I just finished my first board and am experiencing some unusual problems with the resin. I shaped a Clark 9’11" and painted some flames on it with Behr waterbase acrylic paint. Then I glassed the board with 6oz warp bias cloth on the bottom and 6oz +4 oz on the top. The resin kicked after about 12-15 minutes for the top and bottom so I’m pretty sure I added enough MEKP. I did this over two humid days with an average temp of about 85-90 degrees. After sanding I mixed 3.5% wax additive to the resin and put the hot coat on both sides. After letting the board cure for two days I put it in the pool to test it out and when I stood on the board my heels made 1-2mm dings in the top of the board. I have not sanded the board but I have no idea why the board is so soft. Could it be the wax? Defective resin? Too hot or cold? Too inexperienced on my part?
If anyone has any ideas or remedies please let me know so that I can either return the resin or salvage the stiffness of my board. Thanks for any help.
There were a couple of spots that didn’t get completely saturated but they aren’t near the dented area. I think the dents just go down into the 4oz but they might have penetrated the 6 oz cloth. This board will never see waves bigger than 5 feet so glassed it pretty light. I’m about 170 pounds so maybe I should have just used another 6 oz on the deck. Thanks for the help.
There were a couple of spots that didn’t get completely saturated but they aren’t near the dented area. I think the dents just go down into the 4oz but they might have penetrated the 6 oz cloth. This board will never see waves bigger than 5 feet so glassed it pretty light. I’m about 170 pounds so maybe I should have just used another 6 oz on the deck. Thanks for the help.
A 4oz deckpatch in the areas where you stand would have done the trick
Sometimes the initial hotcoat gets over brushed and thin in spots, or it just flowed off some areas more (like noses and tails with a lot of rocker). I make a habit of really going over the board after hotcoating and 1st sanding looking for soft spots. I’ll hotcoat more over these areas and just barely feather it in and then hotcoat the whole side again. I always put at least two hotcoats on each side of a cruiser longboard to make sure there’s no thin spots. For a lightweight performance LB that’s glassed like yours, get used to those pressure dings on the deck. Sorry but you’re gonna have a lot more.
Your standing on a unfinished board only after 2 days of curing, that’s a bad call in my book.
Your standing on a unfinished board in a pool, what’s up with that? were you checking to see if it floats, or if your pinholes can start sucking up pool water and start delaming? You got to seal it up with gloss or something before you can get it wet. You’d think Lam and Hotcoat are water tight, but it’s not. it sounds like you have some dry spots, and subsequently lot’s of pinholes. These will leak, and turn your board into a brown log.
You could have over shaped the deck of the board + the unfinished lamination job and the tap dance in the pool will guarantee some pressure dings.
Next time resist the urge to mess with the board until it’s finished, don’t stand on it, poke or tease it. If your not a professional glasser on a time table, do this. Laminate one day, let it sit for 24-48 hours make sure the lamination is dry, it shouldn’t be tacky. Then hotcoat the next, let it sit for 48hrs to make sure its nice and hard. Then sand. If you didn’t add enough catalyst, stir it well enough, or laminating over a heavy paint spot, it could take up to a week to kick off?
well i´m also in the opinion that you overshaped your blank. well you can try to sand of all the topcoat and put another 4oz layer over it. than hotcoat it again. it´will become a lot heavier but at least it´will not cave in so fast.
be patient and wait till your board is ready to get wet
but i never let the resin nor the hotcoat cure longer than 12 hours and never had a problem with that.