Having recently had one of my fins customized to the contour of a
certain parking lot, I sanded out the gouges/swollen areas.

But now I'm down to the weave and cannot get it quite smooth.

1) Does it really matter if it's perfectly smooth?

2) If so, I'm guessing that the right way to get it smooth
   is to flow on a hot coat of polyester resin mixed with
   wax and then sand the result.  

   Have I got it right?
--
PeteCresswell

Having recently had one of my fins customized to the contour of a
certain parking lot, I sanded out the gouges/swollen areas.

But now I'm down to the weave and cannot get it quite smooth.

1) Does it really matter if it's perfectly smooth?
SNIP

On Oct 25, 8:37 pm, "(PeteCresswell)" <x... at (no spam) y.Invalid> wrote:

Having recently had one of my fins customized to the contour of a
certain parking lot, I sanded out the gouges/swollen areas.

But now I'm down to the weave and cannot get it quite smooth.

1) Does it really matter if it's perfectly smooth?

2) If so, I'm guessing that the right way to get it smooth
   is to flow on a hot coat of polyester resin mixed with
   wax and then sand the result.  

   Have I got it right?
--
PeteCresswell

Hi Pete:  Here is what I have done:

Use thickened epoxy (microballoons, cabocill, flour, whatever) or
Marine Tex and spread it thinly so that it penetrates the crevices of
the fin and forms a sanding reference.  Smooth the uncured epoxy as
much as possible to avoid large ridges that would require you to knock
them down just to sand smooth.   I suggest using a fairly loose
mixture of epoxy for this reason as Marine Tex does not flow as well
and always leaves peaks and ridges without compressing under a plastic
layer.

Anyway, sand down the cured epoxy so that the only remaining layer is
the stuff that fills the gaps in the usual way.  You should be good to
go.

I would avoid using a hot coat only b/c it is so runny and is not as
easy to finish, IMHO.

Good luck!

-Dan

On Oct 27, 6:29 am, Dan Weiss <dwus... at (no spam) comcast.net> wrote:





On Oct 25, 8:37 pm, "(PeteCresswell)" <x... at (no spam) y.Invalid> wrote:

Having recently had one of my fins customized to the contour of a
certain parking lot, I sanded out the gouges/swollen areas.

But now I'm down to the weave and cannot get it quite smooth.

1) Does it really matter if it's perfectly smooth?

2) If so, I'm guessing that the right way to get it smooth
   is to flow on a hot coat of polyester resin mixed with
   wax and then sand the result.  

   Have I got it right?
--
PeteCresswell

Hi Pete:  Here is what I have done:

Use thickened epoxy (microballoons, cabocill, flour, whatever) or
Marine Tex and spread it thinly so that it penetrates the crevices of
the fin and forms a sanding reference.  Smooth the uncured epoxy as
much as possible to avoid large ridges that would require you to knock
them down just to sand smooth.   I suggest using a fairly loose
mixture of epoxy for this reason as Marine Tex does not flow as well
and always leaves peaks and ridges without compressing under a plastic
layer.

Anyway, sand down the cured epoxy so that the only remaining layer is
the stuff that fills the gaps in the usual way.  You should be good to
go.

I would avoid using a hot coat only b/c it is so runny and is not as
easy to finish, IMHO.

Good luck!

-Dan

I find the best epoxy to use would be J.B. Weld, the type that sets up
slowly.  It has fine fibers of metal in it which makes for a very
durable material.  I don't sand the fin before filling the gouges an
scratches, however, but after the weld has set hard (24 hours).