Just moved from a 5 acre small farm into beachside neighbourhood and about to build my next batch of boards and was thinking of giving UV Cure Resin a go to keep the fumes down and not piss off any of the new neighbours. I normally go down the catalyzed route and do cutlaps rather than free laps as I like to play around with tints and pigments rather than spray colour on my boards. Can anyone give some advice on how to go about doing cutlaps using the UV cure?
cheers
Same as usual. Just be aware that when doing color work you may need to use catalyst.
hey shane ive done it by letting it fully cure, then paint on some filler resin and grind off with a right angle die grinder.
You can “flash” the UV resin for 30 seconds or so out in the sun to get a first stage cure going then zip your lap. Put back in the sun to fully cure for a few minutes.
You just want to get the resin gelled enough to cut the lap without pulling the glass around.
Worst case just let it cure and cut with a little more pressure on the razor blade.
Have you tried epoxy resin? No foul smelling fumes.
Thanks Brian,
So 30 secs would be enough of a gel to flip the board, and zip the lap without it sticking to the stands?
Haven’t tried epoxy Huck… How does it differ to Poly? Might to a search on here to help me learn more. Any links to a good thread would be appreciated.
cheers
Wow, there’s like a bazillion threads on the subject, just search archives for epoxy resin or glassing with epoxy. There are a lot of us that glass exclusively with epoxy. Plenty of epoxy users here to answer any questions that you have. But first check the archives as a starting point.
Epoxy is indeed the best option if you don’t want the smell.
But UV polyester is so fast!
I love both.
When your tape off for the cutlap add two layers of 1/2" tape along the line. This gives a small ridge you can buzz of with a sander. Makes a nice clean line. I use a little air grinder with 60 grit disk. Any small disc grinder will work or a sanding block with lots of sweat and elbow grease.
sand down the ridge a bit. I sometimes baste a line of resin along the lap if I am doing a clear lam. Dont bast if using a tint.
I used to do this years ago when in production and didin’t have time to wait around for resin to jell.
definitely will give this way a go Cleanlines. Just another question… Will the UV resin cure with any daylight balanced flouro light or does it have to be a specific bulb. I’ve seen them vary in price from a few bucks up to $25 each. Just thought they could be handy to cure resin on the floor of the glassing bay, and controlled flashing of the laps?
30 seconds is in the ballpark for clear lams depending on the variables, but with color you may have to wait a bit longer. Tints are really your only option for using UV and that isn’t really recommended…but it works. You could always use wax paper strips (wax side up) on your stands so the board won’t stick. It works great.
I don’t know about bulbs. I just carry the board outside and let the sun do its thing. I also have a removable drip tray that can be carried out and flashed in the sun. Kills most of the fumes.
I love UV resin. Not good for opaques though.
Just got all the info on Flouro tubes this morning Cleanlines… apparently they have to be 100W to do the job, so standard low watt tubes wont do the biz even if they are Daylight balanced tubes. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a removable drip tray, but as yet I’m stumped. Any pics or drawings would be much appreciated. I mostly make boards over 9ft so it would be a bit of a unit I’d imagine. There’s usually no shortage of sunlight where we live so I’ll probably just work with what nature provides. I guess I’ll do a few tests first, just to be sure on how much leway I have when guaging the right amount of exposure to cut my laps. I am keen to give your 3 layers of tape idea a go. So you’re letting it FULLY cure before you start your sanding, yes?
I appreciate all the advice everyone.
Thanks for this info Fibreglasshawaii. So logically it sounds like the darker the tint, the longer exposure will be needed? And by the sounds of things it seems Opaques should just be avoided unless very weak. Damn! I love the combination of dark tints and solid opaques. Looks like if I want to go down this UV Cure track I’ll have to change my colour pallette a fair bit. The wax paper is a great product and is always used in my process at every stage of handling my boards…keeps the board clean and free of any oils from the skin.
thanks again FGH
hey Zac, any pics of this technique, or tools?