To Resin or not to Resin!

Hey guys,

Well I made my first board yesterday and today (well not exactly ‘made’, I refibreglassed 2 layers on an old board and installed bindings). I needed a strong and rigid board capable of not flexing or flopping whilst at high speed and big waves during kitesurfing. Weight isnt really a problem (I have added an extra 4-5kgs) because I am powered by the kite.

Being my first time I wasnt exactly in the ‘neat’ department when glassing, however to my credit I did manage to sand it all out completely smooth (somewat). In doing so, some spots where there were previous dings I sanded to, and exposed, the fibreglass. In one spot I sanded right through to the previous fibreglass in order to get it smooth. I am debating as to weather I put on another coat of resin or spray paint it with 2 pack to seal it.

Forgive me if I am not up to speed on the lingo! I was originally going to paint it after finishing anyway as the board was yellow and cruddy underneath all that nice new fibreglass, but instead I am now thinking of coating it with resin mixed with that white ground up styrofoam powder which will give it a nice white finish. It has dried hard so can I resin without fibreglass cottin (wont it crack)? Will it bond to the wax hardner I mixed with the resin on the last coat for sanding? Can you even put another coat of resin on with that styrofoam powder? or would it be best to spray paint it?

Any ideas or knowlege is appreciated…

PC

Well I found a previous post that discusses white tint… http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=191142;search_string=white%20tint;guest=6185608#191142

They talk about clear white tint. Is it possible to do solid white?

Can I resin without fibreglass cottin (wont it crack)?

Will it bond to the wax hardner I mixed with the resin on the last coat for sanding?

If everything is sanded really good with coarse sand paper you can add more resin. A second coat of of sanding resin will smooth out all of your bad spots. Sanding resin is often called hot coat and sometimes called surfacing resin. Make sure the board is clean and dust free before adding more resin. Tints and pigments are normally done in the lam resin and then covered with clear sanding resin. Not sure where you are going with the adding filler idea…

Hi, some thoughts from me…

Before anything else goes on, as Stingray says, you need to sand off the waxy surface, as nothing will bond to that well.

It is easy, just take all the shine off the board with 120 grit or similar.

Next, get everything pretty level and smooth, unless that requires agressive sanding which chews away much more of the new cloth.

A level, true surface is way easier to finish properly.

So, options for finishing it off:

  1. Recoat with clear sanding resin (wax additive included). lightly sand the shine off once again, try not to hit the cloth weave again, and then buff/polish, or leave as a sanded finish. You will see all the discoloration of the original board.

  2. Same as 1, but add white (or any color) pigment to the resin. The problems with this are: if the old board is very brown, or other discoloration, that may show through the pigment. If it does show through it will look bad… Also, when you sand the coat, the bits that get sanded thinner with not hide the color beneath as much… (thats why Stingray said tints and pigment are usual done in the laminate part.)

  3. Same as 2, but use a tint instead of pigment. Same sanding problems, but the tint is partially see-through anyway, and most likely will go on pretty uneven-looking, so if you select the right color, it sort of distracts your eye from the imperfections showing through or from sanding, and you get a cool blotchy looking finish. Sort of hides the imperfections by making a feature of them.

If you sand through badly, and it looks weird, brush a little more of the same color over the mistakes. If you mix the color into the resin before adding catalyst, you can save some un-catalized resin for this, and it will be the right shade.

I would recommend 3, as it sounds like the board is pretty ugly anyway, and it would take a whole lot of fiddling to really make the thing look flawless white…

There are painting options, but that open up a whole new can of worms…

An ugly old board is always going to be an ugly old board, a resin tint makes it look like it was all planned!

By deliberately making it blotchy you actually hide it more.

Just choose a color that complements the original boards discoloration.

Also, when mixing in the tint, it looks really dark in the pot, then when thinly spread out it turns out really light. Brush a thin layer on some white paper or something to see how dark it really is.

There are many other options as well, but this is what I would do…

Kit

Dam good answers… whoaaa! You have really aided me in my descision making. Your right, an old board will always be an old board. I think its time a carve up a new plank! Thanks for the tint suggestions, and u saved my arse with the dust thing. I polished it off real nice with acetone.

Thank you!