Whenever I’ve tried patching dings after filling I get cracks around the area after a few surfs. Whenever I’ve used just filler the problem (cracks) go away. Am I missing something?
filler as in q-cell (micro balloons ) if so i wouldn’t leave it open as it can soak up water
Would using milled fibre kill the need for patching or would that still soak up water as well.
i think the more resin you put into the mixture the less likely it would be to suck up water(w/q-cell). milled fiber probably
won’t suck up water
I can’t seem to find my “Ding Repair Scriptures” book, but it’s one I’ve referenced for years. From what I remember off the top of my head: The size of the ding sort of dictates the best method for a patch job. Just a small crunch on the rail? Sand it down and patch with several layers of glass, building up the low spot until you’re up to the level you want to be, then sand to desired finish. Bigger ding requiring a fill? Dunno what the other guys do, but the Scriptures recommends squishing back the foam just a bit after you’ve sanded. Their theory being when you’re adding something hard (resin/qcell filler mix) to something soft (foam of board) with abuse the hard pushes into the soft and you get that crack that you are troubled with. If you press the foam back a bit (gently, not getting too out of hand), you get a more firm spot for your filler to be. I think I even recall a picture where they’ve gently pushed the foam back an eighth of an inch or so under the existing solid glass surrounding the ding so the filler really has something to grip on and not move around as much. To finish, sand the filler down just below the level of the surrounding glass, and glass, sand, and finish as desired. Invaluable little reference book. You can find it occasionally in surf shops, and I’ve seen it online too…
Edit: Almost forgot, and maybe this is obvious (apologies if so) but remember when you glass over your repair, you have to overlap onto the solid glass surrounding your ding for a good seal and solidity. In the ‘Scriptures’ it shows a nice picture of sanding down the surrounding area so you have a little depression for the new glass to fit in, rather than sitting it on top and then sanding it off. I wouldn’t recommend just using filler, as you will have it crack at the join with the orifinal glass, whether you see it or not, and it will leak water into your board. Then you’ve got a mushy spot. As far as adding milled fiber to the filler, you get a bit more structure to your filler that way (like adding rebar to concrete) but it doesn’t eliminate the need for glassing. All in all, it depends how much you care and how much you want your boards to last. I was always pretty anal about fixing things the right way. Of course, that being said, sometimes my ding repairs stacked up until I had no more boards to ride. I was always fixing my friends boards and was tired of it by the time I got to mine.