when doing your fin set- I use two layers of cloth per side ,per fin . Use a 4 oz layer under a 6 oz layer over. (you will see how much 6oz will hold together w/out falling apart . for a fish - use 9 strands of roving. , wet roving - cut and lay on fin base leave 1/2 overhang on each end. saturate cloth -4oz under 6oz work out all airbubbles and make sure your resin is on a slow kick (you can always add a few drops of catylist towards the end of you fin set as you work out all the bubbles in the fillet. work out air until the res statrs to kick . let gel . trim cloth but make sure you leave fillets nice and big . Here is the big trick - If you are sloppy finset guy (yeah you!) you may want to grind down the bumps with 40gt . Next paste the fins w/ lam resin 2x.(this will help a rookie not show weave in the sand job) next hotcoat the botton of board as well as fin area. presto your keel fin fish should be ready to sand!
Petey, thanks for the advice, you just nailed my next question before I asked it. And my buddy Chris just told me who you are…
I have now finished both bottom and top lams, and shaping the fins. A few pics:
Finished shape
Another shot of finished shape.
Glassed board
Couple more shots of glassed board:
Fins
Susej. Paint the area where the laps meet on the Deck . (you know where the underside lap wraps onto the deck ,a nice coat of Lam resin painted on that area along with the rail - use your thumb and run it on the underside to pick up the drip that goes to the underside. Let Kick than hotcoat the deck (THats called a cherry coat or a paste coat (that will help a glasser have a easier time to sand the board without weave. Some guys use hotcoat res to do this but if you wait too long hot coat does not stick to hotcoat. Anyway good luck on the fin set and hot coat . I will leave you with some pics of some of my latest…Aloha Petey (P.s.) when I was up there we had to use the microwave to heat up the resin . If you try this -stand back! start with 30 seconds…
Also Susej hotcoat deck first flip over grind lap flush (not grind away) with 40gt. Before you do fin set. Petey . You can do fin set two ways - one you can put all the 4oz and 6oz patches down on wax paper on the board so you dont make a huge mess (also if you are not to sure of kick time). The way I do it is just put the patches right on the board (you know rail taped off for drips yeah) First I will get my roving wet (I use one long piece like 2 1/2 feet long -saturate this first , cut roving for lenght as I lay a piece on each side of each fin remenber leave a 1/2 inch overhand per side.(make sure all your pathes are cut out to be the same size (make sure they are way huger than the fin itself , I would say 3’" on the base and a 1" around sides and top of fin )(alsowetting out roving is notthat easy.useonehand to hold and other to start at top of roving and squeeze back extra res back into bucket)Next with that same batch of resin pour it directly on all the patches and saturate them w/a sqeeegee. Now that they are all wet makeyou need to A.make sure roving is nice and placed where it should be on the base of fin . Next take those patches one at a time strategically place them so they cover fin and roving(make sure they are big enough for that overhang). Remember 4oz underneath 6oz on top . Stay on it till it starts to kick . if it doesnt start to kick remember a few drops more cat.in bucket that use fingers to rub over the base and around leading anfd trailing edges of fins. …Let kick good trim when it reaches a point where it is hard enough to trim without youtr cloth picking up leave fillets nice and big front and back . That way you have alot to work with when you sand and can sand them down to how big you want. I hope this will help . Tell Chris Wagner Hello for me. Petey
Petey, man, I can’t tell you how much your instructions have helped clear things up in my mind. Very much appreciated.
I will tell Chris that you say hi, since I plan to try to get a surf in with him tomorrow. But I’d be willing to bet he’s already read this.
Will be back in a day with an update…
Petey, I should blend (sand) the deck before doing the cherry coat, right?
And weren’t you going to leave me a few pics of your latest?? Would love to see 'em.
Thanks.
Hi Susej ,originally you were suppose to file down the lap right after you lam the bottom (its veery tricky to not hit foam . i USE MY GRINDER AND a blue power pad .it takes quite a bit of skill but I have it mastered. In your case I could imagine you have quite a few bumps where that transition is. (if you have a file you could have knocked it sdown as well . So here is the deal take some 50gt and buzz down the bumps. (normally this would be a sin but soloman s-core are done the same way -pre sanded before hot coat -the reason why they can do this is epoxy is epoxy and there is no differece between sanding and Lam it is all sandable. ----for your case it will gum up paper. throw paper away or you can clean in acetone. Now that the bumps are leveled down do a cherry coat(Paint on-BRUSH W/LAM RESIN ) .let kick hard. (a real thin coat by the way push hard w/brush ). Next you will be ready to hotcoat deck . probably 10 oz resin , 15cc surfacing agent, 12 cc catylist(if cold weather add alittle more). Paint on completely do rails and even take a swipe on the underside(it helps gring down the bottom lap easier) . (you do not tape off deck -use a tapeline only when you do finset and bottom ) the reason why it will form a dripline -easyly sanded down after it hardens…I’ll try to send some pics now . Petey
Hey susej maybe you can teach me something now -how do you attach pics so people can see them ?
Thanks Petey.
Use the Attachment bar at the bottom of your reply. Browse for the image you want - might have to resize your image, since big ones aren’t accepted. Click the inline box and upoad lattachment.
Then click on that icon above that looks like a picture. Click on inline image box, and the image you just uploaded.
Hope this helps.
I actually did grind down the bottom lap on the deck, so the bumps in that area are minor. I did sand them a bit again though.
Fibreglass supplier forgot a couple of items from my order, so I have to wait for them to arrive before I can proceed from here. Where did you get your gear from when you were here?
Thanks again.
Hi Susej, I have been really busy and sorry I havn’t answered your question . When I was up there we were getting stuff from florida. We got quite a bit enough to pay a trucking co to bring it up -a 55gal drum of res. Several rolls of cloth etc. I think the name of the place was Fiberlass Supply in Melbourne Florida. I have to agree that it gets quite expanive to get the stuff up there which s why there will always bea demand of boards in Canada. People have tried it all /duty and customs usually gets you! anyway I tried to attach pics but no luck . I need to learn basic skills w/computers (Lots to learn ) I will try to find your e-mail and send them that way . Petey P.S. did you finish the fish ??
Hey Petey,
I was thinking I’d start ordering gear from Florida, but don’t think that is the same place. I know of a Surfsupply in Florida though.
The board is coming along ok, and I’ve been going on most of your tips. Fins have been lammed on, though I had a lot of trouble getting air bubbles out from around the edges. Might actually wrap another layer of glass around the leading adge after sanding… Not sure about that just yet. Will cut away the excess cloth and hotcoat in an hour or so. If it dries solid by tonight, I’ll do a simple graphic maybe pinline tonight and gloss. I’ll throw up a couple more pics soon.
Thanks again.
Hi susej,
Nice looking board. Ignore Chips request for a single fin on that fish. He’s from Australia. Make him build his own and be the test pilot of a single fin fish. Stick with your wooden keels idea. …
BUT …thank you archives , THANK you Herb… for making me realise it wasn’t an American twin wood keel conspiracy after all ! … I didn’t think it was ONLY Australia that had single fin fishes ! [the 70s was mainly the single fin era , after all !] [this from p.356 of the archives here, from memory … [=1][ 3]HERB SPITZER[/]
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[/] [=1][ 3]Re: what makes a fish a fish?[/] [In reply to] [/] Can’t Post
Just twin fin guys? Kinda narrow minded don’t you think?What about all the single fin fishes that were built in the 70s?If I put more than one fin on a gun does it cess to be a gun?Does it mean that if I put twin fins on any shape, does it makes it a fish?To me a fish is the outline of the board,not the fin set-up.I was at Sea world and saw lots of fish,most of them with more than two fins!Some with none!!As for who invented the fish…try Bob Simmons(that’s most likely where Steve lis got the idea)don’t believe me ask Greg Noll.We could go round and round with this one! Remember;it’s about forward progression
Sorry chip, too late…
So…
are the fins glassed on now , Pete ?
‘’‘photo, please ? ‘’’’
…cheers mate !
ben
Just finished the top gloss coat. Don’t think I’ll sand anything but the seems. Nah, maybe I should see how the bottom goes first…
Pre-gloss
Biggest screw-up is probably the pins on the right side…
After glossing the top
mate , I really LIKE it !!
what did you do the pinlines with ?
and , what does your “logo” say ? [“don’t charge me departure tax” , maybe ?!]
…good job !
N.S. points await the launching …let us know how it goes , eh ?!
ben
Thanks a lot chip!
Don’t know if you can see it or not, but it’s a double pinline, with the inner one in purple and the outer in black. Done in Posca.
I was thinking of putting “Departure tax this!” On it, but decided not to. It says Peak Surf. With at least 3 meanings to it…
Time to go gloss the bottom, then go buy some 600 grit paper to do the seam (and possibly the rest of the board) with.
Well, it’s all finished.
Thanks to everybody for all the help, especially Petey and chip.
Stoked, and can’t wait to get it in the water!!
killer job man, your first board looks great!