by Stephen Pirsch
| Introduction
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HALL OF FAME Mark Sadler |
GLASSING Most people say the first laminanate coat was the hardest part of building their first board. Please - double please - practice. Get some scrap foam, cloth, and resin, and practice laminating - especially wrapping the rails. Do not cut weight by reducing cloth amounts. I recommend buying supplies online from one of the sources listed in the HELPFUL LINKS. It is generally cheaper and easier overall to have the recommended supplies delivered directly to your door, from one or two sources, compared to driving to numerous sources. Buying locally often results in problems caused by insufficient or substandard materials. If you try to build a surfboard using the abbreviated advice of a local surf shop you are courting disaster. I have had good experiences with all the companies referred to in HELPFUL LINKS. www.fiberglasssupply.com has everything needed to do an entire board, in many combinations. This web site also has a lot of information about the products which will help you decide which one to use. www.surfsource.net is also very good and a little faster. Note: I do not receive any compensation for recommending anything in this guide. Most surfboards have three resin layers covering the foam core; first the laminate coat (cloth saturating layer), second the hot coat, and third the gloss coat. Most surfboards are built with a clear polyester resin and fiberglass cloth (Silmar 249 resin and "E" cloth). This combination can produce a good, economical, time proven board. Most short boards are made with 4oz "E" cloth - one layer on the bottom and two on the top. Most longboards are made the same way with 6oz cloth. This is a marginal amount of cloth for longboards, and not enough cloth for a shortboard. The durability problem of the thruster can be solved by simply using "S" cloth (with no increase in weight). Many professional board builders complain about the "disposable board" attitude which is now so accepted. However; most surfers are fixated on weight. For a stronger and/or lighter board consider the alternatives below. Some first time builders shy away from these alternatives believing them hard to use. To the contrary, first time builders seem to have no extra trouble learning to use alternative methods (the pro's do). One 6oz "E" cloth top and bottom with a 6oz "E" cloth deck patch should be the minimum for 2 lb./cu.ft polystyrene and 3 lb./cu.ft molded polyurethane. Consider using epoxy and "S" (high strength) cloth or epoxy and carbon fiber cloth. Epoxy is about twice as fracture resistant as polyester, and a little more than twice as expensive (see EPOXY). www.surfsource.com (ss2000) and www.epoxyproducts.com (basic no blush) have good, clear, inexpensive epoxies. Remember that the vast majority of a surfboards' strength is in the cloth. In equal amounts, "S" cloth and epoxy resin will make a board that is about 50% stronger than a polyester resin "E" cloth board. Carbon fiber and epoxy will make a board that is easily 100% stronger than equal amounts of polyester resin and "E" cloth. These products may not be worth their cost to you. "S" cloth is about twice as expensive as "E" cloth, and carbon fiber cloth is about twice as expensive as "S" cloth (note that even with a deck patch you will only need half as much carbon fiber as "S" so the cost per board is almost equal) These alternative products are the way to go if you want a board that is very light and/or very durable. If lightness and/or durability are worth an extra 20 - 30% increase in material cost then I encourage you to try these alternatives. Note: A suitable, and economical source of carbon fiber has not been available since the start of the Iraq war. Also; I now believe carbon cloth is best suited to a cool climate where a white gloss coat would not be needed to reduce heat due to back carbon Some people like polyester resin with ultra violet (u.v.) curing catalyst. This new type of powdered catalyst makes polyester resin set up rapidly when exposed to sunlight or u.v. tanning lights. This good product potentially gives the user better control over hardening time. Use regular mekp liquid catalyst for your first board. This is because mekp liquid catalyst will be needed for the fin(s) and, any night or low light glassing anyway so why learn two systems? When using u.v. catalyst, it is advisable to put mekp catalyst in the resin also (about .5%), otherwise sticky resin will be all over the garage floor etc. for days. Do not buy resin or cloth from Lowe's etc. (low quality) See LINKS. Two other products builders might be tempted to try are vinyl ester resin and isophthalic resin. Vinyl ester resin is gaining popularity in the boat and sailboard building industry. Be forewarned: the catalyst percentage needs to be very close to1.5%. If you vary by .25% or so you will either wonder why it is so brittle or why it is taking forever to dry. Vinyl ester resin at room temperature will take months to achieve a full cure. Boat builders use heated drying rooms. Also, vinyl ester is not water clear (looks like tea). It will need to be pigmented. I made a board with it and I do not recommend it. Isophthalic resin is about 10% stronger than silmar249 (common surfboard resin) and is just slightly more expensive and, not as clear. It will probably be necessary to pigment it Otherwise it is like silmar249. It works well. www.lbifiberglass.com has an economically priced isophthalic laminating resin. I receive numerous emails about glossing resin, sanding resin, additive F, etc. Use all resins full strength (no pigment, solvent, thinner, or additive). All other things being equal, this will make for a stronger board. For a very light, durable board use some combination of the following: polyurethane foam blank (most polyurethane foam blanks are about 3lb./cu.ft)., stringerless or with an epoxy glue joint. Cover this foam with epoxy resin and one layer of 6oz."S" with a deck patch, or one layer of 4oz. "S" with a deck patch. No gloss coat. For an extremely light, durable board consider 2 lb./cu.ft. polystyrene foam (extruded or expanded), stringerless or with an epoxy glue joint. Cover these foams with epoxy resin and single 6oz. "S" cloth with a single deck patch. No gloss coat. See POLYSTYRENE. Do not use less than 6 oz. "E" with a deck patch for
any 2 - 3 lb foam. There are better ways to cut weight.
The following will greatly help on the first lamination. Make a small replica of a surfboard blank with some scrap foam (maybe 1/10 scale). Practice laminating the replica as if it was the real thing (especially wrapping the rails). Simply follow the directions below in miniature. Cut a plastic squeegee down to 1/10 scale. Also; a small, scrap, full thickness piece (with a rail shaped) is very helpful for practicing wrapping the rails. Most first time builders say that glassing was harder than shaping. Practice. See MATERIAL LISTS for amounts. Adjust the amounts for each board. These amounts are barely enough for a 9' board using the cloth below. For a 10' board add at least 10% more of everything. For a 8' board subtract 10%. This section assumes the use of epoxy resin and hardener (same basic technique with polyester). Do not use polyester resin directly over polystyrene foam. See EPOXY. The following instructions assume the use of an extruded or expanded polystyrene foam blank (2lb./cu.ft.) with 2 layers of 4oz. "E" cloth on the bottom, and 2 layers of 4oz. "E" cloth on top, with 2 layers of 4oz "E" cloth deck patches (all plain weave). Epoxy will be used to saturate the cloth. This layering method will produce a board which is more resistant to damage in the areas they are most likely to occur. If this layering and cutting is too complicated simply use 1-8oz. bottom and top with an 8 oz deck patch. The overall weight will be the same. Use old clothes - these will be ruined. Keep using these same clothes. Long sleeves help. Sandals with old socks help. Cover the floor under the board with roofing felt (at least one width). Do the following:
If laminating extruded polystyrene and the blank is rough sanded as advised, do the following: After the rails are wrapped, spread about 5 - 10% more resin over the cloth. Try to fill in all the pits and scratches, but do not leave any pooled resin. This will make it look better, (fewer bubbles) and will lessen delaminations. Put on new gloves and clean out the resin in the container with a paper towel etc., or pry it out when it gets semi-hard (do this every mix). I added 1 extra container in each size, in the MATERIALS chapter because most people ruin one on their first board. Use cheap scissors (dollar stores) and 4" plastic squeegees which can be thrown away. It can cost more to clean them than it does to use a new one each time. If you must re-use things try cleaning them with 90% isopropyl alcohol (found at drug stores). The epoxy (ss2000) will probably take 6 hours or more to be ready to turn. When tapped with a fingernail, and it clicks, it is ready. Turn the blank top up. Plane any bumpy places paying special attention to nose end, tail corners, and where the cloth meets the foam etc. The area where the foam meets the cloth is called the lap line. Use a surform pocket plane, #50 block sander, and #50 hand sand paper (don't scratch the foam). I highly recommend putting a layer of duct tape around the entire circumference around the lap line(foam side). See SANDING - photo of duct tape. The duct tape will prevent you from damaging the foam. Do not obsess over the somewhat uneven cloth edge. This edge will be invisible after the next cloth layer is laminated. The bumps are more easily removed if done before the resin is completely hard (rubbery). If it starts to clog the surform it is not set up enough. Remove any clogged resin out of the surform with a wire brush, or small screwdriver etc. If the resin is hard use #16 and #50 sanding blocks. To glass the top, do the following:
Please do not cut weight by reducing cloth amounts. Most people say the first laminanate coat was the hardest part of building their first board. Please- double please - practice. Get some scrap foam, cloth, and resin, and practice laminating - especially wrapping the rails. |
