So I picked this up for the best price I could. Obviously it needs a little TLC to repair the broken nose but it seems to have plenty of life left. The kid I bought it from knew just about nothing of the board other than he bought it from someone and then as he was looking to sell it, he broke the nose. It looks to have an attempted repair as there is some hardened glue and resin in the cracked area. The good news is that the break is clean and there is little delamination on either side.
The board has some other issues, small stress cracks, etc… but all of those are things I have tackled in the past. I know a nose is probably small potatos to some, but I figured it would be good practice to get my feet wet as I assemble a shaping room out of my garage to begin doing some of my own playing.
Do I remove some of the glass from either side of the crack and reglass with strips cut to fit? Do I leave as it is, clean it up a bit and glass over what’s there? Any need for dowels or is that overkill? I’ve seen both opinions. I’ve also read quite a bit on here in my years of lurking, but I guess what I am looking for is a basic step by step if someone would be so inclined.
Also, does anyone know if the year of make is in JC’s numbering? I imagine it can’t be more than a few years old and considering the cost plus whatever the repair costs, I should have a decent performer to play with.
So I spent the last few days searching out as much as I can on the repair. One of the great thing about Sways is that no two people seem to agree on the correct method.
You can say that again.
Kokua makes a critical point about your point not requiring as much attention due to the break location.
You should remove any loose glass. Dowels are a waste of time and effort. They rarely align properly and add almost nothing. Search the archives for techniques employed on snapped boards. Those same principles and methods will apply to your situation.
I had a board with a buckle on the nose. I just cut it off clean, then used epoxy glue and a scrap of fiberglass to attach a wood block. Once the glue dried, I shaped and glassed the nose. Just had it out the other day, love this board! My 7'-10" is now a 7' - 7"...I guess you know what I'd do with that board of yours LOL.
Thanks, I didn't get the color match too good - just grabbed a can of yellow I had on the shelf. Black pinline kinda tied it together, so, good enough!
So I spent the last few days searching out as much as I can on the repair. One of the great thing about Sways is that no two people seem to agree on the correct method. Gorilla glue or titebond, must reinforce the stringer to it’s a waste, etc…
From what I gather, these are the steps I plan:
Remove the loose glass
Sand back edge of glass angled into the break, roughening surrounding area
Clean up the foam/crack to ensure a nice fit
Glue with white Gorilla glue (ensuring I clamp/tape for a tight, aligned fit)
Fill crack with Qcell/resin mix
Sand flush when hardened
Wrap with 2 layer of 4oz. S glass, 2nd layer spreading out a bit wider than the 1st
Hot coat
Anything I missed? Anything I should add? The board has a few rough spots and small stress cracks in various spots that I intend to address as well. Would it make sense to fix them all then lightly rough up the entire board and hot coat the whole thing as a bit of a reseal or is that overkill?
I am in no time crunch and I want to follow the right steps to properly repair this. I hope to come out with a pretty decent board from this that will last me a good while and further inspire me to start creating some of my own.
Howzit doyle, Repair guys have their ways that works for them and they are different but most work one way or another.If break was 2' 1/2" further back the glass schedile would be different since the strength factor is more important. This break is out of the area that needs a lot of strength so you can pretty much just cut straight with narrower stips stacked on top of each other so it is easier to blend the sand job. As for just dings check out the different ways the guys here do them which applies to the nose and the center break.After reading the archive and reading the posts just figure out which way you want to try andd if that doesn't work then try another till you find one you like. After that just keep your ears open for tip and tricks that may make you a better repair guy. Aloha,Kokua
Thanks kokua and dlock. I agree the repair is strictly cosmetic for the most part and is not in a critical area. That is why I am not concerned with strengthening or how the flex characteristics will be affected, but I still want to repair is correctly and do my homework so that the repair looks as good as I can make it…and I do want to tackle this myself as part of the learning process.
So recognizing all that, any concerns with my 8 steps above? I think I have enough to go on at this point and obviously I will learn quite a bit when I actually repair it, I just want to make sure I am not missing anything critical or including something that is unnecessary.
Also, regarding the hot coat, does it make any sense to clean up the whole board, address this crack as well as the remaining small dings (I know I cannot do anything about the pressure dings), resand the whole board, and then hot coat the entire thing to clean it up as well as make sure of a complete reseal? There are a few small hairline dings on the rails and tail.
I wouldn’t go overboard and hot coat the entire board. That’s a bit much from what I understand from your posts. Just address the cracks individually by sanding down to the weave and then apply some resin with a bit more sanding agent (that board is poly right?) in it. If the foam is soft because of water intrusion them you’ll have to do something different. Make sure you tape off the area around it though to contain drips etc. A guy named doc graciously gave me that advice on here and it works like a charm.
Before you do anything though, scrape that wax off and wipe it down with some wax cleaner of some kind!
Yeah it's purly cosmetic until the first time you "duck-dive" that board thru a hard breaking lip and the whole nose breaks off again right where you made the repair. No I am not "Doctor Ding" or the " Ding Master", but have done way more ding repair than the average guy and have had to re-do, refund and hear complaints enough to know that if you don't want it to break off again the first time a lip hits it on a "duck dive" you'd better insert a small stringer on both sides of the existing stringer. A one gallon paint stick will do it. Inserted against the stirnger on both sides, thru to the bottom isn't necessary. Long enough to bridge the break by two- four inches on either side of the break. Routed in next to the stringer is strong and cosmetically looks better than spacing them off the stringer.
Yeah it's purly cosmetic until the first time you "duck-dive" that board thru a hard breaking lip and the whole nose breaks off again right where you made the repair. No I am not "Doctor Ding" or the " Ding Master", but have done way more ding repair than the average guy and have had to re-do, refund and hear complaints enough to know that if you don't want it to break off again the first time a lip hits it on a "duck dive" you'd better insert a small stringer on both sides of the existing stringer. A one gallon paint stick will do it. Inserted against the stirnger on both sides, thru to the bottom isn't necessary. Long enough to bridge the break by two- four inches on either side of the break. Routed in next to the stringer is strong and cosmetically looks better than spacing them off the stringer.
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I tend to agree.
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update on the buckle fixing not so happy three layers 4oz each side obviously not enough probably shoud have cut into it and put something alongside the stringer or maybe just not have taken it out in overhead surf...
Yeah… +1 here in this case… A wooden splint between the broken stringer certainly would add insurance…But you might get away without it if you glue up the broken halves cleanly with clear gorilla then put on a wide 4oz. patch followed by a smaller one on top…
Perhaps two tongue depressors , one on either side of the stringer would suffice…
I’ve never understood why people put the smaller reinforcing patches under the larger main glass layer/s…
When you inevitably sand through the main full layer of structural glass to fair in these under-lying bumps you weaken that glass… Put the little patches on top… If they feather in a little with your hot coat sanding it has less harmfull effect on the most important layer of cloth… Same goes for finbox reinforcement patches…(Sorry, I had to get that off my chest…)
Check out the repairs this guy JJR does… I don’t know if he’s a member here, but he does really nice work… I hope he doesn’t mind me posting up this link…
Thanks Huck. I used to work my a$$ off trying to stagger glass layers of cloth etc. If you repair a snap without stringers for some guy who is a weekend warrior at some mushy beack break ; That's one thing. But if you think the guy you're doing the repair for might take it out at Honolua Bay on an overhead day it ain't gonna fly. I actually put a short board back together for a young guy once while living on Maui and he broke it again where the repair was done at "The Bay". I made a decision at that time that I either had to stop doing snaps and buckles or start doing them with inserts. I started doing inserts with basswood paint sticks from Home Depot . I used basswood tongue depressors and popsicle sticks for noses etc. No further complaints. I've done a couple of noses wherein I did the repair by cutting them off the way you did yours, but made the noseblock out of redwood bender board and foiled it to a point like the original nose. The nice thing about being a shaper and doing ding repair on the side was that I always saved my nose and tail cut-offs for some future repair.
Thanks guys, I was actually planning on reinforcing the stringer anyway even though many feel it’s unnecessary. The two pieces actually marry up quite nicely and I’m a measure 20, cut once type of guy so I’ll just really take my time to get the reinforcements in alignment.
OK, so I’ve taken the advice, scoured the archives, used the search, read a tremendous amount on ding repair, repairing snaps, and have basically spent my days, going back now 46 pages in the general discussion alone, sourcing information and I have just a few remaining, specific questions that either weren’t directly answered or the information was a little conflicting.
I know I should cut back the little bit of loose glass prior to gluing the bits together, but should I sand back/scarf the joint before or after I glue it back together? Will the GG joint alone be able to hand a sander sloping away at the break point?
After I glue the bits back together with white gorilla glue and cleaning that up, I’m going to fill the remainder of the seam with qcell/resin mix. When mixing that, do I mix the qcell into the resin to the desired consistency and then add the hardener, or do I mix resin and hardener and then add qcell before it starts to go off? I assume there should be no hardener in this mix, right?
Lastly, it’s experimental to me, the whole board only cost me $30, but I’d like to clean it up as best as I can. There are a ton of scuffs and scratches over the entire thing and probably a dozen small dings needing attention. It was obviously not very well cared for and I hope to rescue it back a bit. After I get the nose back on and seal up the small dings, I’d like to resand the entire board and then gloss coat it to work on my finishing skills over the winter. If I understand it, gloss coat is nothing more than another sanding coat over top of the prepped sanding coat, right? What I mean to say is that the gloss coat is just the right mix of resin, MEKP, and SA, nothing different mixture wise than the sanding coat, right? I’m not terribly concerned with this minimal weight gain.
I;ve gotta say a word about the help and willingness to share here. I really appreciate everyone’s assistance. It’s been a long time since I’ve needed to do any ding repair, and first time for anything this extensive but the help and the archives here have been invaluable.
