I wreck all of my boards with duck diving - my knees must be boney because every one of my surfboards end up with large depressions with cracked glass almost in the center of the board. I have tried repairing them with triple layers of 4oz (laminating resin with glass + sanding resin layer + gloss resin layer) and they keep breaking up - any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
What about putting a traction pad there? That might help.
Yeah - I thought about doing that but I thought that I would try and get some other ideas before I go that route. Also there is no guarantee that it still won’t crack underneath the pad.
Try grinding away the hot coat and doing a double 6oz lamination over the area with epoxy. Then shot a hot coat of the same epoxy over the area that’s been taped off in about 2 hours or so while the lamination is still gummy. Sand it lightly and it may be tough enough to stand the kind of compression that your giving the deck of your board in that area that continues to fail. Off to work, Rich
You can always re-learn duckdiving using your foot on the tail. From what I hear, it is more efficient that way, enabling one to push the board deeper. I have been surfing for 25 years and have recently started re-learning how to duck dive, with good results. I stay under longer using my foot, get close to my board to be streamlined, and find myself avoiding turbulence. I come out on the other side with less pull on my body. I’m hoping to be able to get under larger surf this winter. Good luck.
I thought that epoxy resin reacts with polyester resin?
I’ve tried the foot method but it does not seem to work as well for me - it may be because my boards are 6’6".
I had that same problem a few years back. I started to ask my shapers to have a narrow layer of glass placed right along the stringer but it somehow never got placed on my boards. I was always left with that same ding after only a handful of surfs. This was a major influence on me starting to make my own boards. I now always put an extra layer of 6oz in that spot where I always got that ding and I havent had the problem since.
I got the same golfball holes,not from my knees but from my chin. while catching a wave at the last strokes I try to put all my weight on the nose to push the board into the wave. and i somehow automatically push my chin down on the nose and thereby dent the board. and yes it sometimes hurts on my chin, too. wierd!?
Dave, I’ve use Greg Loerh’s Resin Research epoxy and it works just fine as a composite with polyester. Rich
the lack of an appropriate glass plan tailored to use parameters is the primary cause of dissatisfaction with contemporary production surfboards…if wrangler dave’s surfboard Emporium is the shape you gotta have the do some immediate after purchase re in forcement…if you dont feel confident doing it yourself…bring it by any swaylaholix work room and bring up the glass plan standard to a viable level so the board does’nt go in the heap so soon…knowing your use parameters is part of the learning curve…learning just what wrangler dave is willing and able to do is also part of the same curve,it doesnt make him hopeless …just special…we are all proud that he finished the board in a reasonable amount of time…maybe its the sander? ambrose…after market modifications…
If you shoot a 4 oz. patch over the tail on top of the hot coat with epoxy there is very little weight gain and strength where you need it is vastly improved.
I am working on an epoxy board that was broken in half and had a 5 foot section of the deck completely delaminated. I fastened it back together and then used Right Stuff spray can foam as filler. Right Stuff is hard to work with and is too soft, but it laminated well with epoxy and worked OK for a while. However, after a week or so of use, the Right Stuff foam separated from the polystyrene foam core, so I cut the entire deck back off. We are talking about a gap of 1/2 inch deep, 5 feet long, and 18 inches wide. Deeper in a few spots where the board-break distroyed the foam. If I use a microballoon/resin mix for filler, the board will end up so heavy it won’t be useable. Have you ever used pour foam or some other light-weight filler in a case like this. If so, I would appreciate some guidance.
Just use your foot like the other guy says, dont need to relearn just make a concious effort to use the foot. I ride a 6’6" and weigh about 75kgs, no worries, you can duck dive larger waves and you dont get a sore knees, also feels a lot better as you can get under the white water and miss out on the drag.
Ross, 1-part spray foams are pretty weak and don’t offer much strength. I think they’re between 1 and 2 pcf. Get ahold of the 4 lb. 2-part pour foam. It sets up very hard (harder than Clark) and is easy to shape. For some reason, the cells at the very bottom of the pour always seem bigger, so the deeper the pour the better. Though very strong, the foam is pretty pourous and I usually run over the finished shaped surface with a q-cell putty to fill the holes. You can get the 8lb foam, too, and it’s like balsa wood. And it’s still way lighter than q-cell putty. Be carefull though. Once you get that 2-quart kit, you’re gonna be pouring foam into everything…it’s addictive. http://www.shopmaninc.com/foam.html
Ross, My 10 cents worth. On a ragged snaped board take a skill saw and cut the two ragged edges straight. Get a peice of Clark foam and cut it to fit the size you just cut out, usually about 2 to 3 inches works. Now use lam resin and sandwich all 3 pce together, everything should be tight because your working with new tight cuts, no gaps to fill. Now glass with two layers of 6oz, spray with white water based paint to hide fix, spray UPOL clear coat #1 for gloss, and polish out. No dowels, fillers, steel rods etc. I’ve never had a board come back that was snaped in the same place as the fix. -Jay
Good advice - both of the above messages (if these things are always ordered). Anyway, I live near Greg Loehr (posted above somewhere) who is an epoxy board manufacturer. I should just go see him at his shop. But anyway, I am going to try a mix of resin/microballoons AND chopped polystyrene to fill the fist sized holes and bring the thing back to some semblance of being even. Then I’ll apply a laminated layer of 6 oz cloth. I’ll still have about 3/8 inch to raise to deck level as this is one of those Surftech things with a layer of dense foam over the polystyrene core and then the 2-layer 6 oz laminated deck over that (and it is all gone). So I am ordering a kit of pour foam. I’ll test a patch for bonding first. If it bonds good, the rest is just hard work. If it doesn’t bond good, I am back to square 2 - how to fill 3/8" by 18" by 5 feet. Is it worth it? This was an almost new $589 retail board and it rides circle around all my other boards. So I think it is worth the trouble. Thanks folks.
I’d Listen to Anton. Pour foam is the way to go (providing it’s compatible with the foam inside the board now). Much lighter than trying to fill the big holes with any resin-based mix and will get in the cracks/holes better. Then - a strong laminate over the whole deck. you must really like that board.
All the pour foams I’ve used are compatible with EPS. The only thing to watch is if your using a fairly high density pour foam (6-8 lb.) and you have a deep pour, you may experience some melting of the EPS from the exotherm of the pour foam. In that case try using two smaller pours to keep exotherm in check. It sounds like in this case though, you won’t have that problem.
Hey Greg. I found your shop today on Tomahawk. But you (or whoever it was in there with the mask on) was glassing a board. So I didn’t bother you. Once I mix catalyst I won’t even talk to my wife. Anyway, I ordered some 8lb density pour foam. I tried a mix of shaved polystyrene and also a mix of chopped polystyrene mixed with epoxy to fill the deep holes. After I pressed in this goo I felt like digging it back out since it didn’t look like it was going to work very well. But I’ll just let it set up and see. If I don’t like it, I’ll just dig it out. There is so much foam damage already, a few more missing cells isn’t going to matter. I will try two test patches with the pour foam. One over bare polystyrene and another over a section of polystyrene with a fresh brushed coat to catalized epoxy. Perhaps you’ve tried all this stuff before. I surf with Walt Barns who rides your boards.