I have heard some use resin, and othes some sort of glue to attach a tailblock.
Intersted for more views as to which method is better.
The board is a 10’ Polyester foam with .25" basswood strnger.
Thanks in advance
Drew
Drew, The easiest way I know of is with 5-minute epoxy. Tape off the foam first and be sure the fit: wood to foam is tight. Spread epoxy thinly on both surfaces and set it in place. You can tape it or just hold it until it starts to go off. Easy. Doug
Poly Resin is not the best for this situation.Best to use 5 minute epoxy.I also use a plain old hot glue gun. RB
Like Cleanlines, I have also used 5 minute epoxy, but on the last one I was out of 5 min. and only had some 60 sec. epoxy which actually worked great. No holding pressure while waiting to set, but you have to be ready to hurry. Some guys shape the block up prior to glueing on, but I prefer gluing on the unfinished block then use angle grinder with used 36 gt. wheel to take it to ready to sand shape in just a few minutes. As others have mentioned in previous posts, it’s the glass that will give it the strength, so go with the glue that works for you.
Well I must be the oddball here, which doesn’t surprise me at all.
I use catalyzed lam resin with Qcell. I love Qcell. I rough cut a block from a stick I’ve pre-made for the purpose, tape off the foam, smear the Qcell mix on, and tape the block to the 3/4 shaped board. I let this fully cure overnight, then shape it with the soft pad and 60 grit Hermes (white abrasive) paper. I’ve found that 36 grit doesn’t cut wood as nicely, maybe it’s because it’s long overdue for me to get another 36 grit disc (though the ones I use can still foil a glass fin well). Higher grit number doesn’t shock the block so much; I also use a finger plane for shaping it, finishing it all off with 100 grit.
Being a cheap SOB, it galls me to buy another material that I’ll seldom use, which may go bad before I use it up. Lam resin is there in the can already, and works.
Funny thing, lam resin won’t stick together the strips of wood I use to make tail blocks; tried it one time, but after an overnight cure (and it did get hard) I could peel apart the layers of wood far too easily. Now use DAP Weldwood carpenter’s glue, clamped overnight.
Dap Weldwood is a good glue especially for laminating bent curves as it has low “creep” compared to “yellow glues”. I have used Franklin “Titebond” yellow glue for nearly all my furniture construction assembly applications for over 30 years without a single glue joint failure. Use same on all nose and tail blocks. Poly glues such as gorilla glue are messy due to expanding, but very strong and waterproof (Elmers Glue now makes a similar glue for much less cost). Titebond II and the newer Titebond III are also waterproof
You can get 5 minute epoxy resonably from hobby shops. Better that the hardware store stuff.
Howzit Honolulu, I use super glue or Zap a Gap. I also wait til the board has been hotcoated then I cut off the tail,attach wood, shape it, apply some lam resin to seal the wood then glass it to the board. This way you don’t take the chance of messing up the foam. Aloha,Kokua
I see that you are in Hanalei.
Just got back from there a week ot two ago. First time there. Beautiful place and lovely folks. Caught a good north system on the 14th. Swell hit that Wednesday…but I didn’t make it out till that Friday. Still real good thogh. Were you out then? Might have been next to you in the line-up.
Maybe next time I am out there I will swing by and say hey.
Drew
yeah- do the tail block after board is glassed.for one thing the glass will give you an added barrier to not only glue to but to cushio any blows the tail recieves, otherwise the block might very well get pressed into the foam.