#2 and #3, Part 1

Last night I thought I'd spend the evening trying my hand at tints and cutlaps. My subjects were two funboard twins measuring 8' x 22" x 2.75" each. I started the night only intending to do the bottom lam/cutlap on one board, but by the end I was "in the zone" and decided to do the second board too.

The first order of business was to rig up some type of rail tool to draw in my cutlap guideline. I'd seen someone on Swaylocks do something similar to the following, though its a temporary solution. Still, it worked fine and was quick to assemble/disassemble...


Check out the hard core hitchhiker's thumb...haha!...


Cutlap outline drawn in...


Tape off at the line. Would've been handy to have some paper to tape off in the middle so I didn't have to waste so much masking tape...


Getting ready to mix in the tint now. Initially when i mixed the tint, I had no idea how much to use. I just went a little at a time till I got the color I wanted (which required mixing in a touch of red too)...


Ok, I've already pulled the glass, and cut excess away. Here goes nothin'...


Well, after running out of resin, and having to scoop some off the floor (lol!), I got the thing covered and my laps tucked under. I made the mistake of concentrating on the flats too much and forgot about the laps. By the time I got around to the laps, I was almost out of resin in my (second) bucket. I mixed up 1.5 qts, when I should've done 2qts. Lesson learned. Turned out alright for my first tint...good enough for me at least.


The laps are a bit messy in the ends. I didn't do a great job of cutting the wedges out so the glass lays nicely. There's some overlaping, some bubbles, and some uncovered spots...but no major catastrophes.


Poor little latex glove, didn't stand a chance...


Turned over the board after resin began gelling. Made sure to cover the stands w/ waxpaper so the upside-down masking tape on the stand doesn't pull/move the cloth which is still tacky at this point...


Went at it with the razor blade. Cut along the tape line as straight as possible while the cloth is still at its soft/leathery state. This is a bizarre feeling, I'm cutting *into* the foam here. But, thats how they say to do it, so be it...


After cutting all around, pull up tape. Making sure to pull towards the center so the lam doesn't accidentally peel off...


I read somewhere that instead of sanding the laps flush with the foam, some people just push the lap *into* the foam till its flush. I figured I'd give this a try, but after a few minutes of pushing with my thumb and a popsicle stick, I needed a better/easier way. So, after rummaging around the shop for a few minutes, I came upon the idea of rolling the edge of a paper mixing bucket along the lap edge while applying downward pressure. Helps to have one hand inside the the bucket moving it along, while the other is applying the pressure. You can roll along pretty quickly this way and cover a lot of ground without getting your gloves/hands sticky. Still need to clean up the laps a bit with some grinding/sanding, but the laps are flush now. Oh, you can see I'm shirtless, but don't try this at home. ALWAYS keep protective clothing on. I got a tiny smudge of resin on my stomach, and I could feel it burn in minutes. (BTW, where is my hairline??...wow, I must be getting old)


Did the same thing on the second board, but this time in a blood red. Ya, I dunno why I like to make things difficult for myself. They say to stay away from dark tints in the beginning. Easy to see flaws and mistakes. What can I say, I like to challenge myself sometimes...(actually, the order called for a dark red)



Not bad I guess. Somehow it always looks good from this side...


Looks like a crime scene eh? "Honestly, officer, I'm making surfboards in here!!!"


Here's a little booboo after pulling up my tape. Whats the recommended procedure here? I ended up shaving it away with a razor blade...


First cutlap, first tint, two boards, and one crime scene. All in a night's work (well, 4 hours work)...


Neeeeeeed waaaaaves.... :(

kc