I’m a hobbiest surfboard builder in San Diego. A very talented shaper friend of mine made me a bonzer last week and I want to do the glass job. I’ve glassed quite a few boards start to finish, but thought this time I’d like to try UV resin. I want to be able to take my time with the lamination and turn the laps really clean instead of feeling like im in a race against the resin. Oh and I don’t dig those fumes with the catalyzed resin either.
Im just going to be doing a clear s cloth free lap glass job, with a volan deck patch. In the unbiased opinion of Swaylocks, whats the best brand UV resin to go with? I liked watching this video on solarez. thanks
UV is just a powder that gets added to whatever poly resin you use. Silmar is pretty much the standard in the industry. You can buy the powder and simply add it to the resin of your choice or buy pre-made.
Hi,
The UV resin manufacturers would like you to think they have invented some magical stuff that is their own proprietary invention. The fact is most, if not all, use Silmar resin and a UV additive powder or liquid that is fairly common to find. We choose ours because the powder crystals dissolve faster than some of the others we tested. We are just up the freeway from you in Oceanside and ship UPS, have a retail store and even have delivery truck for larger orders (over $600.00). You can mix it in yourself or buy premixed, feel free to give us a call or message if you have any questions. https://fiberglasssource.com/collections/catalyst-promoters/products/35cc-uv-additive-powder-1oz
Best of Luck,
Ryan / Surf Supply
If you catalyze regular silmar resin at 5/8%-3/4% you will have all the time you need to really get those laps clean, I do it all the time. Take a 4" chip brush, cut the bristles off where they are only half an inch long. After the lam is as clean as you can get it with the squeegee, take the brush with the bristles cut off and go around the rail apex and the laps brushing them into the tape. it will get all those pesky drips and clean them perfectly.
Yes it is correct that brands like Solar-Rez and Sun-cure are nothing more than Silmar 249 laminating resin with UV powder added. For one board I would use the the pre-mixed UV Poly. Everybody sells it. But I wouldn’t free-lap "S " Cloth as the laps are visible much like Volan. Lowel