I built four boards this year using epoxy over poliester blanks. We've had a pretty good run of surf here and last week I crushed the rail on my favorite board. Luckily I only live a few blocks away and could run home and grab another board. I realized there is no good quick fix for epoxy boards that I know of. What if you are on a surf trip? With poliester resin I could make a quality repair in a half hour using sun-cure. So what do you do to get back in the water with epoxy?
5-minute Epoxy repair and then grind it off later and repair it properly after the swell or your trip is over?
unfortunately, Ken, lots of folks put duct tape on dings thinking it’s the great fix all and leave it on for a long time. when it’s removed, lots of residue and wonderfully rotten foam under the tape. a little education goes a very long way. we are not all jeff spicolli, but there are too many in surfing it would seem…you didn’t need the attitude . ok?
DON"T USE Duct TapE! it’s not waterproof, and will leave a residue in warm conditions that will take effort to remove later. clean plastic packing tape is cheaper and is totally waterproof. that said, i use clear tape at once and later quik kick epoxy resin / putty for the rest of the trip and then grind it out and do a proper job when i get home and can let the board dry out really well .
For small stuff we highly recommend the 2-part epoxy putties sold at any hardware store. It's used for fixing leaks in pipes, so it'll seal well. You mix it in your fingers and you can fair pretty close as you apply. Back in the water in 20 minutes. Easy to keep some in your car or daypack. I have heard that these products are being re-packaged and sold as ding-repair ''kits''.
5-minute liquid is a last resort, it'll turn brown in about a day.
Since your board was a PU blank, there's really no reason you can't do a quick fix with UV poly if you want.
More importantly, as Walrus said, it's not waterproof. It will let water in, but it won't let it out! It's about like using wax stuffed in the hole to "patch" the ding.
Not recommending this, but I used to carry a small piece of wax when I surf, about 1/8 of a bar. If I hit another board or get a scratch from a minus tide, I’d shove a bit of wax into the hole to be able to stay in the water. Then it’s either that good ole clear tape for a lazy repair, or clean it out and do a proper repair. I know some people have used stickers to cover small dings, but I hate stickers. A good thick clear tape will hold for a long time, but eventually the edges will start to lift. I used to live in an apartment across from the beach with no place to fix my board. They had board racks in the garage, so you couldn’t even take boards into the elevators. I stuffed wax into dings and then covered that with clear tape for years. I would replace the tape if I noticed it starting to lift along the edge. This was back in the mid 80’s when we all rode PU/PE, but I think it would work for epoxy.
My favorite 5 fin griffin fish has 2 wax stuffed dings, and needs repair. They didn’t leak, or turn brown.
Wax isn't a good option. Doesn't keep the water out and makes the repair difficult. The epoxy putty talked about above is the best stuff. Fix it nice and your surfing in 20 minutes