MyPaipoBoards Forums

Hello- I have decided I would like to fiberglass one of my ply paipos. In my misspent youth, I glassed a dozen or so boards and in those days, the rail was wrapped with the cloth around to the other side and then trimmed to a tape line. is this the way to glass a 1/2 inch thick ply paipo? I have suspicion I will have trouble getting the
resin drenched cloth to hold that tight of a wrap, and then I will be stuck with a sticky mess and horrible rails that will require lots of repair. So, I am asking the forum for any input/suggestions/advice on this subject.

thanks,

flojo

You should try just a couple coats of marine epoxy, no glass. I've been using that on my 1/2 - 5/8" ply paipos and they've held up remarkably well. Those boards still retain some flex too. I have one epoxy coated board that's 5 yrs old now and I've been surfing it regularly in solid conditions at OBSF.

Sounds like a good idea-I do like the flex. When you say marine epoxy, does that mean epoxy resin?

thanks,

Yes, epoxy resin. I've been using West Marine System 105 since I had some on hand. That stuffs not cheap though. You might want to try the Entropy/Supersap bio-resin epoxy. It's cheaper and supposed to be more "environmentally friendly". Don't worry about the warnings that bare epoxy finishes aren't UV resistant and need some kind of top coating. It's a concern for boat applications, not paipos. I don't leave my boards in the sun when I'm not surfing them and whatever sun exposure they get when surfing hasn't affected durability.

If you want a really fine finish, research the best epoxy application techniques. Since I make my boards out of recycled plywood and I'm more concerned about riding than aesthetics, I just brush the epoxy on.

I have the supersap epoxy,only used it so far to glue a fcs leash plug in ,but its easy to use , no fumes and smell lightly of pine oil (which it is.)

I'm no expert of lapping matt, but if you cut it tight to the egde 1/4" i'm sure it would wrap and stick.

I'm just going to brush mine on, dried nice and solid but with flex not brittle like polly resin.

I will back totally up Mr. OZ-AZN advice
West Marine System boyz are the ones that invented/created the
WEST system-- Wood Epoxy Saturation system They take thin wood plies soak them in their EPOXY formula in order to seal the wood grain from moisture and layer it at different angles to build up INCREDIBLE strength to weight ratio
This method was first created and applied in the boating industry-- cats, trimarans, and monohulls.
The tests they made and the book they wrote on this building technique is AWSOME to say the least
I am surprised someone has not yet built Aiaia's and Paipo's with this method

Is it a new plywood paipo, or an old one that has eight coats of linseed oil on it?

It is maybe 6 mos old with one or two coats of varethane (sp?) on it. lightly used so I think with a little sanding the resin will adhere well.

belly rider wrote: I am surprised someone has not yet built Aiaia's and Paipo's with this method

I've contemplated it, but the cost of the West System epoxy needed to laminate a full sized paipo seems too high to me. I might try it with Supersap one day as it's much cheaper. I have no experience with the quality of Supersap though. Dave of Californiasurfcraft uses it to laminate his Bodypos, and it seems to work well in that application.

The reason I was thinking of putting on a layer of glass is I have this ply paipo that I like, but it developed what can only be called a mild negative nose rocker.
feeling experimental , I cut a few kerf lines a few inches from the nose, filled the cuts with epoxy glue and bent the nose up. when it dried, I had a crude but effective nose rocker.

I took it out and the board worked much better but after several waves the epoxy connection on two of the kerfs gave way and the nose was flopping in the water.
So I have been thinking that a layer of glass might provide enough strength to help the nose maintain its rocker.

nothing serious here just goofing around. I can experiment with regular cloth and resin just to see what happens and if I get good results, maybe I can make a better paipo and finish it with the epoxy stuff.

I've attached a photo of the suspect paipo --any comments will be enjoyed

Flojo,

After sanding the varnish off, you could put 1/4 oz glass on and squeegee out as much resin as you can. It will add some weight, but is a method used by guys in the 70s. Straight resin has been used as well. There is an interview with a guy called Pete Sobels, which I just sent Rod, which used that approach.

The other issue is that this may not be the best way to get nose lift. Getting curves in ply I think has been discussed before. There are a variety of approaches which have been employed.

Bob