I don’t get why you tape the rail when you do the hotcoat. What is the purpose of it and why do you do it
Spaz,
Here’s the novice interpretation. The tape redirects the drips so you do not have to sand the resin that drips onto the other side of the board. Also, depending on the boatd,when you hotcoat the bottom you want to tape so as to leave a hard resin edge on the bottom back third of the board. Kokua’s the Man. Try to get him to chime in.Mike
Rooster got it…
Eliminates drips and controls where your hotcoat stops… remember that if you don’t sand a hotcoat the next layer doesn’t stick well. So if you don’t tape, and don’t sand, the hotcoat you lay on the second half will wrap around the rails too, on top of the first layer, and all that stuff will start flaking up.
I take fairly in depth notes when I make my boards, including a ‘Lessons Learned’ section. I looked back through my notes, I had three “tape your hotcoat” messages throughout different boards. Actually the first was “tape the hotcoat”, the second was “always tape your hotcoat”, and the third “Don’t be Lazy, TAPE THE DAMN HOTCOT!”. It’s easy to get in a hurry and not tape.
I’ve gotten good at cleaning the drips with the Dremel, but why… it’s unneccesary work.
First off do the deck first and don’t tape it…paint up under the laps to baste them.When the board cures flip it over and sand down the bumpy lap mess nice and smooth…dull the shiny spots with red scotchbrite pad.Now you can tape the rail and hotcoat the bottom.By doing this “presand” you make life easier when you go to sand the board.If done right you won’t hit any weave.Thanks to Kokua and the Boys at Spectrum Surfboards for that great little trick.