Hi newbiee hear . what,how,when,why. hot coat . any special lam that is used or just measurements in filler coat? remember i dont no what the hell a hot coat is can someone help . thanx danny
Hi Danny I am sure someone can improve on my explination but instead of keeping you waiting till one of the pro’s arrives here goes. I use a hot coat which is normal Laminating resin with 2.5% hardner and 5% wax solution(Like melted turtle wax)these messurements are to volume eg 100ml resin, 2.5ml hardner and 5ml wax. Where normal lam layers are a bit sticky this layer is nice and dry and can be easily sanded. It does add strength to the board aswell. If you want to know all about surfboard building you’ve come to the write place. Cheers
To make matters simpler, you can buy Laminating resin, Hot coat, and gloss coat seperately so as to aviod any mixing. Simply put, when dry, hot coat (when properly catalyized, will dry to hard sandable surface Hot coat is applied after you laminate the fiberglass cloth to the surfboard with the lam inating resin. Hot coat is applied with a brush to the board in crosstrokes until the weave of the cloth is filled in. I suggest doing this under flourescent lighting because if you get down at eye level with the boarrd when hotcoating you will be able to see spots where the hot coat didn’t cover enough. The purpose of the hot coat is to A) Fill in the cloth to create a uniform surface which will then lead to either B) Sanding the hot coat to finished grit, say 400 or even 600grit sandpaper, at which time you can let the resin fully cure for a week or two and then go surf, or…C) Sanding to to 180 or 220 grit to prepare tthe board for a gloss coat. Think of it like this. Step 1 Shape Step 2 lmainate Step 3 Hot coat Step 4 Gloss coat, or go ride the new stick Drew
even simpler… a hot coat is a coat of resin that is applied after laminating to give you a sandable surface. You should not sand lam resin. Resin with surfacing agent (styrene and wax, commonly referred to as ‘SA’) cures to a sandable surface. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=46238
To add my 2 cents. Laminating resin is used to adhear the fiberglas cloth to the board. It dries sticky because resin, in this case the hot coat, won’t stick to a smooth surface. Hot coat fills the voids left by the lam resin and dries hard so that it can be sanded, making the board ready for the gloss coat…
GENERALLY, you shouldnt sand lam resin. But dont be afraid to take down those laps with a grinder or some 40 grit paper. A good four inch brush is helpful to apply the hotcoat/fill coat/sanding coat (whatever you like to call it). If your using glass on fins, put them on before the hotcoat, then dont forget to paint them with hotcoat while your laying the H.C. down. Also, the deck of the board is usually done first, then the bottom (with taped off rails). With the lam layer, the bottom is first then the deck. hope i helped