Garage Works - 12/1/2024

Between helping around the house and eating a pizza, I got some time in the garage.

I sanded the laps and applied pigmented epoxy to level everything off.

Three coats later, here's the botton deck all laminated.

Garage Works - 5/14/2024

I got the holes for the signal windows on both of Marvin's board filled this afternoon (again after a long nap... not sure why I'm dead tired coming home...).

Tomorrow I'll sand these down and get them capped.

Then I shifted my attention to sanding the laps on No.36

Here it is all sanded and dusted off.  While I had the epoxy for the signal windows, I went ahead and put a partial fill coat where the logos will go on the bottom deck.

And I felt compelled to keep pushing forward - I got the two bottom deck logos placed and got the whole fill coat placed.  I can already tell I'm going to have to do a second to get the low spots filled in.

This board is coming together nicely!!!

I'll get the top deck fill coat on tomorrow, then I'll sand the whole board once over to see where the low spots are.  I'll then put the second fills on (and sand...).

I think next time the wind comes up to winging strength, if I keep working on it daily, I should be able to get this anointed.

Garage Works - 5/13/2024

I took a long nap after work today.  And there was a seabreeze so I thought the surf would be choppy.

After I got up but before I started cooking dinner, I went into the garage and got the window holes cut into Marvin's two prone foil boards.  I didn't take pictures of those, but I did it.

Then I sanded the laps on No.36 in preparation for laminating the top deck.

Here it is all sanded.

Then I wiped all the nonporous surfaces with alcohol to clear any dust and oils (MARLON).

I didn't take a picture of the underlayment (scrap carbon fiber pieces and a patch of innegra) - but I spent some time getting that arranged and laid out.

Then I got the cover sheet trimmed and the laps cut in.

I cut slots in all the layers where the footstrap inserts are - primarily to help the layers lay flatter and to give any trapped air a route to escape.

I used 15.4 ounces on the first pour (mainly focused on the underlayment/patch).  Then I mixed another 5.6 ounces to get the laps wetted out.

I went over the thicker areas to make sure nothing was floating.  I think doing the underlayment separately helps to keep the lamination from floating (too much epoxy) or from being to dry.

I used the extra epoxy to make a small batch of glass bubbles slurry which I poured into the top deck window holes on the two prone boards.  I may have had an ounce left over (nice!).

So far this lamination job came out really nice.  I got surprised on the bottom deck with some sneaky air bubbles on the rail.  For the top deck I stayed with the board while the epoxy was hardening.  I even placed saran wrap to get some of the stray fibers to stay down and used that opportunity to make sure the rest of the lamination was sitting tight.  

If everything turns out ok, the hard part is done.  With the seabreezes expected in the afternoons this week, I should actually get a lot of progress done - two fill coats on each side, sanding-sanding-sanding, vent and leash plug installations, and more sanding.

I'm contemplating painting tiger stripes on the bottom deck...

Tomorrow I'll sand the laps and get a layer of epoxy on to where the logos will go to get a smooth surface established.  If you've read this far you have seen this before - this is the home stretch!

Garage Works - 1/17/2024

Today I really needed to rest from yesterday's - so I repotted some plants, fertilized some of our big plants, the headed to the garage.

First up - I sanded the lap on No.34, and then I put a fill coat on the areas of the bottom deck that will get the labels/decals.

Tomorrow will be a light sanding where I placed epoxy today, the apply the decals.

After that, I put away the Foil Drive (after lubricating the parts) and confronted the HPS980 repair.

This was actually one of the easier repairs.  It's back to good as new.

Garage Works - 9/1/2023

And when Marlon and I got back, La and Noe were over at Kaneohe (so the garage was open).  That gave me an opportunity to sand down the laps and other high points on No.32.

Once that was done, I used alcohol to clean off the sanding dust.  I checked the location app and the ladies were still in Kaneohe.  I decided to go ahead and get the first full fill coat on the board.

I used 4.9 ounces of aluzine for the top deck and rails.  The rails were a little dry so I mixed up another 2.8 ounces and got the rails filled.

Here is the finished product.

Tomorrow morning I'll get the first fill coat on the bottom deck.  I'll also start figuring out where all the under epoxy decals and labels will go.  For ease of sanding, I'll likely wait until Sunday morning to sand the first fill coat, then place the labels, drill out the vent and leash plugs, set those and then get the final full fill coats on.  Monday I should be able to get the final sanding done.

Having the board sit for a bit is actually a good thing, but I think I just need to finish this one. 

Garage Works - 8/20/2023

This evening I got Ken's longboard back to him (whew) and I cleared using the Cabrinha H800 for a little longer provided I fix some of the scratches.

Then I waited for the sun to go down (while cooking dinner) and then sanded the laps on No.32

Through the sanding process, I found a few spots that needed to be addressed with epoxy.

This spot had an air bubble when the carbon was setting up.  I cut the fabric to get an approach to the loose area, chopped a few lengths of carbon fiber, then epoxied under the fabric and layered the carbon strands over it.

I had a couple of openings closer to the boxes.  A little epoxy and these should be resolved.

And lastly, I added some fill resin where the bottom deck logo sticker will go.  I'll sand it down a bit tomorrow, then apply the decal, and place the remainder of the fill coat then.

I think tomorrow's workload will include preparing the top deck laminate, and getting it in place with epoxy.  I'll have to cut out the deck patches and cover the foot strap inserts.

Garage Works - 4/18/2023

I picked Marlon up from UH today and after we got home, I got to work in the garage (since it was storming outside).

I grinded the boxes open on both boards.

I sanded the laps on No.31

I used 1.4 ounces of epoxy mixed with aerocil and dyed black to fill the voids around the tracks (from now on I'm going to laminate one layer at a time around the boxes....).  I used the rest to smooth out the rough areas.

Then I got the fill coat on the top deck of No.30

I was in a waiting mode at that point so I shifted over to filling scratches on Kalani's ART999 and my Kujira 1210

The ART was pretty beat up

But they are both smooth again.

I also broke down the setup I used yesterday and the looked Kalani's SUP foiling board over.

The boxes are not secured to the board and there are some delimination points.  This will be another box job.

I actually get a lot done when it's raining.