Hey guys,
So im back at it, after I restored that old bing bonzer I came across a hell of a deal on an old 9’10 tyler noserider, perfect for scorpion bay and Malibu trips. When it comes to logs, the older and browner the better I say. Thing is the area under the fin was totally delaminated. Now I could have popped some pin holes in there and injected resin under the glass, but this is a serious glass on skeg and when it flexes off the bottom, the piece of glass spanning from the base of the fin to the tail is under stress and lifts up on the foam which is what caused this mess, so I was very doubtful it would hold.
No way around it really I had to break out the grinder and cut the dead glass off if I want this to be a strong rider. But as you can see this was a very nasty delam where the glass lifted up bringing a thick layer of foam with it.
So now I have to back fill and flush out this crater where the fin used to be. I was wondering what the experts here think would be the best way to go about it?
Here’s what im thinking… criticism encouraged. It would be a shame to use qcel and have a big kooky white spot there. I’m leaning towards mixing a slurry of sanding resin and finely diced up volan cloth, which turns the resin more into a gel. The cloth in the mix would also add some flexibility to keep it from cracking. That way you can see most the original brown foam and the thin black stringer, the volan I think would make a nice hue that would match the rest of the board in the backfill and take some of the brightness out of that white foam. I am also considering casting those chunks of delaminated brown foam back into the board with the mix, or would that be make the base too weak and risk popping out when that fin flexes? I plan to stack up a lot of cloth over this patch after I get it flushed out… maybe a patch of volan over the white area and 2 layers of 6 oz s-cloth to span the entire tail.
I’ve already got the fin sanded down, it cleaned up like new. Its been a while since I’ve glassed on a skeg. How many passes of the fin rope do you set on each side of the fin? How many oz of glass for the base of the fin? Also I screwed up and forgot to measure where the fin was set before I chopped it off, my other log has the fin glassed on about 3 5/8 " from the tail, that sound about right for this fin?
Personally I would use pour foam to fill in the void, then glass over that repair. Then I would glue the fin on around 3-1/4 inches up or so. This would be after you have already prepped the fin as well. Once glued down then glass it, once glassed then hot coat.
Good luck
If you aren’t down with having a white spot on your board…why not pigment your pour foam or make a resin panel over the area.
I second sdrepairman’s opinion of pour foam. Your idea of volan/resin will create added weight. And there are several threads here talking about proper ways to layup a fin…and they address your roving question directly. Many opinions on both sides of the roving theory…
Maybe this is a better option, what is this amber colored resin the old timers always used to fix their boards? It came from the hardware store I think. That color would blend nice I think with the rest of the board. It was originally amber colored under the fin from uv and water damage.
Don’t use boat resin, that’s the hideous brown stuff. If you can’t match the color with brown, yellow and white pigments, an old trick is to add just a dab of instant coffee (dry) to one or more layers of the repair. Work your way up to it, too light is easily fixed but too dark is not. Or airbrush the color. Pour foam tends to be brownish so that also gets the old look. Pretty unlikely it will be invisible though, no matter what. Strong and square is more important for a rider.
Other than being ‘hideously brown’ what’s wrong with boat resin? I’ve heard in other posts on sways that some guys will use the boat resin for dings and whatnot, especially if using pigments. Is there any other reason why not to use it?
Patch the ding with whatever…use bondo, epoxy, resin, resin caobsil, resin baby diaper, resin pool DE, mud & rocks… whatever, but get it smooth and faired out perfect, no bubbles, ridges, transitions etc etc…get it perfect. Then spray to match the surrounding area with good waterbased craft paint, go to a place like Michaels, they have 10,000 colors, get liquitex if possible. Only tape stringer off, let the spray fade into the good area, let dry. Then glass over the colored cancer area with 6 oz glass, Boom done…now, tack your fin into place, lay fin rope, 2 foot ball patches each side of fin, full 6 oz glass up the fin to make all that glass transition work smooth…Boom done, Now hotcoat your monster mess and sand…Boom done, 1 last step, gloss and polish out…Boom pretty. If you match the paint job and fade good, you’ll never see the cancer.
I do not recommend using a colored tint…it will never turn out because the cancer is varied in depth, and you are laying new glass over old glass. it will look like a big circle of tint. its hard enough to do a good tint job on a new board, doing a patch is a no no.
What’s wrong with boat resin is the $#|tty brand (Bondo) that you picked. Don’t use that crap for anything. Vinylester Marine any brand other than Bondo/Home Depot Crap.
Typical boat and body work resin has no UV filter and also tends to be more brittle than surfboard resin. It gets really brown over time and becomes uglier with age.
Hi guys finally finished my bargain bin tyler. That boat resin blended in very nice with the board in the shallower areas, but the deeper areas are a little dark. But whats done is done, and this isnt a job you wanna do twice. The fill is made of boat resin and chopped up tiny pieces of 6oz cloth, which makes a gel good for filling. Its strong enough to withstand a drone strike and rides like a dream. Set the fin 1 3/4" from the tail as per Matt Calvani’s suggestion.
The guys at mitch’s surf shop told me to do 2 layers of 6 oz on each side the entire length of the fin that feather out progressively wider at the base from 1.5 to about 2" or so with an extra 3rd layer of 6 as a football shaped patch just for the base area under it all. I used a full pack of fin rope, probably about 10 passes of rope on each side if I remember right.
Overall, pretty stoked on this board, perfect for kicking around in the dirt at scorpion bay and getting smacked around on top of the truck on the way down. Thanks for the advice, let me know what you think.
I mean if you’re into that dirty diaper / smoker’s lung look haha! I have never been to Scorpion Bay, did they get the land dispute all sorted out? It’s on my bucket list!
