RR Epoxy a bad idea for a first time shaper/glasser?

General Discussion
1

Hey Folks

Thanks to all so far that have answered my posts. Swaylocks is great place for info but from what i have seen it’s the community that makes it!

I’m just finalising what i need to buy for my first foray into shaping and i am tempted to use RR instead of poly (i’ve glassed a few large dings with poly). The idea of less fumes is a big plus as i may end up glassing in my kitchen.

Given i haven’t glassed a board before i’m thinking it makes no difference what i use since my technique will no doubt suck whatever :slight_smile:

Any tricks or tips using RR would be greatly appreciated from those who glass with it.

Also has anyone glassed wooden fins with it, i was going to cut and foil my own from ply.

Cheers guys!

Wal

2

Highly recommend the RR Epoxy. I have only ever done the one board (although made other GRP stuff in the past with normal poly resin) and found it so easy to use.

Firstly you need to get some heating in the glassing area especially in the NE. Normal room temperature is fine.

Have you watched a board being glassed before?

3

My first lam was with RR, and it came out great, no surprises, and plenty of time. I lammed a 48" skimboard first, so in case I made mistakes, it was shaped from scraps anyway. I highly recommend you do this, just to get an idea of what it feels like. If you don’t get to practice on some scrap, The Master Glasser video is great, and caters to beginners (like me). it will give you an idea of how things go, and read the epoxy primer for any differences in technique from Mr Brucker’s. The main difference is that epoxy soaks into the glass by itself, and does not need to be worked so much. just spread it out at first on the flats, and then wet and tuck your laps, and then squeegee excess off and clean your laps up. Done. Use around 50% more resin than called for in the primer at first, just so you won’t end up with any dry spots. As the resin thickens, it does not soak in as well to the fabric, so any dry spots you find later in the process will be harder to soak through, unless you have a small batch ready to mix for such an occasion. As your technique improves, you will find you don’t need as much resin.

I find that if I am glassing longboards, I glass one half at a time, to make sure I have enough time before the resin begins to get thicker (I work slowly). When one half is done, just mix the other half (pre-measured) and go. The only problem with the halves is that any rice paper logos may get pulled off-center when lamming the first half, so just take care to pull them back to center when lamming the second half. My girlfriend now helps me with longboards, she does one side of the stringer, and I do the other, the system works very well.

I am still not any good at laminating over color, the colors get ‘milkier’ with the epoxy/fabric on top of them. I was wondering if it was my technique, and if anyone has any tips on how to get a crystal clear lam with RR, please chime in…

I do want to see Mr Loehr’s technique in his upcoming epoxy glassing video, though, to see if what I am doing is efficient/correct.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes…

JSS

4

Sounds good…

And no i haven’t ever watched a board being glassed, looked at plenty of photos…does that count? :slight_smile:

5

You should be fine with RR. I would make one suggestion: Use either the slow hardener or a mix of the slow and fast. The fast hardener by itself will start to thicken at just about the same time-frame as a medium polyester catalyzed bucket of resin.

Also: Very Important. Once the epoxy is thoroughly mixed in the bucket, apply and spread the whole amount of resin on the board and work it around with your squeegee.

Any resin left in the bucket will heat up and go off pretty fast. I had about one cup left in my bucket and it started smoking! It actually melted the plastic. Had to pour water in to save the day.

Good luck. Doug

6

Hot Hot Hot :slight_smile:

So how long does the slow hardner take to go off, say at room temp? (21-22C)

7

Hey Wal

All good advice so far. I’ve done two boards with RR (did my deck last night in fact). RR is very easy to use. As long as you mix it well, keep your surfaces clean and work area warm you’ll have no problems. My first board was a 9’4" and I glassed it at 60F (sorry I don’t have the time to convert to celsius right now) in high humidity and used fast hardner. It started so set up as I was finishing the rails and I ended up getting a lot of small air bubbles in the rail lams from trying to work the epoxy too long. Makes the lam white-ish instead of clear. Then again the board was mostly white so no big loss. I think RR needs to be at least 65F to set up. I ended up making a box out of foam insulation that fit over the board and placed a space heater in it. It kept the board at 80F and set up without a problem. If you are going to laminate in cold, humid conditions I’d suggest you use “additive F”. Some folks who don’t have problems with adhesion and blush. Again, read the RR epoxy primer here on Sways. Then read it again. Its the best information you’ll find. Have fun! Once you start your never gonna want to stop!

Eric

8

i started out with RR epoxy and i love that stuff

i say go for it

9

Its just easier if you’ve seen it done at least once: stuff like how to cut the glass at the nose to get it real neat which is quite hard to explain but makes sense if seen.

Best thing is to lay out all your Materials and tools ,resin,graduated containers,alcohol and clean rag for cleaning,vinyl gloves (get a pack of 100 for about £4), stirring sticks, brushes or/and rollers,sharp scissors etc on a sheet of plastic or clean paper within easy reach to avoid panic and loss of time searching for stuff. I found Gregs quantity recomendations to be spot on when glassing a sealed EPS blank(in resources). I wrote out a table of various quantities withratios of resin to hardener to additive F so that I didn’t have to work them out when glassing thus cutting down on panic if I needed a bit extra. It helps to pick amounts that are easy to divide by 3 and are marked on the graduated cups eg if you work out you need 280ml for one side bump that up to 300ml which equals 200 resin plus 100 hardener. I guess this all comes under prepare as much as you can in advance of starting glassing. Oh yeah DONT FIDDLE. Get everything done to the same level and don’t get fixated on a bit thats not going well to the detriment of the rest of the board.

RR is so pleasant to use its fun. Astonishing how well something like GoJo cleans the brushes!

10

"I’m just finalising what i need to buy for my first foray into shaping and i am tempted to use RR instead of poly (i’ve glassed a few large dings with poly). The idea of less fumes is a big plus as i may end up glassing in my kitchen. "

What ??? Glassing in the KITCHEN ??? IT’S RESIN NOT CHICKEN SOUP!!!

Do not pass go do not collect $200.00.

Hey what’s this wierd looking stuff in my peannut butter?

Don’t worry it’s just RESIN.

11

LOL! Well i don’t exactly intend on chucking it about…it’s either there or the front room. :slight_smile:

12

If you’re gonna do it in your house, the front room would be better. There’s little fumes with the RR stuff but you really don’t want to be getting it in your food. Put down a sheet of plastic and then newspapers on top and you should be able to clean up without getting any on the carpet. Have you not got a garage you can work in?

13

Nope, no garage just a yard and it’s way to cold up here.

Guess the front room may do :slight_smile: