The following plans for building a National Jamboree surf board, can be used to complete one of the projects required to earn the new Composite Materials Merit Badge.
A supplier of Resin, disposable supplies and safety supplies is Composites One (www.compositesone.com)
Purchasing and shaping the blank
Shaping the blank deserves a more in-depth discussion than we are able to go into here. The size and shape of the surf board will depend on your size, experience and the type of surfing you plan. There are several excellent web sites which can help guide you in shaping the surfboard for you.
Paint the blank
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Start with a shaped blank. Tape was applied to the stringers and outer edges. Many people like to paint their blanks simple with a two tone color that fades into each other in the middle. The blank is taped so the rails remain white. The reason for this is because the rails are the most likely place that damage will occur and it is easier to fix it if the rails remain white. This was a Billy Board idea. One can used both air-less and air paint spray guns. With the airless spray gun, one will have to thin the paint more. When you mix the paint and water together only add enough water to get the consistency needed. If you add too much water it will take more over sprays and there is a better chance of non-consistent color(faded areas).
Painting Tips
Tip 1: You do not want to get the paint too thick on the blank, otherwise resin will not soak all the way through to the foam for binding.
Tip 2: Use masking paper over newspaper, so that the paint will not soak through.
Tip 3: Use good quality automotive masking tape or be prepared for tape glue to be left on the board.
Tip 4: For good clean curves use a thin tape 1/4" or less, then tape over with wider tape.
Decals or printed designs can be placed on the board once it has been painted. Design can be printed from an ink jet printer on to rice paper.
Installation of the Fin Box
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Some people chose blanks with double stringers so they could place the fin box between the stringers. As with shaping the board the type of fins and placement of the fin boxes deserves a more in-depth discussion than we are able to go into here. Today many boards are made with three small fins versus the one large fin. The process for installing each fin is the same.
Drawn on the board with a soft yet sharp pencil where you would like the fins to go are to be placed. Route out the board where you have decided to place the fin or fins. When routing out the fin boxes on a thinner board the router could go through the top of tail at the rear. If this happens shape the fin box to fit the routed slot and top contour of board. Tape the fin box off.
One can install one layer of 4 ounce in the routed out area for the fin box to provide a tighter fit and to add reinforcement. The fin box layering will depend upon how wide it is between the stringers. After you have place the fin boxes in place, pour the resin into the area around the fin box. Leave the fin straightening tape for at least two hours after gelling. Remove excess fiberglass with razor blade. When you are through laminating the board carefully grind the fin boxes flush with the board. Then tape off the fin boxes again to ensure you do not get any resin in the boxes.
Install Inserts
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Most people like the multihole inserts for footstrap maneuverability.
With all boxes and inserts installed, grind them flush with the board once you have laminated the board.
Glass over the inserts and mast box with extra reinforcement for the heal areas.
The Top Glass / Laminating
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The top of blank is layered with two 10 ounce layers for fiberglass. Alternate put the first top layer of fiberglass with the underside or bottom layer of fiberglass. As the layers cure keep an eye on the overlaying glass so that it will not detach from bottom edge. Remove excess resin. As you apply the resin make sure the glass is completely wetted out and there are no air bubbles in the resin.
Do not worry too much about rippling in the glass for the first board. In another process, hot coating(sanding)you should be able to sand out many flaws.
Glass the bottom
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Use one layers of 10 ounce (oz/yd 2) S glass on the bottom and cut it so that the first layer overlays past the edge of rail by about 2 inches.
Tape the top of board to later cut the glass edge with a razor blade. Through experimentation, it have found that using 3/4" - 1" tape on the deck and with 4" wide tape on top of that provides a good edge to cut. This way the resin will not drip on to the deck.
When glassing use small batches of resin, first batch is 20 ounce for the soak in with the next batches being 16 ounce or less. (1 ounce = 28.4 grams)
Glassing Tips
Tip 5: Big batches of reins will set up quicker that you think. Follow the manufacturer's catalyst levels recommendation, if you use less than recommended levels of catalyst you risk the chance of the resin not setting up or being a soft set. Resin does have a shelf life. If it is over a few months old, test it first.
Pull out excess resin, but not to the point of getting dry spots. Concave areas will have bigger tendency of getting dry spots. If you see a dry spot try working resin into the area.
Tip 6: If you just glassed a ripply mess, do not worry. As long as the resin has not fully hardened you can use a sureform to the remove the rippled glass and excess resin. This does make a mess of the sureform blade. I invented this technique after I screwed up once. Soak the blade in Acetone to remove resin. The other method of removing the ripples is after a thick sanding coat, then sand smooth.
Hot Coat the Top and Bottom
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If the area is smoothly glassed you can go thinner, otherwise go thick so you can sand out imperfections. I have noticed at glassing factories they use thick hot coats. Hot coat the top first then the bottom. You see tape on the bottom hot coat picture to concentrate extra resin at the rail for a cleaner sanded of water release edge.
Tip: Pull on the paint brush hairs before use to reduce there chance of brush hair incorporation into the sanding coat.
Do not over sand.
Bottom Gloss Coat
Tape of the area that will be getting the textured deck. Mix gloss coat and catalyst, pour onto board. Move the resin with a painting action of a good finishing brush. All the areas should be covered evenly with resin. Gloss Coat will take at least 3 times or more longer than laminating resin to set. Re-brush areas that ripple or drip. Over brushing can cause ripples. When gloss coating the air should be still. Remove tape after gelling. After the board has set for a day wet/dry sand with 320/400/600 sand paper grits. You can also polish after sanding.
Texturing Top of Deck
I lightly wipe the top of deck clean with Acetone to remove dust and polish. Tape off the deck.
Mix up the Gloss Coat Resin and thinly roll it on to the deck of board. At this point you can use three different substances for texturing. Salt or sugar will leave imprint in the resin and will wash out with water to provide a textured surface. Acrylic Dust (my favorite) embeds in the resin to provides the textured surface.
Route out and file the boxes. Inserts are drilled or counter sinked depending upon inserts. Let the board cure for about two weeks after finish lamination. Add fin, footstraps and pads. Enjoy!!