John's budget SJ build

[tbaer]

if someone has a set of keepers the are out right now you should send them to natymaty at ski-innovations he said he can make some and sell them for alot cheaper. if anyone has any let me know and i can set it up with him.

 

[SkiDiggity]

dang ok then i better get started i was told to wet sand it with 320 grit so i might just do what you did sounds easier

 

[BruceSki]

wetsanding with 320 is good for primer applications...

for rough fiberglass i found the 90 degree 3 inch disc air sander i have to work well on the small but thick spots, and the 5 inch random orbital sander to work better for the big parts.


i would start with 60 or 80 grit for cleaning up rough fiberglass and move to the less abrasive stuff as the job progresses.

i think that after a couple layers of cabosil on the uneven spots i started using 220.


no matter how you look at it though, it sucks... sanding is the worst part.

 

[the WaTeRhAwK]

wow, killer job on the nose piece. that thing is gonna look sick!! I'm now inspired to reform the nose on my square too. are you thinking about lowering the hood?

 

[Waternut]

wow, killer job on the nose piece. that thing is gonna look sick!! I'm now inspired to reform the nose on my square too. are you thinking about lowering the hood?

Thanks. I was originally planning on lowering the nose and hood drastically so they were even with where the handlepole rests. However, I got ahead of myself when I started shaping the nose and when I realized it was too high, I said screw it because it looked pretty good.

The problem now is the nose is a bit lower than the hood. I may fix it eventually but it may not be before spring hits. I'm just starting to get sick of working on it and I haven't even started with carb and total loss settings.

 

[Waternut]

Big disapointment this evening! I ordered the fast cure 4:1 epoxy resin from US composites. I also ordered the 4:1 ratio pumps so I wouldn't have to measure everything out. Well the pump doesn't fit the smallest hardener bottle so that was money well wasted because I had to measure it out anyway. You have to get at least the 1/2 gallon kit to make the pumps work.

The 4:1 resin is supposed to reach full cure in 3-4 hours. So far it's been 24 hours and the resin is still tacky. :cussing:

 

[McDog]

Warm it up with a space heater or bring it inside. The warmer the faster.

 

[Waternut]

Warm it up with a space heater or bring it inside. The warmer the faster.

It was in my garage the whole time but I've been cooking it with a space heater. I used three pieces of plywood over the tray to basically make it an oven and I go check on it every 30 minutes or so to make sure it hasn't caught fire or anything.

The heat is helping quite a bit and I went ahead and installed the front foothold today. I remember now why I was putting that off... :banghead: The bolts for the total loss need to go INSIDE!

 

[the WaTeRhAwK]

put a food warming bulb over it.

 

[SkiDiggity]

well i am doing an epoxy primer first so should i continue what i am doing?

 

[Waternut]

No idea on the primer Kawirider...

Anyway, today was kind of bitter sweet. I got my 9/15 hooker impeller! The odd thing is that there is absolutely no marking on it at all except a lightly etched "5" on the inside of the hub.

The resin is still not completely dry after baking it a few hours and letting it sit for 48 hours! WTF! :aargh4: Forget about time...I'm starting to question the strength of this resin right now. It's really going to bother me if I have to remove this crap although I dont think I will have to. I sent a complaint to US composites yesterday as well and no response yet but it's still early.

 

[N3vrSat1sfied]

sanding resin sucks. i dont know what to tell you, thats doesnt sound very good

 

[McDog]

I can't wait to ride that hooker.

 

[SkiDiggity]

hahahahah.........HOOKER........lol

 

[the WaTeRhAwK]

how many layers of what kind of cloth did you put over that foam on the nose?

 

[Waternut]

I started off with 2 layers of thin weave on the nose. Then I sanded a whole bunch because the fiberglass dipped into the voids in the foam, added bondo hair to fill in the voids, sanded, added more bondo hair, sanded, added regular bondo, sanded, added fiberglass mat, sanded...I could go on but you get the picture. Bottom line is there are probably spots that have really thick fiberglass and others have almost nothing. After about a month or so of working on it 3-4 days a week, I was sick of working on the nose.
This is the reason I haven't been too concerned with the hood yet. I figure the soft spots on the nose will blow apart the paint at some point and I'll decide what to do then. I may also get it painted and find the irregularities in the surface make the paint look horrible and do something entirely different immediately.

 

[tbaer]

john my resin did the same thing when i made my footholds. it took about a week to actually get hard like it should be. So the next time a laid cloth over them i added a little extra hardner (alot) and it still took 2 days to harden. I was told if it hardens to fast it can become brittle. so poop if it is taking days to harden it might be strong as he!!. lol i don't know man but my holds are so hard i would have a tough time breaking them with a hammer.

 

[tbaer]

oh by the way NEVER EVER use 3M marine putty. It is marine body filler. It looks great until you paint it and the paint starts to dry, it makes the body filler shrink. the primer didn't make it shrink, but the paint did. So now my once perfect hood has paint peeling in a very small spot or 2. good thing I am getting an SR-71 HOOD! LOL

 

[Waternut]

Well I think the resin was dry today...hope so anyway because I started painting. I guess I should've waited until tommorrow or Saturday because I ran out of light before I was finished.

The paint tech sheet says it's tack free in 3 hours, recoat overnight, and can be taped in 16-24 hours. Do you think I should give a light sanding before recoating tommorrow or what? When I did the bottom, I was able to complete all coats before the first was fully dried. I think my lack of patience has hurt me again.

One other noteworthy thing for the paint guys (Tbaer especially)...Turns out my air compressor blew a fuse last night. I noticed about 3/4 the way through that the air compressor hadn't kicked on yet. I'm pretty sure the 2nd of 3 coats that I did tonight was below desired air pressure and probably didn't get atomized like it's supposed to. How bad is that going to hurt me?

 

[tbaer]

Well I think the resin was dry today...hope so anyway because I started painting. I guess I should've waited until tommorrow or Saturday because I ran out of light before I was finished.

The paint tech sheet says it's tack free in 3 hours, recoat overnight, and can be taped in 16-24 hours. Do you think I should give a light sanding before recoating tommorrow or what? When I did the bottom, I was able to complete all coats before the first was fully dried. I think my lack of patience has hurt me again.

One other noteworthy thing for the paint guys (Tbaer especially)...Turns out my air compressor blew a fuse last night. I noticed about 3/4 the way through that the air compressor hadn't kicked on yet. I'm pretty sure the 2nd of 3 coats that I did tonight was below desired air pressure and probably didn't get atomized like it's supposed to. How bad is that going to hurt me?

is the texture ok? if it is smooth and not orange peeled you will be ok. i don't think i would sand it! with the weather being cold the paint will take longer to cure so you should be good to paint tomorrow. I would kind of mist the whole ski to let it adhere to the paint you laid today (give it about 10 minutes) then go ahead and finish your painting with a smooth wet coat. Then heat your garage up and let it cure and you should be good. I am no professional but that is what I would do.