What is used for stringer glue?
Nowadays foaming poly glue or Elmers 77 (?) will work well, but what does Clark Foam use to glue up stringers? Is that the same as they use for colored (stringerless) glue lines?
Reason I ask is one, paying 20 clams for each extra stringer is more than I think it’s worth, and two, I have two separate long pieces of clark foam that will make a paddleboard, and I want some stiffness (stringer) in them.
Thanks, all.
I don’t know what Clark foam uses, but epoxy will do the job.
Jack
I’m 99% sure it’s polyester resin. You neva smell em when get hot unda da planah?
clark use polyester resin 100% talk to driver this morning
Clark uses their own make of resin. They make their own stuff and use that. Basically thick lam resin from what I remember.
Also, foam is really a light brown. They use white latex paint to color the blanks when they blow the foam, but you did not hear that from me…
Another thing I just remembered. You can order the blank cut however you want and glue it yourself. Grab the lam and your favorite pigment color. Cut out your rocker on the sticks, glue it up, and clamp it with giant rubber bands. Don’t worry about cutting your stringers exact, except for your rocker template. After gluing, pull the trigger on your planer and run your planer’s blades sideways up and down the stringer after it dries. It will break up the glue and cut the rough stuff flat with the blank. Go slow so you don’t rip chunks out. You should be doing this with a new blank to break up the glue anyways no matter who made it. Clark uses a router on a jig to get the stringers a close shave.
If you have ever seen them do that in the factory, you would be amazed how many blanks they glue in an hour.
If you need help on how to create rocker templates, let me know. It is easier than you think.
Schroeder, Having been a woodworker for 30 years, I would recommend using glue that’s made for wood to glue T-bands or any other wood to wood joint. That would include Yellow glue from Titebond or Elmer’s.
For the glue-up of stringer to foam, use resin, as stated before. But I tried it once, and it was messy, frustrating, with so-so results. After that one try I thought to myself, “Shoot, $25.00 per stringer is a good deal, I don’t need to go through this again.” And Clark does a great job. Doug
I think the orignal poster was talking about gluing wood to extra foam he had laying around. I did not see anything about t-bands. You are right about t-bands though, but I don’t think that is the topic.
Okay thanks all, lam resin it will be, with some pigment, thickened a bit with either cabosil or Qcell so as not to be so gorpy.
Now I gotta find someone to resaw some redwood or…
Have a try with Sika Flex take a while to dry and you can get it in different colours
Peter
I would not use Qcel. It is not as strong as cabosil.
But it does have a little more flex.