shapers help please!

[gixer]

ive a few boards that are nearlly ready,but doing the wet and dry is such a ball ache! is it ok to use a powered tool,also my guide says 400 and 800 ,can i use a differnt grade to get out any runs?i know i can do this by hand,but id like to speed it up a bit...
what i find is that the gloss coat goes on fine but i get a run near the nose.

[oldgrom]

Gix yes and no for the power tools. yes to shape and in repairs/fin box-plugs,etc. but unless you have a (festool-brand) wet sander/surfacer or the similar likes forcing water as you sand/surface then no, power sanding risks heat then causing delam. You just gotta deal with some ball ache. As grits of paper goes man I've used 50 grit to nock some shizz down and used wet 1500 grit when I was out of polishing compound experiment a little. With paint,resin,plaster etc. trick is allways leave it till it drys then fix it and yes it means more ball ache!! But whadda ya gonna do. In time the runs and sags and orange peel and over spray will stop because your becoming more prificent at it soon you will get to laying resin so there is as little sanding as pos. HA HA lesson # 3456434356- shaping foam is the damn easy part!!! sanding resin is the son of a bitch.

[gixer]

once again thanks.ok,its not really a problem,i just didnt want to scratch the polish coat beyond bringing it back,ill try a coauser grade on the runs and just get some tunes on and go for it

[kitesurfer]

Hi Karl,

Runs in your gloss coat? Where abouts on the surface being glossed or underneath? If underneath this is solved by masking off and then removing the masking tape once the resin has gone green. Hey presto no runs. If on top then something is not right, i've never had a run in a gloss or hot coat on the surface being done.
Also personally the roughest grade i use on a hot coat is 80 grit, but usually only ever start with 120 then 240/400/600 and finally 800.
For the purposes of performance there is no need to go any further thatn 800 grit. The noticable gains in drag by going to 1000 or even 1500 are so small its not even worth goiong there.
If im polishing a gloss coat then i only go as far as 600 as the cutting compund does the rest.
And yes sanding is a ball ache, but its one you'd better get used to!
I may at some point invest in a sander but the thought of taking 120 grit on a power tool to a surfboard fills me with dread!

KS

[kitesurfer]

Oh and is it just me or do your threads take so much longer to load than anyone elses? Must be that dodgy welsh telephone exchange!

KS

[oldgrom]

I think KS is talking about what I'm thinking too are the runs your talking about because your not taping off and pulling it once it jels ??If there underneth then it sound as if you didn't have it mixed well or it had started to jel in the (run area). Not sure exacly what your talking about?? I allso put the 50 grit in there with the 1500 grit due to lack of supply but to show that they will work, in reality 80 is the coarsest I go for it srtips fast then 100 or 120 to 240 to 600 that's it polish compuond does the rest. At 600 or above it's allot of labor and no real need it wears out fast wet and will clog/load within the first few swipes dry. I have a wet sander/surfacer and believe me when I say it's not the way to go !!! You loose all feel for how much your taking off and it happens real fast (scary fast)(disaster is just a mere fraction of a second to long and bam to much taken off,you just gotta take the nut sac ache. Do it by hand with better control. Now as for a power buffer... Hell yes!!! there is no F'n way I'm polishing a whole board with polish compound by hand. welcome to the wonderfull world of resin gixer ha ha dirty messy stinky pain in the ass resin. Any ways hows that baby and the momma doing ??

[gixer]

ks......ive got the taped rail bit down,its just a run.im sure ill get it out with little work.im sure any problems ive had with the resin is down to tempeture and so ive got heaters now which are helping.....

[gixer]

think im done...took about 2 hours,does that sound about right? as for polishing i have a sponge pad,or would a wool bonnet be better?
so thats board number 1 done and surfing,number 2 ready to polish,number 3 is on the rack ready for wet and dry,and number 4 is still leant against the wall

[essex sucks]

lol u have been a busy boy 4

[oldgrom]

OH!!!! AH HA HA HA HA ... Now I see the reason for your sanding ? HA HA HA HA yea when you have em lined up 3 or more and all you seen to be doing is sanding and sanding and sanding ha ha ya your thinking there has got to be a better way!! ha ha ha.

As for wool vs sponge well,,, My expirence is if it's wool than it needs to be a realy short nap but even then they can load up with compound and actually start cutting and to me they wear out relativly fast,, but mabie it's just me. I use sponge and just started useing terrycloth stiched over sponge and I am realy liking them.

[gixer]

yep,i seem to be doing a lot of sanding latley and yes it does make you think there must be a better way...and i think i know what it is..........my labourer is going to help me when we have earlly finishes



he doesnt know yet

[gixer]

first board dropped off with the customer today,he's more than pleased with it,im looking forward to the feedback,he's ordered another straight away....which has been shaped and sanded today,thank feck this one is a round tail,them fish,swallows are hard

[oldgrom]

HA HA HA try a bat tail !!!! Shezzz talk about a kick in the nuts !!! But yea round, pin , squash tails are heaven sent in comparison to a swallow tail ha ha ha. Looks to be that your steadly gaining workload on board creations. Cool duel,, make sure you take plenty of pics.

[gixer]

bat tail *gulps* here's my new customer..i thinkhe likes it

[Johno]

Nice looking bord Gixer, think u should post full pitchers of all your creations 2 see what my future new board might look like!

[pkbum]

nothing better than seeing a customer buy your board

[kitesurfer]

nothing better than seeing a customer buy your board

Yes there is.

Seeing a friend ride one of your boards you made for them.

KS

[gixer]

thats not so much of a customer as a freind.i cant wait to see ian on he's superfish..coming to think of it i wouldnt mind a surf myself