Board out of the bag

This is the board straight out of the bag with the materials stripped off.

When laminating the board- as each side was done, cut the excess glass off and leave a bit as seen here
The vacuum is very effective- The glass is pressed into very tight contours.

Just use a sharp knife to cut off the excess. The epoxy is not too hard 24 hrs later (17C i cellar) but after a week it is really hard.

If possible it is best to "bake" the board in the V-bag after 24 hrs have passed. Depending on the epoxy, but a 50c temp for 12hrs will increase the chemical cross linking and make the board 20-30% stiffer and stronger and will stand higher temperatures- such as being in a hot car or in the sun in hot climates.

Several ways to do this- make an oven from Frigolit and use a car-heater, use infrared heat and blankets. Most methods have fire risks for the home builder.....

Preparation and Vacuum bagging

This section is missing some photos. Time is short and the laminating process must go fast before epoxy hardens.

1. Cut out all the materials needed
- Vacuum bag material
- wicking material
- perforated plastic film
- Tear fabric
- Glass fiber
2. Roll up everything but the vacuum bag material in separate rolls and set aside carefully and so you know whats-what. Think all the steps through first.

3. Set up your V-bag on a table or rocker table it you have one. I used a wide material folded over- Put the sealing tape on one side of the bag and leave the protective tape on the top side. This will be removed at the last step befre sealing bag. Put your vacuum fitting on the bag in a good position

4. Set up you laminating area and start by using a plastic "squeege" (skrapa) to put epoxy on the bottom of the blank- Then put each layer of glass on and apply epoxy with squeege, apply to center of board and work outward. Scrape of any excess before applying next layer. I mix about 2-3dl of epoxy at a time to keep the working time as long as possible.

5. Once all the layers are on, put down tear fabric, then perforated plastic film and turn the blank over to laminate the top side as above.

6. Put the wicking material on the vacuum bag and lift the board over, bottom down onto the wicking material. Put the top layer of wicking material over the board.

7. Close the bag by pulling protective tape off sealing tape and carefully sealing down bag. Avoid getting wrinkles- they can leak.

8. Attach the vacuum hose and turn on the pump. smooth out the V-bag as it gets tighter.
Use spacers and clamps to put in the rocker.

Here the bag is tight and the epoxy is "wicking" thru the perforated film into the wicking material- it is absorbing all the excess epoxy.
The Vacuum pump- no bigger than 1kg coffee. Amazing little device

Inserts

Route into the foam for your inserts. Measure them out and make a drawing for later use- you will not see them when you are drilling for them later.
Cast in with epoxy. These inserts are from www.snowboardmaterials.com
Stainless Steel, 6mm, closed end, with thin plastic cover over threads to keep glue out!
Casting in area for fins. Fill up to almost full and let it set- top it off or use glass ballon-epoxy putty to fill up to foam surface. Be careful it can be hard work to sand them down to foam surface if they are overfilled.

Rocker set-up

This is a simple way to put a flat rocker into the board. Here I am jsut esting the set-up that i will use once the board is in the vacuum bag.

I decided to put a 14mm tip rocker in each end. (not what is seen here).

In the background is a rocker board for a deep concave with rocker- by vacuum bagging the board down onto a form the shapes are more controlled, but it is a lot of work to build a form.

Final Shaping of Blank

Shape the blank with a sure-form. I use a guideline to keep it symetrical.
The last 3mm can be sanded down with 40 grit sandpaper, and a final finishing with 100 grit.



Use a side light to see the surface and keep it smooth.
use big sweeping movements with your arms and body- this keeps the surfaces smooth. Hacking away with small movements will make your blank lumpy.