X6 – Hot Coat

The bottom is glassed, the deck is glassed, and if you did it right you can see the texture of the fiberglass weave. Just like we prepped the board between glassing the bottom and the deck, we need to prep the board for hot coating. Sand off drips, sand down the overlaps on the nose and tail. You won’t be able to press down the edge of the deck lap but you should try to sand it flush if you can.

Most importantly, DO NOT TOUCH THE BOARD WITH BARE SKIN!

After prepping, I like to blow off the board with an air compressor and wipe it down with denatured alcohol to make sure it’s clean. Then it’s time to tape it up for the hot coat.

Use 2″ wide tape at about the center point along the rails and nose. On the tail, we want to keep a hard edge to do that we tape such that we create a dam around the tail. This will give us some material to work with when we are sanding.

For the hot coat, we want an even thick layer across the entire board. The best way to apply that is with a brush. I find 2-1/2″ chip brushes to be a good size. Before we begin, brush the brush across a strip of masking tape to remove any loose bristles.

Once you’re satisfied that you’ve got all the loose bristles out, it’s time to mix up the resin. Because you are not trying to saturate layers of fiberglass, you don’t need as much as when you are glassing.

Pour it onto the board and work it with your brush until you’ve got the board well covered. Work it nose to tail, across rail to rail and along the rails. Make sure the whole board is covered and don’t worry about it dripping down the sides, that’s why we taped.

Give the board a quick inspection and pick out any bristles, hairs, or wayward insects with a pair of tweezers. It’s now or never. Then walk away. Don’t look back, don’t mess with it, just walk away.

Just walk away

Remove the tape when the resin sets but is not quite hardened yet. Once it has hardened, it’s time for the deck. The deck is similar except that you don’t tape a dam around the tail.

Note there isn’t a tail dam on the deck