Board building guide... how to build fiberglass decks.

[mauiskategeezer]

I've threatened to publish a board building guide in the past but never made the time. I'm so pleased with the way that Mauiline has enriched my life through the artful endeavour that is board building, that I've decided it's time to share the tech. Besides, it'll give something to post while I move the Mauiline factory to my new place in Paia, and take a little vacation from building.
So here we go.
I'll start by posting the basics.. then you can shoot questions at me AND other experienced craftsmen on this here forUM as the thread progresses.

I just figured it would be a good archive for newbies to find easily when they search for board building tips.

How Mauiline does it without a vac-bag.
by Dino, AKA Mr. Mauiline AKA Geezer AKA Mauiskategeezer ad nauseum.

Supplies:

Quality scissors.
Razor knives, small breakaway and regular.
Clean rags or paper towels.
Rubber gloves. Hardware store.
A Good Quality Respirator!!!!! YOU MUST HAVE THIS!! Please? Your lungs and vital organs are worth the $25 it'll cost aren't they? I thought so. You're so smart!
Good quality plastic squeegies. Check your local auto parts store.
Good masking tape. NOT the cheap crap. NO! NO! Spend a little $ here!
A roll of 2 mil thick, clear polyethelyne sheeting from your local roofing supply. About $15 - $20 for 200 ft. x 8 ft. wide.
2 Yards 4 ounce fiberglass cloth.
Epoxy resin and hardener. I recommend West Systems. It works great and it comes with pumps for exact mixing! Screw polyester resin! It sucks for skateboards in my humble but very experienced opinion. Besides, it's very noxious and MORE dengerous to spill on yourself than epoxy.
TIP! IF you get any kind of resin on your skin, DO NOT use a solvent to wipe it off! Why? Well why add insult to injury! Use any kind of household VINEGAR to clean it off whatever you like! The acetic acid in the vinegar breaks down the mixture in to a water soluable substance. Pour it on, wipe it around, rinse under the faucet! Easy and safe.... and you can make yourself a salad when your done!
Paint stir sticks or tongue depressors for mixing resin.
12 oz paper cups. Grocery store.


Work space:

You'll need a flat table to work on, or in a pinch, a garage floor with some cardboard laid down. The table is better eh? OK. First we're cutting the plastic. The stuff I use comes folded and then rolled up. I pull out the desired length and cut it off with the scissors. Then I cut a piece that's about 20" - 24" wide down the length. Place that aside, folded in half on it's length.

Now unroll the fiberglass CAREFULLY!! Part of working with fiberglass is a Zen-like attitude. Move slowly when handling it. It doesn't like to be pulled diagonally. It looks all crooked then. If this happens, gently grasp each end of the cloth and pull a little. This will usually bring the fibers back in line.
OK so we've rolled out our cloth inline with the fibers, not at an angle. Two reasons. One: it makes it VERY difficult to handle the glass cut this way because it's gets distorted. Two: it doesn't add any strength. In fact it propagates compound bending in the fibers and that leads to a worn out springiness in the board. (at least with only one layer... multiples, yes) I'm assuming you have a template already cut. No?? OK read on cos we'll cover that at some point too. Put the template on the cloth and cut around it's perimeter. Stay about an inch away from the edge of the template! You need this extra area.

Lay out the plastic on the table and tape it at the corners and half way across the width. You should now have it taped and folded over towards you. OK now unfold it and lay the cut piece of fiberglass on it nearest you. Center it up nice, smooth it out, tell it that it's about to become a skateboard. chant... mmmmmmmauitikibuilder... ok whatever...

Prep the stik for epoxy. I'll leave the graphics to your inagination. 8) If you're only doing one side, tape off the rail at the half-way point and mask the rest with tape and newspaper. Make sure there's no moisture or greasy stuff on it. Sand that thing! Wipe it with a rag and better yet, blast it with some compressed air. Even those little keyboard blaster canisters will work! We want no dust. Clean.. mmmmm good.

Lay the board on a table with the side you want to laminate the glass onto up. Put on the respirator and the gloves. It makes you feel very professional!
Mix up about an ounce or two of epoxy. Grab a squeegie. Pour the epoxy onto the board. Using the squeegie, move it down the length and back up until you've covered the whole thing. Scoop up the excess and put in back into the cup. Really. It's not that hard, and it's all part of working clean.
Clean is goooood.
Clean up any spilled resin with a cloth. Mix up some more resin so the you have about 6 - 8 oz to work with. Judge how much by the length. A 42" board will use up 6 oz. Now pour it in a smooth motion over the entire length of the fiberglass on the plastic. LIGHTLY squeegie the resin back and forth working slowly. Go fast and you get micro bubbles. Not good. Slowwww good. Need more resin? Do it then. Once you have it all wetted out wipe the squeggie with a rag and put it aside.
Now pick up the board and lay it resin side down on the wetted fiberglass being careful to align it properly. This is where our extra inch comes in.

Got it? Good. Now peel off those gloves and feel the rush of cool air on your paws. Nice huh? OK. Now take the corners of the plastic that are laying opposite you and fold it back over the deck/glass. Smooth it out nice and even at the ends. Cut the plastic about an inch or so away from the tape to release it from the table. Tape the ends shut by folding a piece of tape around it.
Carefully pick up ONE end by the plastic. Get the other had under the board. Slide it down to the other end feeling the glass smooth out over the stik as you do so. This will tack it to the wood. Grasp each end and flip the whole thing over. Lay it back down. Whew!
Pull the plastic out from under the deck anywhere it might be folded and smooth it out at each end. Get a clean squeegie. Hold it at an angle and smooth out the glass. You'll be sliding it over the plastic so be careful to go easy and not puncture it! If you do we'll send monkey to your house to drink your pool and we'll be right behind them to skate it! OR you can tape it shut with some clear scotch tape.
Work nice and easy end to end then from the center out. Use the squeegie to smooth the glass over the edge a bit. It may rebound back up but it eliminates the bubbles solidifying at the edges and creates a nice meniscus

Once all the bubbles are gone and it looks smooth, let it cure. Go for a skate... unless this IS your skate in which case you'll just have go do something!!

When the resin has gone off to the point of not being tacky, you can peel the plastic off. It's still green so be careful with the handling. At this time in the process I use a razor knife to cut off the excess cloth or flashing. It cuts easy when it's green, even with scissors. Now is a good time to get any excess resin off the other side with a window scraper.

Sand it smooth on the rail line and repeat for the other side..
This is almost as good as vacuum baging. The carbon and kevlar cloths should be vacuum bagged on. More on that later.

[pinbal_wizzard]

that is so helpful, its not even funny...thanks soo much for helping educate us in the uneducated field of fiberglass.

[CRASS]

Damn dood!! ROCK ON!!
you should add tip pages to your site with pics. THATD ROCK!

oh yeah, how would i apply fabric to the deck for graphics??

[mauiskategeezer]

The same way you do the fiberglass cloth. After it cures, lightly sand it and laminate a layer of glass on it.

Another way is to follow the method I described, but put the printcloth on the fiberglass cloth right after the wetout, then wet out the print cloth, lay the board on it and laminate as usual. Watch tise air bubbles.

[frank]

How do you finish out the sides of your fabric? Do you cut it flush with the bottom?

[mauiskategeezer]

I let it fall where it will, trim the flashing then sand the rail line with a orbital sander until the fabric is sanded off the edge. I use the laminates as a guide. After I get both sides glassed, and the rails sanded, I apply a coat of epoxy to the rails at the same time I do the texture.

[frank]

ah cool I'm doing something right for once. Thanks for the help.

[digitalcordless]

definatly way to long for me to read......i hate reading...........dont care wut its for......but one day when i wanna make a fibreglass deck, it will come and bite me in the ass and i will say to myself, "i should of read the whole post on how to make your own fibreglass deck". but oh well, im an idiot

[Longboardloser]

I hate reading, but weirdly I only hate reading what you post.

[digitalcordless]

I hate reading, but weirdly I only hate reading what you post.

all you do is complain about other peoples posts. why dont u keep your opinions to yourself?

[Frey]

Because if you can't express your opinions, what's the point of having them?

[Longboardloser]

Exactly. Plus I hate everyone because I'm full of misdirected rage, and pcp.

[ridethewave]

and spunk.

[Momona Boe]

Exactly. Plus I hate everyone because I'm full of misdirected rage, and pcp.

at LEAST once a day you make me laugh out loud at my desk and pi$$ off the people in my office.






thanks!

[Momona Boe]

Oh, and by the way, Dino, nice article!

You've actually made it sound easy to do

[wefunk]

[mauiskategeezer]

Yo Bro! Just posted a lil link to you guys on the Mauiline Forum.

Doin some foam core decks

Mahalo's...

[wefunk]

[frank]

[mauiskategeezer]

I'm sure it would involve lots of fiberglass resin and BEER! ! 8)

It would be very cool to come there one day to talk tech and skate....

Oh and of course DRINK BEER!

...in the country... and skate ...and drink beer.
It's the German in me.. Sauer & Meister on my Mom's side ya know.