Kinda took awhile, but got my rails pretty much finished! Probably not perfect,but i think if i keep sanding theres not gonna be anything left. Still gotta do some finish screening, mark out my fin boxes, and i think it'll be close to glass time!
Well... finally getting back to work on the longboard! Got in a car accident a few weeks ago, and have been to busy messing with insurance companies and finding parts for my van to worry about this project. Vans in the body shop now though, so i had a few days to get some glassing done.
Decided to go with a green tint and try my first cutlap. Perfect timing for the "the cut lap" thread (not sure how to post the link to it?) to get posted. Lots of great info in it. Got the deck taped up with 3m 233+ and masking paper, then laid out the 6oz cloth and trimmed it. Mixed up 48oz of resin with 1% cat. and 1/4 tsp of green pig. This seemed to work good and left plenty of time to wrap the rails before it started to kick ( room temp @ around 60-65 deg. F), and had about 8oz left over.
The green tint didn't turn out nearly as dark as i had wanted it, but oh well, i can live with it. Got to sand down some of the cloth overlaps at the nose & tail, and trim some loose fibers. Then im think i'm gona go with the same color on the deck also, and cutlap that too.
Sparky, I dig the color! Used it many times on my own boards; Sea Foam Green. My house is even painted in Sea Foam.
Thanks tblank! At first i didn't really like it,but after looking at it for the last week i'm pretty stoked on the color.
So.... got the deck lam done yesterday, and didn't turn out nearly as good as the bottom lam. Saturating 2 layers of 6oz took more time than i thought and the resin started to kick as i was wrapping the rails. Wasnt able to sqeegee all the excess resin and ended up with some small puddles ( shiny spots) on the deck and rails. My biggest concern though, are the puddles at the cutlap on the bottom side. Some of them are pretty thick and are way darker than the rest of the board. It looks like the cloth is floating on top of the big puddles also, so maybe ill have to grind through some cloth to even it out with the rest of the deck.
If so, should i put some more cloth down on these spots, before the hotcoat? Was planning on doing a clear cheater coat to even out the cutlap and the bottom before the hotcoat. Not too worried about the discoloration, but wondering if grinding through the lap on the bottom will have much sctructural problems?
Also, found out pretty quick that i should have taken more time to get all the scratches and imperfections out of the board before glassing. With the green tint every one of them is super obvious! Have to remember that on the next one.
https://swaylocks7stage.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/Deck%20Lam%201.jpg
Made some more progress on the board this last week! Got the thick laps sanded down with 60 grit on a med. power pad on an angle grinder. Man, its pretty scary using that thing at full speed! I had to stop, and bought a speed controller, which made it way easier! Put 2- 4oz patches over where the sidebiters will go, and then hotcoated both sides. Routered out the center fin box, and got that glassed in. I have the holes cut already for the sidebites, but have a few questions before i set them.
Do i need to put any cant or angle on them? Or is this even possible with fcs plugs? I have the fcs GL sidebite fins and it doesn't look like there is any built-in cant on them. The install manual is a bit confusing too- it says to use the putty or tape to hold the jigs at the desired angle, but later says the plugs need to sit flat on the board? Not too familiar with the 2+1 setup so any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Well.... i think i answered my question! looks like theres already cant built into the plug itself, duh! Maybe like 3-4 deg.? If so, i feel really dumb now, because i've put them in before and either forgot or didn't notice altogether, lol!
It's always a good idea to insert those dummy jigs when installing plugs. Shy of that, make some out of plywood or just use the fins themselves.... something that gives you an idea on cant and toe while the resin sets. During installation the plugs can shift a little in the holes and you want to keep an eye out for that.
You only need a little bit of resin to set them in place. Fill to the top after the initial setting is correct.
Fiberglass supply sells the dummy jigs but they are 20 some bucks plus shipping.
Aloha sparky,Don't sweat it since I have seen worse and iis usually a blank with imperfections, next time if the blank is good then take it down to 220 grit for a tint lam.
John, those FCS jigs cost about the same as a set of fins,ever wonder what it would belike to try and ride a board with the jigs in it instead of fins,could be interesting I'm sure. Aloha,Kokua
John & Kokua, thanks for the advice! I got the fcs jigs and they worked great. Maybe once the boards done i'll try em as fins and see what happens! Almost had a major f**kup, as i didn't tape off the tops of the plugs, and came close to filing one up with resin.Tried using a syringe to apply the resin and it all came out at once, lol, what a mess! Think they came out good though, other than tinting it green and getting some nice halos on the deck. I guess thats why they give you those stickers, huh? Think on the next board i will try one of the under the lam fin box systems, they seem to have a cleaner look.
Finally got it finished and took it to the beach for a test ride! Conditions weren't ideal for what i want to ride it in, (hollow, dumpy beach break), but i'm really stoked! Didn't sink or break, caught waves super easy, and turned well ( probably due to the short 7" cutaway). I'm thinking i might get a bigger fin to try it as a single fin. Anyone have any ideas on what size or type of fin would be good for that? Also, big thanks to everyone who took time to give their advice and ideas!!!
