Hi:
I haven’t been here for a few years since I relinquished making my own stuff but I’m back at it again. I’m thinking of making me another paipo (Hawaiian style) as the ones I used to make out of plywood. Hopefully I can manage to post the picks.
I’ve been looking at this page (http://californiasurfcraft.com/pages/faqs) but it seems that they don’t really seal the cork with anything**; **just a fiberglass bottom, another two sandwiched layers of glass and that’s it.
I’m thinking of using two varnished marine-grade plywood sheets**; **one on the bottom and one in the middle of the cork sheets to provide rigidity, just as stringers would do.
But do you actually seal the cork top and (also cork) rails? Can you varnish them?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Hi there @Unclegrumpy**: **
There must be something wrong with my browser because I can't manage to post a reply despite logging in properly.
Thanks for your advice. I was considering 2 or 3 coats of cork varnish and acrylic paint for the bottom and just some wax for the deck. Already testing it on some scraps I've got lying around the house. I might leave out the paint though**; **glossy cork looks beautiful.
Does it take a long time to dry out after a session? Or is it just surface wetness.
Regards,
Littlefoot.
I have one of the boards from California Surfcraft.
They are done vac bag style and the resin used is forced into the cork during the vacuum sealing it very well.
I also have a corked decked paipo I made a few years ago. You don’t have to seal the cork but if you don’t the board does gain a little weight during a session. I ended up sealing the deck of mine with barge cement which has worked well.
Hi Littlefoot - thanks for checking out my website. For what it’s worth, I can tell you my philosophy on the cork sealing question.
A lot of it depends on choosing the right cork. The NL20 Core Cork from Amorim is a dense agglomerate that uses polyurethane as it’s binding agent. Cheaper cork sheets, like the kind you can buy off Amazon.com, and the stuff they use for bulletin boards is plenty dense, but it uses a urethane agent to bind the cork granules together. The urethane bound boards won’t hold up to sun and salt water. They also have poor peel stength and I generally don’t recommend that cork for surf gear.
However, if you do use that cheaper cork, you should seal it well. Any kind of polyurethane will do, but I particularly recommend a spar varnish or marine varnish. The trade-off, though, is that these sealers go on thick and you’ll lose the feel of the cork.
In the case of the Core Cork sheets, I believe the NL20 doesn’t need to be sealed. I have cork boards that I made two years ago that were never sealed, surfed regularly, and have very little wear and tear. I think about it like this — we don’t seal a wine cork before we put it in a bottle. The cork IS the seal.
That said, I also don’t see any harm in sealing the NL20 if you’d like to. Just like other kinds of wood, cork looks great when you add a light coat of polyurethane or oil.
I use NL20 vacuumed on, after sanding I seal it with a uv stable oil, mainly just to keep the colour even.
tynemouthmatt - do you blend your own UV-stable oil, or use something off the shelf?
Hi Californiasurfcraft,
I use this stuff:
http://www.osmouk.com/sitechaptern.cfm?bookid=Products&chapter=82&page=262
Seems to be working really well, also helps the water bead and run off faster than just plain cork.
Looks like great stuff. It doesn’t seem to be available in the US, though. Bummer.
Yeah, took some finding over here!
Just rag in on, 2 coats. Dries hard, had no issues with wax or tail pads sticking.
That’s a sick looking board. I follow you on Instagram, I didn’t realize it was you. Great stuff, beautiful boards.
I’ve been using Vermont Natural Coatings: http://www.amazon.com/Vermont-Natural-Coatings-PolyWhey-EXTERIOR/dp/B003ZZEQWK/
But I’m looking for something new. Sometimes I mix up a blend of equal parts BLO, tung oil and citrus solvent. It takes awhile to fully dry, but it works well.
