Thank you. thank you very much. bravo.
all the best
Hi Andrew,
Here are some pics of the board for the vac bag project. it is currently third in line to be sanded then urethane sprayed. These pics are of the final coat of green room blue jug resin/west coast fast hardener that was brushed on like any gloss coat. Green room pours liked water. I didn’t post past where I left off because it is pretty much just surfboard building and no vac bagging stuff. For the 9 people on this site who are interested in vac bagging I will post all the steps in my next project with different materials. Thank you for the PM and kind words. If you have specific questions feel free to ask. If you are on oahu you are welcome to come by for personal lessons/help.
Actually make that 10 people!!!.I’ve vac bagged about 20 kiteboards using all sorts of lam combos and with varyong degrees of success I might add. Am thinking of doing both veneer and in cork in future so this a really good thread IMHO.
Many thanks
M
Awesome.
Thank you.
Thanks for the detailed thread, love your process for it.
Smile @ strangers & use the force.
Haven’t been on here in awhile, but incredibly stoked to see you are still at it Charlie!
Hey Charlie! I haven’t used release film yet. Just peel ply then breather then in the bag. Suggestion for type/brand/thickness of release film?
Lately I’ve been GGing the cork on the bottom then with 4oz. S2 glass over. On top I use Palownia and balsa adhered with 4oz glass then 4oz glass over…and of corse deck patch of cork on top for traction! Excellent with no wax!
So…that’s 11 baggers reading your posts?
Sounds like you have it wired Les. I really like the balsa bottoms and exposed cork decks. I just helped a sways friend do a carbon bottom and cabon/exposed cork deck. I will try one soon also. I have dusted off all my nylon and my next board build will be a nylon/exposed cork deck build. I have no clue how to get a hold of palownia shot of ordering a container full for cheap. Release film is usually green tint and its only purpose is to protect your vac bag/and breather cloth from getting resin on it. So you must throw your breather cloth away? I get peel ply and breather cloth and release film fromFiberglass Supply (Surfboards, Windsurfers, Kayaks, Canoes, Boats … You will have cheap shipping. It is so expensive to ship it to hawaii. Sometimes the shipping of a roll is more expensive than the roll. I only use peel ply direcly to fiberglass(cf,kevlar,e,s glass,texalluminum etc AND CORK) Wood no need. Pic of peel ply coming off carbon. Not sure If I made the file the correct size but I tried.
Hey Turbo,
You probably are a MBA or Phd grad by now? I am stoked I am still alive!!! Come out and visit!!! we have a spare room all ready for you and your family.(are you married???)
warmest aloha,
Charlie
Pic of my new favoirite model
8’10" Domo arigato movingVAN gaurd.
Charlie, You’re the man!
I’ll PM to catch up, but wanted to post something quick here that may be of help to yourself or others on Sways. It’s a product called Compoflex, basically combines peel-ply and breather in one. Or if you are doing infusion they have versions for that as well, so instead of multiple layers (which is always a hassel) there is just one. Not sure how easy this is easy for you to get in Hawaii and it’s a bit more expensive, but a time saver for sure. There’s the usual problem of wrapping with complex curves, but it’s not that bad… If you’re bagging top/bottom as one step you would just leave the sheets flat and it will wrap the rails enough, will just have a small seam after but no big deal.
http://www.fibertex.com/en-gb/business-areas/composites/compoflex/pages/compoflex.aspx
My tip of the day.
Instead of buying expensive release film (green stuff) use 0.7mil plastic sheet from Walmart or Home Depot. This ultra thin plastic sheet, is so thin, it will not leave any impression in the lam from wrinkles. So you can just throw it over the peel ply and forget it. Add the breather and bag it.
I will have to try it. my release film is reusable and lasts a very long time.Ten cents per pull maybe before replacing?? The release film is also helpful in pulling veneers/planks and differnet fiberglass cloths nicely around curves and rails. Tape sticks nicely to it and comes off with ease. The peel ply in my experience is what makes your finish perfect. If you have a wrinkle in your peel ply you don’t get a wrinkle in the lamination, but you get a build up of resin in the wrinkle of the peel ply above the lamination. It is amazing stuff. I will price your home depot plastic stuff and math out the cost.
bb30, Great thread, in there among the best threads ever like wood ogre building his hollow paddle board a couple years ago.
Am I #11 or #12 to admit to being a vac bagger? I have yet to attempt an outer glass layer, so I’m novice level at best. I’ve absorbed many tips indirectly from bb30 through SharkCountry and Oneula over the last decade. I thank you men most graciously.
My experience with that plastic is the creases from the way it’s packaged at the store cause problems. One concept in vac baggging is called print-through, this is where wrinkles in the outer layers leave an impression in the final product. I believe one main solution, the one shown in this thread, is to use more layers. This lessons the impact of any one layer on the final finish. You still want each layer to be as smooth as possible though, the cheapo plastic has inherent wrinkles. Now if you can buy it unfolded, this product is indeed quite useful.
This is the internet at it’s best, so glad I found this thread. I’m in the early build stage right now, no cork, just balsa bottom, deck and rails. My pictures aren’t prepared for web use yet, so please stay tuned to yet another build thread.
Howzit Charlie,
Just wondering if you have ever used the blue peel-ply that’s supposedly better for epoxy work?
Charlie, thanks so much for putting this up.
I assume you are not using perforated peel ply? Does the peel ply you use absorb the excess resin? I use the super thin perforated stuff which doesn’t absorb.
My vac stack has been: wet glass (or veneer)-/-perforated peel ply-/-paper towels for absorbing the excess resin-/-strips of nylon shade cloth for breather (resusable)-/-vac bag
But I will def try your stack next time based on longer vac bag life.
long time lurker and basement hack here. thank you so much for posting this, might try my hand at vac bagging now
Cloths at 30+ to 70 are best used when bagging.
Take advantage of it.
Hi Lakewakes,
I’m not sure I follow you. Care to elaborate a little bit more?
I use high thread count cloths,