Wingnut2443 – Page 4 – FFW Surfboards

December 18, 2012

OOPS – tacky / sticky filler coat

The filler coat on the deck of the ‘nineteen 97’ was still ‘sticky’ / ‘tacky’ after almost a week.

I’ve narrowed it down to being:

– my resin … too much heat in the shed
– the uv sunbake I used … again the heat and also it seemed ‘thicker’ when I used it
– the filler mix itself being about a month old now
– the wax in styrene % in the mix (i.e. too low)
– my application technique (i.e. brushing it too much)
– temp impact when I applied it (i.e. kicked too early, brushed after starting to kick)
– not mixed enough before using again
– mixed too much before using again … I shook the can, and did not stir it

The UV I used, ended up as a whole bottle, went hard and had to throw it and get more. I used the new UV for the lam coat on this board and it went off OK … looking back, I recall the filler coat on the last board, the forty one two, was a bit sticky / tacky and I used more rough grit paper than previous boards (gumming up) but the bottom seemed to go ok on the second coat I had to do, after fin instal and a couple of almost sand thru spots …

So, I’m now back to a ‘sticky’ / ‘tacky’ board … what to do?

I’ve had it out in the sun again to make sure it has fully kicked, and it is hard (finger nail tap) … it’s just when I put skin on it I feel the ‘tacky’ / ‘sticky’ … If I apply another coat, new mixed batch, later today when the temps drop … and assuming it is ok and not tacky, what will happen if I then sand through that layer of filler? Will I hit the ‘tacky stuff’? Would I be better off trying to sand this current still sticky / tacky layer? Wash it off with acetone and try again?

Nope, the solution was found … and is in action … here’s a hint:

December 9, 2012

nineteen 97 – bottom lam & cut laps

Slow going with this one … since I decided to paint it yellow, and do some artwork. The stripes on the bottom have come up good, but the deck design I tried to tape up did not look right, so it got a full coat of yellow on the deck. I also tried spraying the FFW logo stencil, but that’s come up a bit more smudged than I like …

Anyway, I have managed to get the bottom laminated and the laps cut and basted … they are ready for a sand in these pics. As you can see, the cut lap has given a much neater edge, but still a couple of spots where the paint lifted as I cut the lap. The nose and tail folds are the best I’ve done by far …

One side of the tail is great, the other, I stuffed up the cloth cut so bit of a gap in the cloth coverage. Nothing that can not be fixed with an extra layer (little patch of cloth) when I do the deck.

Time to go and sand the laps … spot of paint onto a couple of spots on the deck, cut some cloth and get ready to glassing tomorrow.

December 9, 2012

Lap … cut & free (not dancing)

On the first two boards I did, the ‘jazz” and the ‘forty one”, I did free laps … the ‘jazz’ turned out quite ugly, and ended up with a very uneven line of cloth which is quite obvious after sanding the filler coat as can be seen in this pic:

It’s smooth, and only cosmetic, but I wanted better. So, with the ‘forty one’ I also did a free lap and tried to get a better line, hoping that would blend the lap better and be less ugly looking, but, not quite there as this pic shows:

Click on any of these images to get a larger view.

So, with the ‘forty one two’ I decided I would try a cut lap. My first ever attempt … so I tapped up the rails on the deck, and went about cutting the cloth more ‘neatly’, I even bought so new super sharp and awesome scissors which made the cloth trimming process much much easier … but, in my usually way, I invited the fuck up fairy back by trimming the cloth so some ended up inside the tapped line, this then lead to the issues when I went to ‘cut’ the lap, since some was overhanging the tape, but other parts were back from it … so I ended up with a bit of an uneven cut. Getting the razor blade to slide along the tap edge and cut was OK where the cloth overhung the tape, but when it hit the spots where the cloth did not make the tape, ah, messy again. Here’ a pic of the lap finished:

That ‘gash’ you can see on the left hand side is where I managed to put the corner of some sand paper into the foam when I was sanding the lap at that point … it was one of the spots where the cut lap did not sit well and needed a bit more effort to sand it down …the right hand side is he best lap I’ve done, and almost blends with hardly (relative to my two previous attempts) any cloth line showing.

So, with the ‘nineteen 97’ the plan is to do a cut lap and I will be taping the whole deck, using butchers paper to stop any laminate resin getting onto the deck, which, on the ‘forty one two’ resulted in a ‘bumpy’ deck … I will also make sure the cloth is well past the edge of the tape. Watch this space … I’m sure the fairy will be back !

PS: My ‘cut lap’ knowledge came from watching you tube video’s !

December 5, 2012

the ‘Nineteen 97’ – 7’2″ mini mal

Woohoo, found out today I’ll get the machine cut blank this Friday … STOKED.

With a bit of luck, I’ll get it glassed by Sunday, so the 2 week cure can start … actually, I might even give this one and extra week and a bit … MERRY CHRISTMAS to me !!!

So, here’s a couple of screen shots from the AKU file …

This one has been designed based around and old faithful mini mal I had made back in 1997, and funny enough, I actually picked it up for Christmas that year too! The old girl served me well, got me back in the water after injuries and got me through many a flat spell and or summer slop. She was even the only board a surfed for a while when I was very unfit. I can only hope this new one is up to the task … time will tell.

December 2, 2012

Decisions on the run …

OK, thought I would share one of my ‘decisions on the run’ … so, here’s the situation, I have the shaping stands that I turn sideways and whack on the ‘glassing stands’ … so, then when I glass I have the ‘reverse’ tape to hold the board … but once glassed, there is usually some sanding needed, like the dags on the laps, etc … so I end up just doing it with the glassing stands in place … but, it does get a bit hard to hold the board at times, so I decided on the run to use some masking tape to hold the board down …

So, while I’m sanding say the tail, or fin boxes, etc. I whack on some tape like the pic here (click it for a larger view).

You can see my stands in this pic too … and the ‘glassing stands’ I attach to the top.

Feel free to use any of my idea’s in your own R&D … after all that’s what Rip Off and Duplicate is all about !!!

December 2, 2012

Getting Organised

Well, the swell has been pretty ordinary lately … so, I have spent some time thinking about how I can get more organised in the shed. You see, I’m a bit ‘just get it done’ when I’m making boards, and I end up with stuff everywhere … the shelves on the top of my side lights have been very handy … I put stuff on them until there is stuff all space … and end up moving stuff, knockng stuff over, etc … so, then when I move it, I’m putting it in corners and “away” as I moved to the next phase of the board making process.

So, I was going to build some shelves, and use plastics containers, but when I priced that up, and thought about the practical aspect of it being used … well, I ended up going this way (see pic, click on it for a larger view). It has ten slide out plastic (easy to clean and hose out of foam dust, yeah as if I’m ever going to do that!) and have enough room in each for what I want.

And surprisingly, this did not come from Bunnings. Nope, it’s from Officeworks … for $38 !!!

November 25, 2012

The ‘forty one two’ – sanded and surfed

It’s sad … a 41 year old bloke surfing wind swept wind swell, but still being totally STOKED!

Yep, I had to take the ‘forty one two’ for a paddle … it went well, considering the waves. This board will go … can’t wait to get it in some good waves.

As a refinement of the forty one, I could feel the pulled in tail, and less foam in front of the chest … the tweaked rails were noticeable, but the surf was not the best to feel them come into the equation.

Here’s a couple of pic of it finished: