Belt sander snafu - ding repair question

Hey guys, I seemed to have gotten myself in kind of a pickle. I had a rail crack up by the nose on my 9.0’ & attempted a ding repair using a belt sander. Suffice it to say this was not the best idea. Ended up grinding right through the gloss coat while sanding to smooth out the bump on the rail. The hotcoat has been compromised right at the stringer. Any suggestions on how to repair this mistake most effectively? All advice, suggestions or help are greatly appreciated. Regards, John

Sorry John, I couldn’t resist. I’ll be the first to tell you I’ve done worse damage. If you don’t already have a copy go out and get a copy of “Ding Repair Scriptures” by Colendich, best ten bucks you’ll ever spend. Here is a quick run down on a nose snackle type ding. First you are going to take down the area on and around the ding/crack, meaning sand down through the gloss coat, on down and almost through the hot coat. You are trying to get the area for the patch lower than the surrounding good glass with a nice tapered edge around the perimeter. If you are brave enough to use a power tool don’t overheat the glasss! just bump the switch or use a low rpm., 80 grit on a sanding block is safer. Take down an area large enough to wrap a piece of cloth around the rail split, with overlap and leave a sanded outside the edge of the cloth. If the split is open or loose or has trash in side take care of that next, clean it out and fill with resin, cabosil and match what is already there as needed. Next lamminate your patch down nice and flat on the edges and watch for air bubbles. Hotcoat and sand down the patch with attention to feathering the edges down. Spray with acryllic and stop if you are in a hurry or better yet, regloss and wet/dry sand and then polish. ‘das it. Tom>>> Hey guys,>>> I seemed to have gotten myself in kind of a pickle. I had a rail crack up > by the nose on my 9.0’ & attempted a ding repair using a belt sander. > Suffice it to say this was not the best idea. Ended up grinding right > through the gloss coat while sanding to smooth out the bump on the rail. > The hotcoat has been compromised right at the stringer. Any suggestions on > how to repair this mistake most effectively? All advice, suggestions or > help are greatly appreciated.>>> Regards,>>> John