Newby glassing questions

[damo666]

We have nearly finished shaping my sons mini simmons and are going to have a crack at glassing this one ourselves.

I think youtube and lots of reading here and on Swaylocks has given me a fair enough idea of what I am in for (!!)
This guy's series of vids makes it look so easy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTpq5tsM ... plpp_video

But....I'm just a little confused when it comes to ordering the resin (will just be PU, with suncure). The Shapers site has the following advertised;

i) Laminating resin
ii) Filler resin
iii) Gloss Resin

I should just be able to use the Lam resin for the lamination coats, and then either the 'filler' or 'gloss' resin for the final hot coat?
ie, I dont need both filler and gloss coats, do I?

Second question, is how much resin should I need to do a little 5'2" board? Will 1litre of each do the job?

Thanks in advance!
Damo

[diggerdickson]

Damo, Im no expert in how much you need because I always buy too much and just pratice on scraps of boards ive got lying underneath the house Normal lam resign is all you need, you can buy styrene and wax and add this to the lam resign to give a filler coat, all you need to do is mix it up really well, if your using uv thats great stuff, you get to take your time and make sure everything is pulled tight. So just get a few containers and poor some of your lam resign into a different container so you can add the styrene and wax to it, for example I used 300 ml filler coat for a six four board and it came out beautiful, I sanded the crap out of it and then did a really thin filler coat over the top agian and lightly sanded and wet and dried and it was finished, came out beautiful, gave it to the customer and he was wrapped in the finish.

So all I use is lam resign and then mix stuff to give me a filler coat, I have not used gloss resign at all yet, but ive heard you can just mix styrene to lam resign and use this for a gloss coat if you want to go that way.

Im sure someone will correct me that knows more than me on what the go is, hopefully they can give you more information on amounts you need.

One question for ya mate, what tools are you using when you go to laminate, what weight glass are you using, im just interested mate, and Im glad your giving it a go, good on ya.

[tiger]

Damo. It's probably easier just to grab a litre of lam resin for the laminating. And a litre of filler for filler (hot) coating and it can be used as a gloss coat too.

Mix both with the appropriate amount of suncure hardner in their full litre form. And just use it as you need being careful to keep it sealed and protected from UV.

1 litre will be plenty for the lams on such a small board, same with the filler. If you're careful you should be able to get 2 small boards out of it, but you most likely won't.

Regardless it's better to have too much than not enough.

[damo666]

Thanks very much for the responses guys, much appreciated.

I have ordered a litre of each which sounds like it should get us through. Good idea about pre-mixing the whole litre Tiger, that should make things easier to deal with as I am rushing through it.

Digger - in relation to tools I dont have much. I hopefully plan to get by with just a few squeegees and brushes to do the lam itself, but will need to buy a proper sander when at that stage later on (and with the extra resin I should have, all the more reason to do another board later!). I am guessing its not going to end up pretty, but hopefully it will float....

The board will be 6oz bottom, with 6oz +6oz patch on the top. Its my sons board and he is all knees, so it needs all the protection it can get! Pic below of the board in its current state.

[ric_vidal]

Damo, what sort of paint did you use? Might be worth clear coating to seal it.

I have had the odd board change colour during lamination around the free laps when using UV. Not sure what the cause was but the UV resin can get pretty hot when it cures.

You're going to need to watch the free lap edge when you take it down for the deck laminations especially when using 6oz as it is quite thick. Meaning you need to avoid hitting/scraping your painted foam... can be a fiddly process.

Not sure if anyone has any advice in that regard. Guy I worked along side for many years used a short (broken) Surform blade angled to attack it and not the foam, then followed up with a Stanley blade in a scraping motion. Some places paint over the edge with filler resin then sand to be more flush for the next lamination.

Tiger & co may have a different methodology.

[diggerdickson]

ric, I like the idea of painting on the filler coat around the free lap,, that way you can sand really carefully and it gives a little bit of a protective layer around the foam so you dont hit the paint, this is the method ive been told and shown.

[tiger]

With Poly I just use lam on the laps, extending in about an inch from the cut edge. Then sand back with old sandpaper on a small disc sanding pad I have. The disc is firm, and quite convex. So its pretty easy to just hit the edge of the lap, and fit into the nose curve. It gums up pretty quick with lam, I use 1 piece of sandpaper for each rail, just old stuff I've got laying around, 40-60 grit being best.

[damo666]

Damo, what sort of paint did you use? Might be worth clear coating to seal it.

I have had the odd board change colour during lamination around the free laps when using UV. Not sure what the cause was but the UV resin can get pretty hot when it cures.

You're going to need to watch the free lap edge when you take it down for the deck laminations especially when using 6oz as it is quite thick. Meaning you need to avoid hitting/scraping your painted foam... can be a fiddly process.

Not sure if anyone has any advice in that regard. Guy I worked along side for many years used a short (broken) Surform blade angled to attack it and not the foam, then followed up with a Stanley blade in a scraping motion. Some places paint over the edge with filler resin then sand to be more flush for the next lamination.

Tiger & co may have a different methodology.

Hi Ric,

The paint is a water based acrylic (ie, kiddies fingerpaint stuff) thinned down with water. Do you reckon it will need sealing? If so, what should it be sealed with?

I have read a few people suggest a thin coat of resin inside the laps a few times too, so might give that a shot.

Thanks for the advice - keep it coming!

[gabsouy]

for a first time glass job 6oz can be aprick to work with,can i suggest 2x 4 oz on the deck ,1x 4 0z on the bottom. 4 0z is very pliable, put in some relief cuts if you need to.......when youve glassed to or three boards then go up to the 6 0z. add 10 % percent wax /stryene to your lam resin to make filler resin ? someone correct me if im wrong...a pack of cheap disposable surgical gloves[as thin as a frangar] ditch them after each use......same as a frangar...yep as someone mentioned those gloves do come packaged in talc i blew it off with compressed air once i had them on......freezer bags for the pickup and turn over...u.v. exposure

[ric_vidal]

The paint is a water based acrylic (ie, kiddies fingerpaint stuff) thinned down with water. Do you reckon it will need sealing? If so, what should it be sealed with?

Sorry Damo, you may have already jumped. Always hard to advise, best advice I could offer is do a test and see what happens. Probably wouldn’t hurt to give it a coat of clear acrylic prior.

I have used just about EVERYTHING, from automotive acrylic, water-based acrylic, enamel sealed with clear acrylic, the whole gamut. They can all do something unexpected especially if in concentration where you can get a crystallisation of the paint. Through to just paint particles being released with the foam as you squeegee.

Seen the odd board just sealed with a skim coat of laminating resin prior to glassing too. What you are trying to avoid is bleeding, but with one solid colour that is going to be less obvious. As I may have said earlier, I have had the odd one discolour (darken) around the laps as it gets dragged onto the foam so if you can minimise that it will help.

[ledge71]

Just started to read this thread today so I'm probably way to late to help. As I glass all my own boards I can probably help you out...but I'd say I'm too late for that now. How did it go?