Of course we all luv you peter. Kitesurfers are the friendliest folk on this earth. But don't take my wave

The "wax resin" is called "Filler" resin. Just don't get laminating resin and you'll be fine.

The 4 kiteboard fins - bad idea. They will suck on a surfboard.

Get some FCS plugs. 3 fins are fine

i will get on to the fins shortly. firstly i'm setting the inserts for the straps.

stance width.... i've set the stance to be just slightly wider than on my twin tip, now before you start telling me where i've gone wrong, let me explain my reason for the narrow stance, and position.

listening and watching some of the best strapless kiters, surfing both with and without a kite using the same board, i've noticed their stance to be quite wide, behind my back footstrap, and forward of my front strap.
yet while watching guys kitesurfing with straps, they tend to have a narrower stance, about the same as where i will locate my straps.
i'm trying to allow the most amount of freedom by not placing the straps in the way when wanting to move the front foot forward.
i'd like to only need one larger board, for no matter what i want to use it for.

Anyway, on to setting the inserts.
got some micro fibre stuff from a mate, found some 'part a' i had in the shed, and got some 'part b' from he hardware store.

i set the inserts with 5min epoxy, just to get the correct height, then filled the void with the mix of 5 to 1 with some of the micro fibre stuff mixed in.
in it went and its now setting.

does it matter if i use epoxy?????? i hope not.






i bent the 'prongs' down so they work as legs holding the insert at the correct height.

Another option on preventing the threads getting filled up and setting fin boxes is to use moulding putty, I use my kids plasticine and it works a charm - it shouldn't disolve with epoxy but may with poly resin.

Fill any hole that you don't want resin in with the putty, glass over and once dry cut outline out of hole and dig out the putty - easy peasy and not chance of contaminating the mix with grease etc.

Learnt something new today, did not realize you could get epoxy based light filler - good to know.

Cheers Rich

can you get a go pro cam and put it on your helmet so we can see some vids while you work? that would be
*cool*

Is monte the dog or the midget?

Coming along nicely. Good idea- trim off excess while resin is still soft "green".
Your finbox idea is good too.

peter2008 said...


should i undercoat the board before laying the glass?

NO, you'll lose the mechanical bond to the underlying surface, & who knows what polyester resin will do reacting with paint. In fact, a coarse sanding is a better preparation for the extra layer than smooth.
Run 2" masking tape round the underside of the job, just beyond the cloth edge after you've tailored it . Just stick 1 edge down. It will shed excess resin rather than messing the underside. You'll need to cut nicks into the cloth edge round the tight spots, enough to allow it to lay down properly. The biggest issue is the hard edge round the tail, cloth needs about a 6mm radius to lay down without air bubbles forming. So you have 2 choices 1) sand off the hard edge to 6mm radius & lay the cloth round it, & then fill back to an edge later. or 2) just run the cloth off that edge, meaning that at some point along you'll have a transition from cloth laying around the rail to it running off the edge.
Make sure you're 100% ready & know what to do before mixing that resin. As a learner mix the same weight of resin as the weight of cloth. You'll probably need a 2nd batch, same weight. Mix thoroughly then get it on the job spread out quick. It sets heaps faster in the pot. Don't concentrate on getting 1 bit right, get it all wet, it'll wet out a single layer quite well just sitting there. Come back & work resin in with squeegee, all over. Then go over it again pulling out excess.
Can trim daggs while still green, just gotta pick the right time. After you've laid up both sides & sanded off the edge highs, gently squeegee over 150g or so as a filler coat.
BTW did you work out the glass weight? 6oz?
cheers
Col

Looks great. No not you. At least try a sample of resin over a painted test piece 1st to see if it'll verk.
Another tip when wetting the glass round the rail. Expect to get dirty, wear surgical gloves. 1 hand under cloth edge & hold it out flat from edge of board. Work the resin out from the board & wet out thoroughly. Only then lay the cloth down around the rail. If you just try to work the resin down around the rail it'll end up on the floor. Both top & bottom layers should wrap around rail.
Col

richswing said...

Hey Peter,
I used epoxy resin to glass for the first time and found it alot easier to work with than poly resin, it wets out alot better and you can remove quite a bit of excess to keep the weight down. As I understand it is also stronger than poly resin as the bond is a chemical bond rather than resin going hard

Epoxy is a good choice for the back yard guy.
These days you can get brands with really good clarity, which was a drawback compared to polyester.
Epoxy is more expensive but
It has a really good shelf life, polyester's is poor
gives you longer work time
you can draw more resin out without the layup becoming dry
It has a stronger adhesion to the fibres(good if using exotics) and to most anything else.
It's not as brittle, will allow flex without little fracture marks.
Can use it over urethane or polystyrene
you only need 1 resin, not lam and filler
epoxy may be carsinogenic, so ventilate well
Mix ratio is critical, so weigh up carefully, specially when mixing small quantities

carsinogenic - Sh1t, I was covered in the stuff - oops could explain alot.

Its also quite b!tch to get off your hands if you don't use acetone (which I hear stays in your body forever).

Did notice that if you leave it in a cup and not spread it out it starts to go off quickly and smoke (thermogenic effect if that the right words) with a very punjent smell, had to evacuate the house for a couple of hours.

I had read somewhere that Green surfboard manufacturers use epoxy rather than poly resin - maybe it is a specific epoxy made from natural stuff.

On my next project, I will wear gloves and keep the kids far away. could be a bit heavy but it will be strong, I cut the rocker profile out and laminated them together with 3 stringers. I may just skimp on the glass to keep the weight down.

Yea, I new about poly resin but didn't realize about epoxy as you usually mix it as prescribed and therefore has a defined curing time compared to poly resin.

If I had spread the epoxy in a thin puddle it would never had gone off so quickly.

Cheers
Rich

COL said...
Mix ratio is critical, so weigh up carefully, specially when mixing small quantities

Something that helps me mix small quantities is to go to the chemist and get some disposable 10 mL syringes (50 cents each).

Then you can meter out exactly the right amount instead of doing it by eye. Had heaps of problems with epoxy not setting right before I tried this method, afterwards have always had the perfect mix.

very helpful.

ok so its epoxy resin then.

the resin i used to set the plugs was left over from another project, and if i remember correctly (old timers here) i got some white tinting pigment from the same hardware shop, mixed it into the resin mix and it worked well.
oh yeah it was to repair the underside of a kiteboard, twintip, that had a huge section missing from the bottom lamination.

application of the resin.....

can i use a brush????
the squeege thing has me a bit worried.

i watched a great video on laying the glass, it is a Solares video, but the technique of cutting, pulling the loose threads off, sanding, etc etc, is very easy to follow.



this guy has a heap of videos on the stuff.

cant seem to find solares in australia.

And the reason epoxy is so good is because it has very little shrinkage during the curing stage, so doesnt seperate from what ever your gluing it to like polyester does giving a slightly weaker bond to the reinforcment.

That also means if your in a hurry to help the curing process put a cardboard box over the project once it has gelled and stick a little heater in the end on low to get it done quicker.
Just make sure the heater is not aiming directly at the job so you will have a more even temperature around the job.
50 to 70 deg is no problem or even higher, but check with the brand of resin your using.

Note: If you heat before it's gelled the resin may thin out and run out of the glass and end up on the ground! (that is the error bit in the phrase "trail and error")

In winter if it's to cold and you are doing small jobs and dont need long gel times sit your resin tins in some hot water (about 40 -45 deg) before mixing and it will flow really nice and cure quicker (also a neat little trick if your hand brushing emamal paint and want the brush stokes to flow out and look smick).

After watching that vid, I searched for UV cured Epoxy resin.

Has anybody used the Solarez UV-cured Expoxy resin and how does it compare to normal stuff.

Were can I get some in Perth, there is a contact over east:

Surf Hardware Int'l Pty Ltd.
5-7 By The Sea Rd
Mona Vale, NSW 2103, Australia
Ph: +61 2 9997 4744
Fax: +61 2 9999 1537
www.surffcs.com/
www.gorillasurf.com


Not bad price over in the STATES but here they will most probably triple the price at least.

Cheers
Rich