For a while my method of lamming was to spread the epoxy around and try and ‘run’ enough of it on the rails to wet them and then tuck them under. This left a fair amount of dry areas which I would then paint over with using small batch of epoxy. This worked ok, though I would sometimes get some areas where you could see some glassy looking threads of the cloths weave. I figured that this was cloth that wasn’t saturated properly.
On the last 2 boards I tryied something new. I would spread the epoxy around on the flats, letting it soak in, then I pulled the excess out going from the stringer to the rail and backing up the overhang with my free gloved hand I would pull the excess off onto the lap wetting/smearing the lap with epoxy. It left me with nice wet laps that I could then go and tuck under. On the bottoms of the last 2 boards(single 6oz.) this worked out great, nice tight tucked laps.
However when it comes to the tops of them (double 6oz.) it didn’t work as well. Or should I say; the laps got nice and wet looking and then I tucked them under, but they had a lot of the silvery/glassy weave showing through. It shows up particularly on the last Fish with black rails.
Am I right in assuming that this is cloth that is not saturated properly?
This may be obvious, but I can’t tell from your post…when you’re lamming the deck, its normal to cut the first (underneath) layer just inside the rail line. It ‘catches’ the laps which came up from the bottom, but doesn’t go around the curve. Only one layer from each the bottom & deck goes around the curve of the rail. If you lap both layers, the board can become too stiff or corky. Its also more work, the laps don’t like to ‘sit’, the cutlaps are too thick a ridge, and it can leave the weave showing more than necessary…
Other than that, I laminate exactly like you said you’re doing now. Still very little waste - little enough that I figure I’m wasting less money in epoxy than I would in chip brushes if I painted my laps
Edit: don’t complain too bitterly - the board is gorgeous
That could easily be from glass contamination too…sizing (the finish they put on the glass so it takes the resin properly) can be fairly fragile. Always handle your glass carefully; it’s tough to do with rubber gloves, so I usually insure my hands are well washed before laying out and cutting cloth. Grease, or any spray adhesive that you may have used will easily contaminate glass and cause this effect. Always keep your glass away from your glue-up area (if you can) and keep it wrapped in butcher paper. Don’t worry…it won’t hurt your board. That thing looks sick; surf it!
You river surfing there? Good friend of mine (who I recently had great Wesport waves with) just moved to the royal city to go to Concordia. If you see a 6ft something sandy blonde west coast lookin guy on a 6’3" JS with a black and blue Billabong wetsuit, introduce yourself; His name is Dave, he’s good shit and guaranteed, he’s up for a mission to Nova Scotia if you want a road trip partner.
I never thought of cutting the glass like that Benny. I figured that it is better to have one more layer on the rails for strength. I could try it that way and see if it is better. That would be hard to do with freelaps though, wouldn’t it? I did freelaps on this one. The pinlines are covering up a bit of bleeding from the paint. They do complement it though.
Not being bitter about it,… guess I am just a bit of a perfectionist trying to get good cosmetics.
Thanks for the comment! Nice to get good feedback from craftsmen like those found on this site.
GreatWhite … I am not sure about contamination… I don’t use gloves to lay the fabric (too hard to smooth it out), but have clean hands… Though it could be the room itself. The shop I have right now is kind of an all in one space. I am looking to find a better spot in the city where I live.
I have gone to the river several times while it was flat on the east coast, my friends and I took a break after we saw the water quality report for the month of August… hehehehe
I should be trying it again soon… looks flat for the coming weekend on the coast. At least we had an amazing weekend a week ago thanks to TS Ernesto. Caught my biggest waves yet, at head high and a few a little over. The feeling of getting into trim on a nice sized wave… priceless!
I will look out for Dave down at the ‘bvreak’ in the city.
hehehe I hope I get to try it out!! A friend of mine is taking this one, he had the idea for the color scheme… his company here in Mtl is TigerDistribution (hence the orange white and black). They rep WE clothing, Endeavor Snowboards and Drop gear.
Regardless, I like the shape of this one so much that I want one for my own quiver. That or I worked out the same idea with a double wing… hhmmmmm.
