Hey guys. I’m shaping my first board at the moment. But the more I keep working
on it the more I realize the mistakes I’ve made during the way. I was
hasty while gluing up the blank, and made some bad choices which are now
starting to show up. The XPS foams I used had thin 5mm deep or lines on
both of their faces. I initially thought they wouldn’t be a problem,
but now while shaping some of those channels came a bit close to the
rails. (There are a few pics below…) Now I’m thinking, maybe those
channels between the two foam layer bound cause some delamination in the
(near?) future after the glassing.
Here are the pics. It’s still
a rought shape only… but I’m trying to figure out if I should keep
working on it and glass it, or toss it and call it a well-learned
experience then start on a new one. I would appreciate any advice you
guys could spare.
From the side
Deck
Close up: Obviously, the
surface quality is lacking. How smooth should I try to get it? I
remember reading something about making scratches on the surface to
decrease the chance of delamination on XPS.
Problem area on the rail.
That hole near the joining line is one of the channels I mentioned. Also
it needs some glue near the rail. :\
Yup, another problem area. The channels coming to surface near the nose.
ps: Perhaps, this should be archived as “How not to make your own blank.”
First board i would say you have to glass it. it does not look to good but i bet it would be a fun ride. . maybe try spackle it to smooth out the holes and finish sanding with 200 or 300 grit. and learn from this !! mine number one was the same…
i would fill in the straches with spackle then sand smoth and glass the thing, like ambrose said you may love, my first board was a great disaster but hey it still was a fun ride
I say glass it and enjoy the ride. Like Ambrose said it could be magic. My magic board was twisted like pretzel and had a delammed deck that was one huge bubble. I miss that board.
I'd say use it for more shaping practice and when you do the next one it'll be better. It looks like you're scrubbing on spots with small tools too much. Take long strokes with something big enough to fair the lines.
Definitely fill the cracks with spackle or epoxy slurry and like Mike says use a long strokes with a big sanding block or other tool to clean the lines up a bit and then glass the thing, if only for practice.
Thanks. As Mike said, wouldn’t spackling XPS cause some problems though?
Also, I think Spackle is sort of a trademark name in US right? I’ve made some searches and I didn’t find any local references to Spackle. It says, Spackle has gypsum in it… It sounds like the plasters they use here to fill the cracks etc on the walls. Am I on the right track?
@chrisp
I guess I didn’t think it that way. I’ll probably mess up glassing too, since it will be my first time. Might as well mess it up on this board, right?
edit: how about a spray like PU foam to fill the big cracks?
I vote against the PU foam. light weight spackle is the go or epoxy/microballons mix…
you’re right, “spackle” is the stuff they use to fill in cracks in walls. the LIGHTWEIGHT stuff is the stuff to get though.
when you’re at the hardware store, pick up the different tubs of spackle, when you find one that feels empty compared to it’s peers, that’s the lightweight one.
if you search for “lightweight spackle” here on Swaylocks, you should get more info on what and how…
as far as XPS and spackle, it is what it is. there are some people here who love XPS but just make sure that they don’t fine sand before glassing. keep it at about 100 grit.
there are also those who aren’t too fond of the stuff (Mike Daniel included) due to delamination issues.
at this point, it’s up to you to decide if you want to finish your board or not.
For XPS, I would use as coarse a grade of sandpaper as you can find to prep/score the final surface before glassing. No more than 50 grit, lower if you can find it.
I don’t know how well DAP Fast & Final spackle will adhere to XPS.
Wouter is right. Polyethylene is used in XPS formulations and this doesn’t help to provide a very strong bend between foam and glass lamination. You should check before asserting things you don’t know.
