Murphy’s Law is alive and well in the surfboard laminating business….

If something can happen it will, and if something does happen to a surfboard during the lamination process the chances of something else happening to that same surfboard is more likely than not.

For instance. One of the problems we have is stringers gassing off, always on the deck lamination… not that big a deal on a clear lam if you catch it when the resin is still workable. But, if a stringer gases off under the label you’re pretty much stuck. And more times than not, a stringer will gas off under the label. Or, if a stringer is going to gas off it will be with a tinted or color lamination which are very hard to fix without a blemish.

Sometimes shaped blanks can get bumped before or during the lam process. Not that big a deal with a clear lamination. But, it usually happens with a board that gets a tinted lam which is next to impossible to fix without a blemish.

Ok, you have a regular customer that always get boards laminated the same way. Labels in the same place, fabric weights the same, finish the same. So, the one time you don’t look at the order card to make sure there are no changes and go ahead laminating the board like all the others.. you look at the order card after you’re done… the board was suppose to be different from the standard set up…. Oops.

There are supposed to be no oops. Oops is a bad word. A good laminator has no oops. At least most people think so. Reality, a good laminator is known not only for being a good laminator but also known for really well done cover ups too.

D.R.