How Much Resin and Cloth to Glass a Surfboard (and What It Costs)
Shaping Supplies Guide
How much resin and cloth does one board take?
Quantities by board length, and what the materials actually cost. Short version: a shortboard runs about $105 in polyester or $102 in epoxy, all in.
Shortboard under 7 feet. 7 yards of cloth, and either a gallon of polyester resin or 96 oz of epoxy.
Longboard 9 feet and up. 9 to 10 yards of cloth, and either 2 gallons of polyester or a gallon and a half of epoxy.
Buy a little over, never a little under. Running out of resin halfway through a lam is how boards get ruined, and a spare quart costs $24.
What It Costs
A shortboard, glassed in polyester
Standard schedule: one layer of 4 oz on the bottom, two on the deck. Prices are ours, at the time of writing.
| Item | Amount | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 4 oz E-glass, 30" | 7 yards @ $3.48 | $24.36 |
| Silmar 249A laminating resin | 1 gallon | $55.00 |
| Silmar 250A sanding resin | 1 quart, for the hot coat | $24.00 |
| Roughly | $103 | |
Cheaper way to do it. Skip the separate sanding resin and buy surfacing agent instead — $8 for 2 oz. Stir it into your laminating resin and it becomes sanding resin. Saves you $16 and one less can on the shelf.
What It Costs
A shortboard, glassed in epoxy
If you are on an EPS blank, polyester will dissolve the foam. Epoxy is the only option.
| Item | Amount | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 4 oz E-glass, 30" | 7 yards @ $3.48 | $24.36 |
| Resin Research 2000CE | 3 quart kit (96 oz) | $78.00 |
| Roughly | $102 | |
Epoxy comes pre-matched with hardener, so there is no separate hot-coat resin to buy. Three cure speeds — Slow, Fast and Kwik — at the same price. Pick by how hot your bay gets.
Shop Epoxy ResinWhat It Costs
A longboard, glassed in polyester
Longboards get 6 oz cloth, in 38" width so you are not seaming panels down the middle.
| Item | Amount | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 6 oz E-glass, 38" | 10 yards @ $5.45 | $54.50 |
| Silmar 249A laminating resin | 2 gallons | $110.00 |
| Silmar 250A sanding resin | 1 quart | $24.00 |
| Roughly | $188 | |
Don't Forget
The small stuff that stops a build dead
Every shaper has driven to the hardware store mid-lam because of one of these.
- UV catalyst — $5 for 7 grams. Turns standard polyester into UV cure, so you get unlimited work time in the shade and it kicks in the sun.
- Q-Cel and Cab-O-Sil — for filling low spots and fin box gaps before you glass.
- Squeegees, brushes, mixing cups, gloves, acetone. Cheap, and you need all of them at once.
- A small repair kit — because your first board will have a bubble somewhere.
If You Build More Than One
When the full roll starts making sense
A 109-yard roll of 4 oz E-glass in 30" is $280, which works out to $2.57 a yard against $3.48 by the yard. That is a 26% saving, and the roll covers roughly 15 shortboards.
If you are building two boards a year it is not worth it. If you are glassing for other people, or you repair boards regularly, the roll pays for itself before you finish it.
See Full RollsCommon Questions
What people ask before they order
How much resin do I need for a surfboard?
For a shortboard under 7 feet, one gallon of polyester resin or a 96 oz epoxy kit. For a longboard 9 feet and up, two gallons of polyester or a gallon and a half of epoxy. Buy over rather than under — running dry mid-laminate ruins the board.
How many yards of fiberglass for a surfboard?
About 7 yards for a shortboard under 7 feet, running one layer on the bottom and two on the deck. Longboards take 9 to 10 yards. Width matters too: 27" for narrow shortboards, 30" as the all-rounder, 38" for longboards.
How much does it cost to glass a surfboard yourself?
Around $105 in materials for a shortboard in polyester, or about $102 in epoxy. A longboard runs closer to $190. That is cloth and resin only — add squeegees, gloves, mixing cups and acetone on a first build.
Do I need both laminating and sanding resin?
Not necessarily. Laminating resin stays tacky so the next layer bonds; sanding resin cures hard and tack-free for the hot coat. You can buy both, or buy laminating resin and add surfacing agent at $8 to convert what you need into sanding resin.
Is epoxy or polyester cheaper for one board?
Almost identical at these quantities — about $102 against $103 for a shortboard. Cost is not the deciding factor. Your blank is: polyester over PU foam, epoxy over EPS, because polyester dissolves EPS.
When is a full roll of cloth worth it?
A 109-yard roll of 4 oz in 30" is $280, or $2.57 a yard against $3.48 by the yard. It covers about 15 shortboards. Worth it if you glass for other people or repair boards regularly, not if you build one board a year.
Get Everything In One Order
Cloth, resin and everything else
Cut by the yard or bought by the roll, shipped nationwide from Menifee, California. Same materials that go through our own bay.
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