazards are less for sure. But if your going to breath fumes and dust from grinding Carbon; You’re taking years off of your life. Lowel
Back in the bad old days glassing with Poly we were not as clued into the hazzards of working with acetone as we are now. A lot of the problems you are having might be to the exposure to Acetone. I became very chemically sensitive due in part to acetone I havea slightly enlarged liver. The VA doctor at first did not believe that I was a very moderate drinker. A lot of us Veteran s are Alcoholics can blame her for testing. After she read up on the Chemistry of Poly and Epoxy with the other chemicals involved. She told me most likely the acetone allow the components of the resin to enter my system and they can’t be expelled like other toxins. In a few thousand years some future Archaeologist will find my bones and a perfectly preserved Liver coated in some strange resin . They will then try to find others that must have been part of some strange cult that thought you needed to encase the Liver for a happy after life. Here isa hint future people It was the cult of the clueless glassed circa 1950s- 1980s after that ear the smell of resin slowly faded.
does carbon have the same hazard factor as asbestos. I do know that it’s not good to breathe in any of the fibres fibreglass included I do wear a mask with a screw on chemical seal canister on the front.
Yeah I have read about acetone Carries the chemical properties into your bloodstream through skin it’s pretty nasty stuff I spent many years to scrubbing my hands with it as though it was water never wore gloves . I gave up glassing my own surfboards about 4 years ago for this very reason of the symptoms im feeling ,at the moment from Just making 2 fins. Huge chemical sensitivity issues. From what I’ve been reading with epoxy there may be some hope for me too fibreglass my own sticks so I think I’ll give it a go this time with epoxy. And as far as alcoholism goes boy oh boy have I got some stories it’s a good thing this forum’s about surfboards otherwise you’d have to Indura a huge boring thread about that s***
She was with the Russians too?? The Russians used to put Acetone and Lacquer Thinner combined with other Deadly substances in conspicuous places like steering wheels and door knobs. Primarily because of the ability of both substances to enter the blood stream thru the skin. Lowel
gotta take precautions with carbon …when sanding anything with carbon , use a fan to blow the dust away from the work space , and vacuum up afterwards …carbon is the same as steel…it can seep through the pores of your skin…and you certainly don’t wanna be breathing it into your lungs.