I have Stewart hydo hull (which I really like), but have discovered something on the deck that has me scratching my head… There is a “soft” spot on one side of the stringer, at my sitting location. I discovered this on my last session on this board. So I removed the wax to have a better look, and discovered that the right side of the board has what looks like a series of round depressions that are linked together and very soft. I can press the glass down with out any effort. The opposite side of the stringer has the standard depressions, heel dents, etc… but is otherwise ok. The soft spot is approx. 8" long and 5" wide. Any insight on the cause would be appreciated. I assume that all I need to have done is to have the “soft” glass removed and re-glassed. Sound right?
The soft spot is from you stomping around on the board, usually in the tail area. Foam crushes from your stomping, glass flexes in and flexes back into shape, happens all the time. There are a lot of ways to fix this, and a lot of opinions here. Here’s my first line of defense. drill a small hole 1/32 at each end of the delam. Pump light kicked laminating resin into the bubble with a syringe until it comes out the other side. Push the resin into all the potential problem areas, and push out the excess resin. Put a peice of wax paper down on the delam area, and put a heavy bag of sand on the delam area. Now cover with 2 layers of 6 oz and sand flat. This should relam and protect the affected area. But your milage may very with out the proper inspection.
Try this first if it pops back, then it’s time for full surgery. Cut, fill, Glass.
I have fixed delams numerous times and usually the fixes workout. Keep in mind that a lot of time delams are the first sign of a board on its way down. The glass is deciding to leave the foam and it starts its process at the most stressed areas, where you sit, knee paddle, turn, etc… What I do: clean the board up really well (about a foot around from the edge of the delam should be clean). You want to clean way around because, most likely, you will find that the delam is bigger then you think. Dont leave any of the soft spot intact, even if the spot has the foam still ahered to the glass and is just a little bit soft. It is better to cut a little extra good glass out then to accidently leave a little bad spot that will expand. Now, mark the area around with a sharpie or other marking tool. Sand down at this line until the glass is exposed quite a bit. Better yet, sand down into the glass a bit. This will allow the new glass to adhere to that baby. You want to sand, creating a bevel, into the good glass about a inch or so across (Not that deep of course. I am saying the band of glass that is sanded should be an inch across). Now take a dremel or super sharpe razor blade (dremel is way better), cut around the delam where your original line was. Pull up the crappy glass. It will have about 1/8 inch of foam attached to it and the odd chunk or two. Take masking tape and build a little dam around the open hole. Now mix up some Q-cell with resin. Pour it in and let it go off, remember with q-cell and uv resin you might want to add a little catylst because it wont go off as well in the sun with the qcell mixed in. Once it is hard, remove the tape and sand down to the original surface of the board. Now, laminate some glass over the area and then hotcoat it. It will now be the newest and strongest part of you board, the only difference is that it will look like a big bird craped on your surfboard, but it will be nice and solid so who cares. This little project is easy just takes a little time, go for it! The injection method is only a temporary fix.
Soft spots? On a Stewart? You’ve got to be kidding!
Put on all the glass you want. Its still an overshaped lightweight blank. There’s no doubt that Stewarts work like crazy. But they’re the longboard epitome of the disposable board.
Soft spots? On a Stewart? You’ve got to be kidding!
PHooooaaahhh -
DAMMIT, Benny, that was a fresh cup of coffee I just sprayed.
And you’re absolutely right. Stewarts and their siblings the Hobies delam like there is no tomorrow. They are famous for it.
And the answers to that are to both add glass to any part of the deck that might get any pressure whatsoever and add enough thick stomp pads that the deck looks like a doormat display. Including where it has already delammed and everywhere it will delam. 'Cos otherwise it will most definitely go sour fast.
Benny and Doc are so right. Had a Colin McPhillips model, delam’d in 3 months (4" x 4"). Fixed it, sold it, and will never buy another. Saw it about 6 months later and the entire tail section and both rails 1/2 up were gone also.
so i am getting the feeling that i have a fairly delicate board… lol
so folks… a question… should i fix the delam… then sell the stewart before it completely comes apart (it would sell very easily around here)… .or should i… as has been alluded to… glass a layer of 6oz. to the deck… assuming that is enough to sturdy her up… and… one more… what is the general consesus on the glass weight on a 9’6" +… double 6 on the deck with 6 on the bottom ?? i am 6’3" 175lb.
at the reduced price they will be less up set at the slowly accelerating demise
maybe they will be the one person that never rides it and you can buyit back it twenty years as a memento.
next time get them to use higher density foam and add glass to the construction plan for a longer life.
You have taken a course in surfboard tthat is worth college credit.
Stewart 1o1-A
downright wonderful class and the vicarious dellight and bread and butter of shoddy surfboard repair artists,shoddy construction and shoddy repairs keep the surfing commerce thrive.
excellence in durability are dead-ends for the replacement market
no wonder underpaid surfboard builders go broke until they start selling real estate and automobiles…
I think I might grind away the delam, scuff up all around the hole and refill using glass scraps and resin before slapping a deck pad on it. Should be good to go after that.
‘delicate’ is one way of putting it… it’s kind of a shame that ‘bic’ is already taken in the surf biz, 'cos they are definitely disposable.
If you can’t do a good looking repair, then unload it before those spots become a bubble and you start losing ‘value’ fast. And they will, soon. As Ambrose said so well;
Quote:
You have taken a course in surfboard that is worth college credit.
Stewart 1o1-A
Or Surf Industry Standards 101. It’s all crap and hype. The more hyped a board is, the worse it is.
As Ambrose also said:
Quote:
next time get them to use higher density foam and add glass to the construction plan for a longer life.
heavier blank, heavier glass. 6+6 on the deck and 6 on the bottom is fine for a 6’2" thruster. You have a board ( in a 9’6" standard tongue depressor longboard shape) with twice the surface area and easily double the stresses on it if you take it opt on a decent sized day. My call would be to go with 8 oz or better, x 2 on deck, plus a large deck patch and 8 on the bottom. At least.
The extra weight will be meaningless, what you had for lunch weighs more. And it’s not meaningful on a 9’+ board anyhow ( as in are you planning on lots of air with the thing? ) , if in fact ultra light construction means jack to 90% of the people in the water on boards of any size. Mostly industry hype, again.
That will, however, double the life of the board at least. And keep it from snapping like a breadstick in head high waves.