I laminated - free lap - and needed to do little “smoothing.” I found that I could easily sand any part I wanted/needed. No gumming, no tackiness, just nice smooth sandability. Did I mention you don’t smell it when working with it, and you get lots of time for working out deep channels, laps etc - ( I am slow of hand, so…) I followed some of Greg L.'s advice and worked w/small batches, I think I wasted only a couple of ounces in drips and left over - ( I’m cheap to, and hate to think of having tons of on the floor/in the pot at the end.) And, correct me if I’m wrong, in theory you could just ride it after laminating… no need for “hot coat,” save to sand it smooth, etc.
Anyway - Thanks to all here for being so encouraging about epoxy, and special thanks to Greg for taking the time to talk to me about it - and make it available. Some day I hope to have pictures of my blue XPS(and yes, I’ve studied up quite a bit on XPS, and with some “treatment” [special thanks to Lanny S., and Gordon F.] and the fact that it doesn’t get too hot up on this corner of the planet… I’m not too worried about it) w/carbon stringer @ $30.00 blank!
Hey Greg - Quick Q. for all to see: What quantities of X-55 are available - prices? Is it on the web site? Just thought I’d share… The stoke! Ha! Taylor.
Greg just posted a thread three days ago. search “RR X-55”
its an accelerator. you coat the bottom of your board, and your board accelerates.
Mine got away from me the other day, and has presumably already crossed the pacific. If it keeps accelerating, it could soon break out of earth’s gravity. then it’s a goner, sigh.
I’m curious too what is the xps treatment? I’ve got a pink 10 footer that has been hanging in the garage for a couple of years that I never glassed for fear of gas. What’s the scoop?
From what I read in the archives, and form talking to some people who make xps blanks for “production” - the thing that is supposed to help w/delams is scoring/post holeing the blank. That is to say, small 1/4" deep cuts about 1/2" apart, or 1/4" deep holes on a 1/2" grid on the foam to help tie the lams into the foam. From what I read in the archives… some old good threads by people who made boards this way, had them for a while, left 'em hot rigs, and didn’t have delam problems - this “treatment” seemed to work, and from the pro that I talked to; he said delam is only a problem if you get a ding, and water getts in - then it heats and expands, and, often, on the deck the foot/knee/etc. pressure may have broken down the top 1/16" of foam and the expanding water vapor lifts the glass and broken down foam. Two points he made: the “vent” treatment (I read, and talked to another professional about this one) I asked about was an after the fact (post ding-delam) treatment for people who don’t want to fix their dings… (which I found perposterous… like someone would just leave 'em… I forget all the surf world are not Swayers) So…the “posts” are supposed to help spread the pressure deeper into the foam and keep it from breaking down in the first place.
Only time will tell - I am making a panel to test lam adhesion to “un-skinned” xps, un-skinned w/holes/scores, skinned w/holes/scores/nothing. I’ll let you know when I do the “pull” test. I hope this helps, and I’ll be sure to update you all on the boards experience after the summer. ended up with a little more rocker than I would have liked, maybe… The carbon fiber stringer took real well, and I am pretty sure - I wish I would have messured - that when I lammed the bottom it sucked in a little more rocker.
I made two tools: one; small nails @ 3/8" through cardboard on a 1/2" grid - about 9"x9", then curved it on some thin masonite -as backing and strength. Second set 5 exacto blades about the same depth, about 1/2" apart in some foam, put a nail through the holes in the blades to secure it all together, topped with more foam, and taped it all up. I think if both methodes are good enough (that’s the giant question though) the scoring w/the blades was much faster and easier, but I had to pay attention not to tear the foam. Yeah - when I heard about the “vent holes” and that it was for after the fact pressure release, I just laughed. Isn’t fixing dings where most of us started?!!! gotta love it - Taylor.
