Has anyone tried this product? Yeah sounds like a crappy plug but what really floats the boat eh?
I am trying to go glass-less on a few experimental wooden surfcraft and came across this product, http://concretesealerpro.com/petrawood.html
Also curious about the soy sealer product and interested in any “real” reports.
until then…
Sounds brilliant, if you do any trials please post the results. Any alternative to glassing seems like a good idea to me.
Peace!
Check into a product known as P E G, polyethylene glycol. It seems to have similar properties, and may be useful, in your project. Just a thought.
So easy if I were in the states, surely someone is using the secret sauce or formulating their own by now. Who put the cat in the bag in the first place? Just another whale hunter maybe.
Anyway fatbass, I will be puttin something on some wood soon. If I find anything good, I will post.
Excellent B,
Another hunt begins. 
When you say glassless, you mean no fiberglass ? or do not want any resin either?
When you say glassless, you mean no fiberglass ? or do not want any resin either?
Well the product I was wondering about sounds like a good top off with rr epoxy would do the job and I could eliminate fiberglass. To create art and protect it as well as use it and do it all naturally without sacrificing performance is gettin tough. To go with bare essentials is what i’m forced to deal with but it’s good for all of us right?
If I can stabilise, harden and protect the wood from uv’s, I will feel proud to ride deep down inside (barrels of water too!).
One of the things I have always loved about surfing is not leaving any tracks because I have seen land and nature get wiped by us basically. I don’t have to leave garbage behind unless im full of it and I never was as good at being full of s@$t as I was at tellin someone not too leave their shit by me but Im not going to either of those places for as long as I can so yeah I wanna try passin on the glassin and the outhouse gassin.
… you any good with chemistry?
Well I always figure durability is as good an eco argument as any. What good is it when your super eco project breaks quickly…
I would say go with a good boat-building method and use thin resin to soak into the wood and then cover it all up with a thick shiny coat of UV resistant epoxy or even PU boat varnish. If done properly you’ll be passing that board on to a grom at a very old age.
Bill,
It’s just PEG …H
I wonder if ACE will refund my anti freeze and radiator stop leak purchase? Ahh, may as well try a test piece on the rails.
Hi,
any feedback on the Petrawood prduct yet? it sounds like a good alternative to resin on a wooden board.
im making a chambered paulownia board at the moment and am not going to glass it. apparently paulownia doesnt soak up salt water so i was just going to oil it with linseed or something similar. any feedback on that method? I know TW does it but im yet to hear how those boards hold up over the years…
there is a company in Australia that now have a 100% plant based Poly resin and PU expanding foam but its not commercially available yet. its derived from castor oil. they claim its better in all aspects than normal polyester, but im yet to hear any real feedback. After numerous emails and phone conversations they eventually told me that they have signed an agreement with “a large surfboard manufactuer” in thailand which is currently testing the products and they cant release anything until that trial is over.
this was after another more junior rep from the company told me that the same factory wasnt really interested in the PU foam because it is a yellow colour and they said there isnt currently market for non-white surfboards!!!
Ill post the details if i can ever get my hands on some.
Ive tried the UV catalysed linseed oil resin thats coming out of the UK but it is difficult to work with and doesnt harden fully (you can dent it with your thumb quite easily).
If anyone else has info on bioresin i would love to know.
Hi,any feedback on the Petrawood prduct yet? it sounds like a good alternative to resin on a wooden board.
Me being out of the states at the moment makes it difficult, sounds like exactly what you and I are looking for though.
im making a chambered paulownia board at the moment and am not going to glass it. apparently paulownia doesnt soak up salt water so i was just going to oil it with linseed or something similar. any feedback on that method?
Regarding paulownia, I am concerned with the poor quality I get here, It is beautiful, light, strong… seems perfect but , big BUTT here, I am concerned with rot with this species, I have some protected stacks that mold, mildew and bacteria seem to thrive on, where as the cedar stacks repel the undesirables something fierce. Could be the (lack of) quality stock over here but I will literally be sealing the shit out of it - big if here, IF I even use it. The local cedar blows it away! PEG / anti freeze, soy sealer, we will find something
Ive been thinking in something very close to your idea, but maybe Ill try to laminate just the rails with 4oz cloth and epoxy of course; also there is a posibility of avoiding fiberglass and use carbon fiber, the only problem would be the black color of the rails…
is that possible or am I just WRONG?
what wood are you using?
good luck
kike
Aloha dlock,
I just spent two weeks at the International Canoe Festival here on Maui where I helped the Tahitian team build a 32’ outrigger canoe from a log in two weeks. The log was a tree just three weeks ago so obviously very green and “wet” when we carved it. We needed a fast and proven water proofing to seal the canoe for the launching ceremony last Saturday evening. We applied two coats of West Systems epoxy with 505 hardener. I was very impressed with how quickly it dried and how clear and glossed the finish was. I plan to use same on my next balsa board instead of glassing it. Six to eight coats sanded with 220 or 320 between coats should last as good as a fiberglass job. Use small roller to apply then brush out smooth with good quality brush.
the only problem would be the black color of the rails...is that possible or am I just WRONG?
I’m the wrong guy to be telling you it is wrong because I’m more of the - “It’s possible” kinda background, besides what you propose sounds like it has been done, there was a thread - think a guy in florida - try a “carbon kevlar ca glue balsa” search.
I really want the lightweight of paulownia but the cedar that is grown here locally is changing my mind. I should have a build posted next week w pics, I’m makin some forms up now.
Aloha dlock,I just spent two weeks at the International Canoe Festival here on Maui where I helped the Tahitian team build a 32’ outrigger canoe from a log in two weeks.
32’ ??!!
Your “Woody” is bigger than mine!
The log was a tree just three weeks ago so obviously very green and “wet” when we carved it. We needed a fast and proven water proofing to seal the canoe for the launching ceremony last Saturday evening. We applied two coats of West Systems epoxy with 505 hardener. I was very impressed with how quickly it dried and how clear and glossed the finish was. I plan to use same on my next balsa board instead of glassing it. Six to eight coats sanded with 220 or 320 between coats should last as good as a fiberglass job. Use small roller to apply then brush out smooth with good quality brush.
Mahalo R-MC,
I am sure you don’t remember me but I am the mysterious guy that waves from that matte black A-team lookin dodge ram as you drive buy in the winters, see ya here almost every morning in season :
http://66.91.157.138/view/index.shtml
Thanks again.
Sounds like a great project full of aloha, where da pics??
Has anyone tried using some type of wax to seal the wood?
I’m interested in anyone who has used some kind of wax as well. I like the idea of using oil as Tom Wegener does on his fibreglass-less hollows. But am wondering what effect the oiled surface may have on wetsuits that would be in contact with it.
Aloha sparrow, RDM, dlock
Wax is a very poor defender of water penetration and therefore not effective for “waterproofing wood” or sealing.
Regarding oil on wetsuits from using oil finishes: “oil finishes” include a very broad spectrum of finishes. The most basic being the traditional lindsead oil finish used on furniture for many hundreds of years. You can readily buy lindsead oil at the hardware store. Mixing it with turpentine (traditional) or paint thinner (modern and much cheaper) serves as a dryer to enable the oil to penetrate the wood then allow it to dry as it quickly evaporates. Tung oils are popular, but there is a vast array of resin finishes including wipe on varnish finishes that are simply referred to as tung oil or wipe on finishes. Wipe on finishes are simply thinned versions of brush on finishes. Some “tung oil finishes” don’t even include natural tung oil in the contents. You can however, purchase 100% natural tung oil. For an oil finish to even modestly repel water you must use many coats with ample drying between coats. You have to “maintain” an oil finish. Ask a boat owner who maintains a boat with teak how often he has to oil the wood. It’s near constant. For all intents and purposes, an oiled finish is far more for looks (keeping the wood looking good without darkening and carbonizing in the sun) than it is for sealing and especially waterproofing which it will not do.
Getting back to the wetsuit question, the oil finishes evaporate and dry leaving an actual film finish on the wood. It’s not an oil like car oil or suntan oil that stays atop the wood. So, no problem with wetsuits unless you paddle out on an oiled board just after application. Downside to “oil finishes” is that they offer little protection from moisture and don’t come near “waterproofing” the wood. They make the wood look good, but offer virtually no sealing ability when used with water.
Six or eight coats of marine UV protection high grade varnish will “seal wood”, but even with that many or more coats, it will still periodically need sanding and reaplication of more varnish.
Hope that sheds a little light. Enjoy the ride!
richard
PS:. DLOCK, where is it you see me in winters??
Thanks for the advice & information mate. Much appreciated.
Cheers
Rohan
tung oil is cool and easy to get the boiled 1oo percent stuff here in asia too
but make sure to get the cooked stuff
do your own research dont take my word for it