I wanted to do my next stick with volan. I love the sea green old school look to it…My questions are> dun done duuun…how do you cut the laps soo smooth (they show up real good)…do you tape, waxpaper than cut along the tape when resin is green witch seems like alot of work or do you all just free hand it with the sissors…thanks again this site stokes me too thee maxx.
Hey Volan is not tricky, it’s just a little stiffer, requires full saturation, and a good lap layup. Setup is the same for any taped lap, …masking tape, another layer of, then wax paper. The cut can be ragged and fast or nice and done with good scissors, doesn’t matter. When the lam is cured to touchable, but still set, you flip the board over (that’s why it has to set) onto wax paper, and the rail lap is ready to cut with single edge razor. The masking tape keeps it from setting, about one hour behind the flats. I pull up the tape as I go, to keep a straight line on the blade. It’s freelaps that require a nice, clean scissors prelam cut.
sguegee(sp?) and roll as much resin as possible out of it when glassing.the trick, if there is one, is to NOT leave the lam resin rich.
hoooooo TJ how green do ya want it? that rich parchment green like the centurion? and the todos padres a mi? and hina? gotta use Marine resin to make um that green…ambrose…thats a whole udder udder
ambrose…marine resin? 4 real.is it the glass thats green or the resin?is here another name for the stuff…is it as strong what layers should I use? I heard 8oz on the bottom? is it heavier than the E glass? thanks for the imput fellas…
Ambrose is right…some marine resin goes off faintly green, which compliments the green that the Volan surface treatment makes nicely. Of course, some marine resin goes off a really ugly purple - brown tint, which kinda sucks. And you can’t necessarily tell which it is by looking at it. Some marine-grade resin has a deep green tinge to it in the container, and that sometimes goes off clear or lightly green tinged when it hardens. Now - Volan-treated glass has the reputation of being stronger, from back in the day when ‘them volan boards shure wuz strong’ , like there was some mysto shite going on with it that somehow made ‘em stronger. Well, no mystery, just fact, as in the old days when everything was volan it was also 8 or 10 ounce cloth, often double-glassed - yep, two layers of 10 ounce cloth, on both bottom and deck, with four fat layers on the rails. Frickin’ things were savage, I’ll tell ya, and I have the scars to prove it. However, it’s ( volan) a surface treatment, like starch in your shirts is a surface treatment, or spraying Scotchguard on your coat is a surface treatment. It doesn’t add any appreciable strength. They do it to most 10 ounce cloth and you can get it on some lighter cloth. See the label, it may or may not be treated. Is it like e-glass? Well, it can be, if it was e-glass they put the volan treatment on in the first place. Or like s-glass, or like biaxial or triaxial or whatever…because it’s a surface treatment they do to fiberglass. Not in the fibers themselves. It’s not appreciably harder to deal with than plain cloth, beyond usually being a heavier weight ( 10 oz cloth vs 6 or 4 oz cloth) in the first place. Why were cut laps so big back then? Well, if you have this green stuff, not clear, and it just kinda blobs around on the laps, so you have this cheezy looking darker green edge that’s all over the place, not a nice clean looking edge, somebody is gonna wonder why they should be paying for it. It was the only way they did laps back then. Now, with non-volan cloth, you can do a free lap and get away with it, 'cos the kinda irregular edge doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. Can you do a cut lap with scissors? Nope, you have to get the cloth up off the foam to cut it with scissors, which defeats the whole purpose. Expect to go through a bunch of single edge razor blades. hope that’s of use doc…
the centurion ,todos padres ami and other of my brown and ugly boards are E cloth with marine. purple brown green, resin matrix… ugly as the original sin and you gotta add more catalyst cause its slow to go off unless the stuff I used was just old…nope those cool soulful lookin boards were not volan but 6oz E cloth …I just glassed the new 12’1’’ with volan 10 oz and surf board resin an it looks kinda white not strikingly green …go figure …hope all this adds to your information base and helps you achieve your desired result…green glass job that turns a rich and soulful suntanned brown over time = marine (cheap archacic) resin…volan is not the only thing that makes the effect…ambrose…if it was only easier…
This is my 9’6" with 50/50 rails.I glassed it with 10oz boat cloth and vinylester resin. Not shore if it is volan, and don’t realy care.The vinylester resin gives it that old school look. Two 10’s on the deck and one on the bottom. You can see the weave in the cloth which is a characteristic of volan cloth.David. 
sounds like loads of trouble…I think I will go with 8-10oz and use a tint a light green tint thanks for all the help cant wait to post pictures.
the volan has a green tint to it because of processing like Doc said.that alone should give you enough of the green without adding any color, although a coke bottle green tint does look nice!
In the early days we glassed with Volan cloth and isophthalic resin. Iso resin has a brownish color and is stronger than ortho resin. On balsa boards we would use a single 10 oz and later with the first foam boards we would use two 10 oz. and sometimes a single 20 oz., wraping a 20 oz. can be a real challenge. Recently glassed a board with iso resin from Tap Plastic, it is still brown.
volan and silane are “washers” to provide handling and adherence to the glass fibers… also volan contain chrome a relly toxic product…
The green vintage look that you are looking for was really a combination of volan glass and a particular resin. Back in the mid sixties to mid seventies we used a flat weave volan in the heavier layups ( long boards )6 or 8 oz. and Dion (6208?) Isotholic Resin,if memeory serves me. These boards were really strong because the resin had a longer cure time and in its cured state not as brittle as later resins. E glass and UV stable (modern) resins can still produce a green look but does not capture the desired old school result. We made lots of long boards with lighter layups and clear resin which neither captured the riding characteristcs nor the asthic appeal that you are trying for. Occationally someone would order a LB and want to have “the look” and we were able to blend tints combined with volan cloth to mimic the vintage look. Too bad the Dion resin is no laonger available it was a superior product. As for boat laminating resin there are many different blends from which to choose. Unless promoted most have a longer gel time. Most have a redish or brown apperance when cured and they are not necessarily made to be exposed to UV and if left uncovered with LP or gel coat will turn brown and become brittle. Most commonly used polyester resins in the marine industry are Orththolic resins, then Iso. Vynil Ester resin has some of the charachteristics of the old Dion but is not “green” There are also what are called aloys or blends which are a sort of hybrid poly/epoxy, (Hydrex). I have included a photo of my board in 1966. It was a Yater “Standard”. The shapers at that time were Rennie and the late John Thurston and perhaps still John Eichert. I’m not sure who shaped it. It was a trimming machine (note the rocker) it had a polyvinyl fin perminently attached and a high density foam tail block. Because of the perspective of the photo the stringers look like a wedge but actually were parellel and about 1 " apart.I hope all this helps those who might be looking for the “vintage look” and that you have enjoyed a little bit of history. Regards TB 
mmmmmmmmmmmeye candy…yater standard w/ spoon template my favorite meal…ambrose… i could use condiments
Tim how can you remember all that stuff after all the fumes . Must be all that Alaskan air.
Tim, do you remember when I use to come by your shop in about 76’ and chat ? Iam the one that got blasted by your tolulene and had to walk around the block to" regather my self" hahaha Hey you made me an unreal wetsuit!!-Thanks–John hall
Fumes? The resperator helped. I’ve had careers commercial fishing and in boat building as well. There are plenty of chemicals that can get you in the surf shop and the boat shop. Making wetsuits was in a class all by itself. The glue I used to weld my suits was outlawed thankfully. The fishing was really healthy and of course actually surfing had and has it health benifits. I am thankfull that I can still fill my lungs with good clean Alaskan air. Good to hear from you John. Kirk is the photo of the Yater standard still showing. If not I’ll re post it. Regards TB 
Thunbnail too small.How that? TB 