uses of dremel tool and buttcracks

[dk]

i finally got the cash to buy some more tools after fully paying back mommy and having enough for a new shortboard. im gonna have a couple extra hundred left over in a week and me not being very smart, and flyign by the seat of my pants, im not saving it to buy a car or trip to cali. rather buy tools.( not smart <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> , as mommy and daddy arent paying shi*)
but anyways i was askign about cutting butcracks on swaylocks and was told to use a dremel tool, which is also a good tool for bunches of other stuff.
even though i got the dough i dont want to spend it. and im wondering wether this is his u guys cut the butcrack of the stringer on ur fish's. so is this the best tool for the job.
if not what do u recommend on this private issue. haha, still laughing about the name, of course a surfer would give it a name like that.
but anyways what do u think is the best way to cut these and is the dremel worth the money. if so what kinda bit am i looking for.as im trying to keep it at a dependable but cheap tool, id be willing to pay $100. As im buying a lap grinder and some pads and a new blank for me with thsi money. thanks fellas
dk
"future master of buttcracks"

 

[LeeD]

Hey DK
Just buy a hacksaw blade, a surform, and a rattail file, all for a total of 15 bucks, apply some elbow grease.
How many buttcrack boards you gonna make anyways?
What's a lap planer?
Only planer you really need is a 3" hand plane for the stringer, after all the shaping is finished.
Even a router is optional, as you can do that with straight pieces of wood, taped to the tail of the board, then exacto knife, then putty knife and hammer. Some guys even mark off the spot where the boxes go before glassing, and cut that out when the lam just gets tacky.

 

[dk]

ahhh. excuse me, lap grinder. im just sick of the old sanding block which gets really tiring. and the grinder i assume would be a ton quicker. as for the rat taail file, where can i buy this. and ur talking about a reg long rectangular surform, or like a circular one. and the hack saw blade??
please explain this procedure, as i sorta read it in swaylock but it was way over me head.
this sounds much cheaper and stuff, but in the long run i might end up getting the dremel. due to living in florida and the #1 designs are fish shapes, and long boards. i make alot of fish's.
anyways where can i buy the file?? ill use it on the next couple of fish's untill i get some cash moeny.
thanks for ur ever lasting knowledge once more
dk

 

[TRI FINS ARE DANGEROUS]

I don't know if a pricey tool is a good idea. Why not cruise around garage sales this weekend? There are often tools at estate sales as well. A young guy on a budget should try the second hand world o' stuff first.

 

[LeeD]

Hey DK
TFAD's advice is excellent, but you would need to recognize expensive tools vs. cheapos, and also what the relative worth of new tool really are on the market.
Rattail, any hardware store, for finishing the last 1/4 inch of taper in the buttcrotch. About 4 dollars, brand new.
Hacksaw blade to shave the preliminary bevel on the tail, and to cut the nice even curve of the inside of the swallow.
Surform, I like the 5"ers, and also have a blade laying around to cut the bevel/taper of the swallow close to 1/4th inch, and to shape all the foam.
Maybe I'm a little dense, or just plain old stupid, but what the heck is a lap grinder? Do you mean palm sander, belt sander, disc sander, floor grinder, a grinding disc, or what? And what would you use it for, the foam or the hotcoat?

 

[surflab]

DK we have a store here called HARBOR FREIGHT they dont really have anything like it in fla but they have a knockoff dremel kit that works very well for like 19.99 comes in a case with like 30 accessories, Try HARBORFREIGHT.com if you need anything Ill be happy to get it and send it to ya.
es

 

[dk]

ahh. yes i think i will look for garage sales. why didnt i think of that. also now that i think of it i know a guy whos selling some tools from his wood shop. thansk fro the advice. tfad, im speaking of a little pneumatic grinder to sand down the first set of laps after the lam process. maybe i was wording it ackward. surflab, yeah that place is great i bought a gravity feed gun from there for cheap a month ago that works great. ill have to look for it there. thanks fellas. and leed i will be purchasing those products soon. they are well needed, as u can only do so much with a rasor blade and sand paper.
dk

 

[LeeD]

Hey DK
A lap grinder to grind down the overlap?
I thought hotcoat filled the void, and overlap is for doubleing the glasswrap at the rails, for more strength.
Also, if you leave the rail a little high, it creates a slight concave in the finished product, for tracking, speed, and bite.
No, don't grind the laps down.

 

[dk]

no no, i know exactly what ur saying. ask most anybody, lots of people use this, u know for slightly rasied rough spots and stuff on the overlap. im not the only one, its widely used on short boards. u old school kook!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> haha.
jk buddy. im totally amazed u dont knwo about this.
basically so u dont have to baste as much on the laps.
ur telling me uve never sanded down the laps on a surfboard?
i truly am stumped.
dk <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

 

[LeeD]

Hey DK
You said you sand down the laps, that's the cloth.
You must have meant that you actually sand the drippings off.
Look at TFAD's pics. See the one with the saturated rail? Then you squeegee the rail lap up under the board, re squeegee, and it's clean as a whistle, requireing NO lap sanding whatsoever.
No, after 140 glass jobs, I have NEVED sanded any rail laps on the lamination coat of any surfboard I made.
Just don't botch the resin to catalyst mix, and you will have plenty of time to fold the laps up, clean them off, re clean them, and they are just perfect......no drippings, no air pockets, no pinbubbles.

 

[dk]

leed,
i see. but incase u forgot, im a little dumbas* grom. i dont have as many board under my belt. ive doen prob 30 lam, ad finally got the foldignt he laps under down.
i havent learned how to tape the laps down , and then cut it. if u would ike to post how to do that, i would really appreciate it, just as in that picture. im trying to look for anything to look at to avoid from keep on writing a 4 page report on some author named O. henry. what a loser.
anyways please tell me how, im guessign that would be how u would do resoin tints like in the picture , and with this info i woul dbe one step closer to tinting!!
<img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> thanks dk

 

[LeeD]

Hey DK
Tints....your blank is completely shaped, skimmed, cleaned, no gouges, no air pockets.
Let's say you are glassing the deck first, just for arguments sake..... flip board upside down, tape with good brown masking tape around the rails, about 3/4th in from the rail peak. Make sure it's nice and evenly curved. Tape again, both times with 1/2" tape. Lift the inside strip of tape up with your fingers, so it sticks to the original strip, but is clear enough to accept wax paper (from Mom's kitchen, cut 5" wide roll. Tuck wax paper under tape all around, then tape wax paper against the board, so wind doesn't flap the menagerie around.
Flip blank over... in mixing pot, pour lam resin and TINT, not pigment, mix really well, add catalyst.
Slide deck cloth over blank, adding heel patches and what have you's. Cut nose and tail, similar to pic, but leave more on, use several cuts for nose and tail, like around 4 each.
Lam as usual, wetting center of deck out.
Flip drooping rails up with squeegee, pour lam resin on that, followed by squeege to saturate. Flip rail down.
Do the deck quickly again.
Starting at wide point, proceed to flip the drooping cloth under the board, sticking to the underside rails and completely past the tape, to the wax paper. Do it again, running resin from the deck under the rails to make sure you saturate the underside rails. Hit the underside again with squeegee.
Let begin to gel, still tacky, but securely set... on a piece of wax paper, flip lam'ed board over upside down, and with single edged NEW razor blade, but the glass right where the tape starts along the whole bottom of the board..peel all the tape and the wax paper off, flip board over to set up on another new piece of wax paper. Let cure 2 hours, and glassing of bottom can begin with masking tape 1" up from peak of deck rails.

 

[surflab]

we dont sand laps either just an acetone/disc blending, less time better finish