Hi All, I am wondering… I have glassed about 40 boards over a couple of years. All Resin Research KK, controlled temperatures, accurate measurements, thourough prep and laminations, etc. Recently I have had all of my boards go through glass shops. But now I am curious…
-Why does it seem like the pro glass shops finished products are ‘whiter’ than my finished product?
-Is there a special additive I don’t know about?
-Is there something in the process I’m leaving out that is key to a brighter finished product?
This white factor is for both EPS blanks and PU blanks. But I also notice my mixture of White acrylic Gesso with Lightweight Spakle turns ‘yellower’ or ‘less white’ faster than pro shops spakle on EPS. Always looking for ways to improve.
quit using spackle. Micro plane sureform and draggon skin, and go a little slower, and you dont get the tear outs. And if you still use spackle, only thin with distilled water.
And Lastly, if you want that slightly purple tinted, that appears white, optical brightener, switch to Fiberglass Hawaii.
Thanks surfthis! I think I’ll be experiementing with a few things here on the next batch. Also, I will be doing more color (air sprays, resin tints), so it actually won’t be quite an issue.
Surfthis is correct; You will only have problems with spackle if you use tap water. Use acrylic sealer or distilled water to thin lite weight spackle. You’ll have no problem. I’m not biased. Microspheres and Epoxy slurry is fine as well. Spackle is an easy process. Thin and spread with a plastic squeege. Let it dry throughly(overnight). Then screen it, don’t sand it. From what I’ve seen of pro glass shops lately; they are not doing either process. They are just glassing the blank as is or sealing the night before with a coat of Epoxy resin. Your problem most likly is NOT your fill process, but the brand and type of cloth you are using. BGF Aerilte and JPS are best for Epoxy. Whiter and briter. As far as Epoxy goes; I believe RR is producing a version of their resin that contains an optical brightner.
Resin Research is by far the best. The pro glassed boards come out whiter because they can glass better than you. Try cleaning off your board better with compressed clean air, and use super clean tools. Keep your rolls of cloth covered when just sitting around on the racks because dust settles on the cloth and makes boards look dull and dingy. Keep your work area clean and don’t use trash cans for food anywhere in your shop. And wash your hands after you go to the bathroom.
For Resin Research or GreenRoom: Aerialite E will be whiter than Hexcel E, Hexcel S is whiter than Hexcel E. Will follow the advice of McDing and order a roll of JPS to try it out.
Absolutly essential and basic advice from ghettorat about Cleanliness around the lam room. The things he mentioned are so often overlooked. I sell cloth out of my shop in Oregon. The rolls are always covered with a sheet to prevent UV discoloration. In the lam room I have NO direct UV light so I generally just cover them with plastic. In a reasonably clean glass room; There is still always some dust.
When I spackle with Fast’n’ Final liteweight Spackle, screen with wornout 220 and paint the blank with a pastel color like light blue or yellow even an expeienced shaper/board builder has to do a double take to be sure the board is EPS and not Poly. I know because I’ve had a couple of pretty damn good shapers from up here do just that.
Pro glass shops get the boards out faster and have less time sitting around getting smudges or fingerprints from people moving them from rack to rack or squeezing the rails. My cleanest and brightest results are on the ones I push through glassing the quickest.
Lemat, I think that the finish used on Hexcel surfboard cloth in Europe is not the same as the one used in the US. In Europe they use “CLEAR” and in the US “F81” is what you get.
I P.M.ed Grant at fiberglass hawaii. He said keeping it white has a lot to do with post cure. Keeping it out of the sun for a week when new, also a hot box post cure helps. Wrap it in a towel to keep the sun off, and stick it in your car on a hot summer day for about an hour.
I think I’m gonna stick with RR and order the newer formula, like Lemat mentioned, since that is what I have been working with. And make sure to get Aerialite E and Hexcel S. I never used water in my ‘EPS sealer sauce’, but fine sanding may even eliminate the sauce or at least ultra thin it.
And yes ghettorat, I will even clean my mind before glassing my next boards.