So here is my third. It is for a friend who wanted a high performance / all around board. Also his first long board. Stats: 9’2", n 18", w 22.25", t 14.25", T 2.75". 1.5 lb. EPS / epoxy. Gloss with polyurethane spray. My first attempt at colored lamination, cloth inlay and pin striping.
Shaping is getting easier with each board and I'm pretty happy with the shape. Then there is the glassing. Wow, do I need help. The biggest problem its too cold and that alone really complicated things. On this board either I screwed up on the orange epoxy mixture or added too much tint. Whatever the cause, part of the bottom lam never hardened more than old chewing gum. So another layer of 6oz cloth was applied. All together there 5 layers of 6oz E and one of 4oz S. That brings the board to 15 lbs total. Thats a bit more than I was hoping for. Not too pleased with the final gloss either. Again I think the low ambient temp played a part in this. Though I think I was more a part of the equation. Always learning.
The teeny, tiny pictures make it look really good. A close up of the glass job wouldn’t be so nice. Lots of trapped small air bubbles. Thanks though! Funny, I think you were one of the first to respond to my post of #1 more then a year ago. : )
afoaf: the owner chose the cloth. I like the pattern a lot but it is pretty dark. In the sun it gets hot in a hurry. I’m a little concerned he’ll leave it exposed too long and it may delam.
Ken: First off, thanks for the compliments! I was really surprised how dominate the brown opaque was in comparison to the other tints. It got really muddy in a big hurry, especially near the tail. The poly gloss spray would have worked great but… it was too cold. I didn’t wait long enough for the second coat to dry sufficiently and the solvent from the second coat really messed up the once smooth first coat (lots of orange peel). The can says to wait 2 hrs at 70 deg. I sprayed at 55 deg. One coat doesn’t hide scratches from sanding with 220. Two might, three did. Poly gloss gives an equal or better gloss than epoxy with a fraction of the work (done correctly) though I question the durability. We’ll see. Poly gloss spray is also pretty toxic stuff.
Board looks great. On no 7 myself and have the same problem with cold temps and epoxy, my workshops at about 38 degrees at the mo and any laminations without heat are gonna be impossible. Gonna try building a small oven next for post curing should help with the end result.
Thanks! I taped off the outline for the cloth. Spread out a thin layer of epoxy on the foam with a brush. Laid out the cloth and let the epoxy soak through (this goes pretty fast). Pulled off the excess epoxy for a tight lam. Let it sit just long enough to set up a little then cut out the outline with something really sharp. Pull the tape, clean off any oil or residue and lam your glass as usual. I was hoping to get a chemical bond between the cloth and glass lam so I didn’t let it cure before glass was applied. The process was actually easier than I had expected. Hope that helps.
At 55 epoxy looks like thick snot. I can only imagine what it would look like at 38. I built an oven out of 1.5 inch thick EPS insulation boards and a good space heater. I can vary the temp inside the box from 70 - 135 deg. Makes glassing and curing possible though I do have some problems with gas expansion causing blow through. You will too. Pre heating the the blank helps some but a temp controlled room is really the key. You know what they say about necessity. Thanks and have fun!
Ya, I know what you mean. I’ve been thinking about #4 for months. Its like heroin. I just can’t seem to get enough. There I was not even glassing #3 and thinking "I think I’ll try a 10’ multi stringer next and curve the stringers with a yellow tint, no - ice blue tint or a yellow and blue swirl. Or maybe a Shipman like, fat, quad and I could try to use that old growth redwood I’ve been saving… and, and, and… You get the idea. In reality #4 will have to wait until me wife recovers from the mess I made with #3. Forgets about her inability to use the garage and my obsessive / reclusive behavior on my days off from work. Until then I’ll just have to keep coming back to Sways for my fix.
I’m actually a little disappointed with you my Swaylocks bretherin. No one has mentioned anything about the last picture. Its a fruit fly, stuck in the lam. Ha, ha, ha… ha…h. Okay then.
Yeah, can’t tell you how many little flies, spiders, ants, etc get stuck under some of my skins. It’s what happens when you work outside on a sunny day. Just thank the little guy for his sacrifice, and hope it makes the board faster!
I get flies, dirt, pollen, dust, spiders, and dog hairs. My favorite was a moth while lamming at night that left a big crescent of ‘fairy dust’ on the bottom. Cool board, by the way. Mike
