First thing I would do is go over the board with a Sharpie and mark all the dings you want to fix. I think you’ve pretty much found them all although it is debatable on a couple of ‘snackles’ if they are worth pursuing. ‘Snackles’ = small shatters/bruises that are possibly still water tight.
Feather out the ragged edges, fill with putty/bondo/bog, sand smooth but slightly below flush and cover with a patch of fiberglass and resin. It looks like urethane foam so you can use epoxy or polyester resin. If using poly resin, apply patch with laminating resin. Add a coat of sanding resin over the lamination patch. If using epoxy, add fill coat over patch. After resin cures, sand the edges of the patch smooth, mask around the repair and apply a final gloss coat. Peel tape and knock down the edges of the final layer. Pursue whatever level of final finish you want. I’d say get it reasonably smooth and move on.
If the foam under the repairs is not exposed, simply sand the repair, mask around the repair and add a gloss coat. Finalize as above.
You might be able to skip some of these. If it looks or feels like it might be open to the foam, go ahead and sand around the damaged area and gloss. Finalize as in repair #1.
Sand back down to original surface, patch as in repair #1.
Wow, I think John Mellor just about covered it! His advice (in my opinion) is excellent here, concise and straight-forward.
There are two little tips that I can add that may be helpful:
On the “snackles”… These little cracks have always caused me stress. Interestingly, they usually seem to look worse than they are, and don’t seem to take on any water unless you can FEEL them. In severe cases I have sanded down to the glass and re-hotcoated, but on the minor guys that you can only see at a particular angle, i just shoot them with Krylon Clear to be sure. This a) insures no leakage if there’s any doubt, and b) gives you an opportunity to observe if the crack spreads and becomes worse. It is quite easy to see if you look at the surface from the side. If the cracks increases, it will crack the finish of the “paint” as well. A cheap and easy way to get a little peace of mind,.
Second, on sanding dings… after carefully blending and fairing in sooooo many ding repairs, and subsequently seeing them leak, I say this. You are better off having the slightest edge, or relief, on your new patch than you are to have a buttery one that leaks. John described sand BELOW the surface on your fills for this reason. Accepting that there will be a patch over the ding, it is almost impossible to make it undetectable to the touch without risking a compromise to your new repair. Again, This is JUST MY LAZY OPINION, but I have learned to accept a slightly raised patch. Of course I sand the repair, but I don’t fuss over getting a perfect blend anymore. Too many of my beautifully feathered repairs have shown the tell-tale salt deposits that indicate a leak!!!
Im sure I may draw criticism on these ghetto practices, but they work for me and have been saving me some time and headache.
Thanks so much for the responses guys, it’s really helpful.
Can’t wait to get started!
Silly question but how do you know it is not water tight? You mentioned salt deposits?
On the snackles when you say you sand down to the glass how do you know where the glass is? By this do you mean to sand down the hot coat layer and exposure the fibre glass?
If your board takes on a little water in a spot that looks otherwise intact, there will often be a little crystal-ish residue when the board is dry. I don’t know how or why I noticed the first time, as it is probably almost always overlooked or so easily wiped away in normal handling. I have always assumed it to be salt… This is not a reliable means of finding leaks, but it will show up if you get repairs wrong (in my case “over-blending” the repair/.hotcoat to the point of breaching the glass). I had an excellent book about ding repair that I must have loaned out for the last time… I think it is called “Ding Repair Scriptures” or something similar to that, by a guy named Colendich (?). Anyway, he explains the notion of “blending” repairs very well, and also agrees that a slightly visible repair that works is better than a pretty one that leaks. On some small dings on flat surfaces (deck/bottom), I have experimented with filling the ding, and then using a router to go just barely into the surrounding good glass/fill, recessing the area to accomodate glass patches. Maybe a 1/2" overlap surrounding the spot. Very effective and really nice if cosmetics is a priority, but WAY to much hassle if your goal is to go surfing. John Mellor suggested accomplishing the same effect by sanding just low, which makes more sense in the real world. Anyway, was never good at that, so anymore I bring down my edges until I figure the water and me wont feel it, and call it good. Now I will babble, but I have re-repaired and “restored” alot of boards that have been previously crudely but effectively fixed, and as long as you keep the water out, you’ve always got something to work with.
The cracks and “snackles” thing… It is so hard to know what to do with them, how bad they really are. I have typically used my fingernail to check the severity. If I cant feel it, I dont go after it. I admit that I have been wrong in the past, and seen evidence of minor water damage (staining) at ones I have ignored. So… Yes, on the bad ones, iI sand the hot, or fill coat down to the weave of the glass. It is very easy to see when you are there. Don’t sand the weave. If you use fairly aggressive grit, you will see the glass appear sooner than you might expect. You could add a 4 oz. patch if necessary, but the original cloth should technically still be intact, so you can just re-hotcoat and sand after that.
On the Krylon… I had a longboard with a fabric nose inlay that I hated, so I sprayed it white with Krylon. Just paint. That was years ago and it has held up beautifully. I started hitting my “in doubt” repairs and cracks with the clear, and while it seems so lazy, I believe it to be effective. Especially if you just want to go surfing…
You can always try mixing some soap solution (just dish soap and water), put board in direct sun and let it start to heat up. If it’s got a leak, there will likely be some offgassing through the damged area. A bit of soap solution on it will bubble.
Or suck on the ding and check for salt taste.
“Krylon” - George Greenough reportedly used it on his kneeboards. That, in my opinion, is saying something. Red board below(?)
Just one more question - i got a ding repair kit and it came with fibreglass chop mat which it says to chop into small pieces and mix in with the resin for a strong repair.
I have not seen this in other instructions before. It seems it is used more for ding repairs on boats and kayaks.
Would it be suitable for use to strengthen the repair for the rails? They look to be more minor in damage and i don’t think they will need to be filled with the Qcell and rather than use the 4oz fibreglass patch could i just use some chop mat in the resin?
