I know it is proberly been covered a thousand times before here but a quick search didn’t bring me joy.
Here is the scenario. You have glassed the bottom first, then do the deck and are using a couple of layers of thick cloth with cut laps. There ends up with a big step between the bottom glass and the lap. The filler resin will blend this in a bit but not totally and the sanding will therefore take more off the top off the lap than is preferable. What methods do people use to minimize this uneven surface layers? All I can think of is an extra filler coat within the lower area?
What pico said...If i am doing a tinted cutlap or volan clear or whatever, I will take a popsicle stir stick, pour a tad bit of lam resin in front of the lap line and then turn the stir stick sideways and run it along the lap line making a resin ramp, then I hot coat. this is so that I will not sand into my tint work or volan clear
Thanks for the Imput people. Makes a bit of sense doing it that way and a pop stick is a simple but great tip. I still wonder what board makers must have done in the sixties with a lap of two or three layers of thick volane. Even with this ramp you would feel the lap big time, particularly on the bottom.
Pico, I do what you suggest with deck and fin patches but not for complete layers of cloth, with volane and tints I feel it would be too visible where the shortened layer finishes. What do other people do and what took place on the thousands of boards from the sixties?
pico pretty much said it earlier...The layers of cloth should not be more than one layer thick at the lap. this it because if you are doing two or even three layers, the only the top layer hangs over to be lapped under, glass layers under the top are to be cut at the rail's apex before you lam. and it is not visible if you do it right. A triple lap(for extra strength and wieght) would be to glass one layer first on the deck, then do the bottom, and then glass the the deck again with your second layer. otherwise, it should be done as I previouly mentioned. good luck and hope this helps.
Huckleberry,
nice pic...that is exactly what I do, but if I am doing a colored deck, then I don't do that on the deck lap, because it would end up looking bad.
if I notice the cut lap is accumulating some air bubbles I change my technique with the squeegee and drawn resin from the middle of the board, and then pull it into the lap line [laterally]. This does the same thing as the ramp, just during the lamination.
otherwise what astevens said. single layer deck, single bottom, then the final deck.
also, you can sand the lap when its totally off, before you cut it. should flatten it out a bit, and make a easy cut. [ no dry spots!] or do a cheater of resin, on and just inside the lap before you laminate the next layer.
I must admit when I first saw the handle i felt like I got dropped in on! [ I always signed art work. First P.C. then P Co., then it evolved into Pico]—but now I feel like I have a brother.
You can also use a wallpaper seem roller to slightly press the cut edge of the lap down into the foam, reducing or even eliminating the bump. Do it right after cutting the lap while the resin is still a little pliable. Go easy or you can roll a flat spot in the rail. Anyway it works for me.
When you hotcoat the board you will likely be hotcoating this area twice. Once when you do the deck when you paint up under the rails, and second when you hotcoat the bottom. In between you will want to grind the edge of that lap so it fairs nicely into the bottom.
