so ya my favorite board broke, i don’t know how but the pictures pretty much tell what happened. a rectangular portion of fiberglass partially came off like a third of the way down the board. I tried glassing over it (epoxy+4 oz. but the fiberglass layer delaminated off i think because i never sanded the board, plus the fiberglass literally wasn’t attached to the foam) so Then i just duck taped it and it works but pieces of the tape come off every now and then so i want a permanent repair. what do the experienced have to say about this. i’m thinking about just coating the inside of the loose piece of fiberglass with epoxy and fiberglass and sticking it back on the foam and then weighing it down with something while it dries. any better ideas. thanks. -daniel
ps. any explanation for this “rectangular delamination”??
No repair will ever hold if you have any water in the foam!!!
First carefully cut and/or sand off the broken fiberglass I have carefully used a sureform to get this task done easily to get things more or less flat.
Sand down all sharp edges and feather them also ensure you go out at least a minimum of six inches from the broken edges.
Make sure everything is as clean as can be in order for everything to stick properly.
No wax, sand, oils, tars, salt water salt, blood, hair debris, kelp, fingerprints or dust.
I would pitch the now useless piece of unattached fiberglass but if you must you can use your epoxy on EPS foam or Epoxy/regular laminating resin to adhere the busted off piece of glass.
Laminating resin gums up sand paper so be ready for sanding.
Me I would use minimum 4 0z glass over any repair out to at least 6 inches.
Then use a sanding coat often more then one with lots of sanding and Posca pens to attempt to match color.
It’s not rocket science but I would rather an ugly obvious but functional repair then a leaking perfect looking repair any day it’s a surfboard.
This is just like the one I fixed. Get yourself a couple of packets of Q-Cell and some resin research epoxy along with additive F. Cut away the delaminated fiberglass. Dremels work great for this. Sand out all of the damaged foam underneath and apply a thin layer of Q-Cell that’s been mixed to the consistency of spackel(thick). If you put too thick of a layer of Q-Cell on there, the epoxy will get too hot. Once it’s dried, sand and apply another layer if necessary. Then, use a surform and take down the dried Q-Cell to the level of the surrounding glass. Use a surform. I sanded forever because I didn’t have one. Rough up the entire area to be patched to a distance of about a couple of inches around the ding (very important!) with 60 grit sand paper. Clean off the dust, and then you can laminate. It’ll be heavier in the front and will cost quite a bit to fix, but hey, it’s better than just trashing the board.
Make sure the foam is 100% dry, Fix the dings at the rail first.
Lift up the flap of glass or cutt it off and paint a layer of resin underneath. put the glass back down over the wet resin and make sure its allined correctly with no air bubbles, cover with cling flim or wax paper and place a bag of sand on top to hold it down while the resin dries.
Once dry sand the whole area with 60 grit, inc round the rails. Add 2 layers of 40z glass over the top extend at least 3" either end and lap round the the rails on to the deck.
Feather the edges and fill coat, sand to 240 for a sanded finish, or stop at 120 and add a gloss coat.
Well, there’s that route also. The real advantage in my approach is the educational benefit, not monetary savings.
If you can find a shaper who’ll copy that board and make you a new one and you don’t care about learning how to fix boards, that’s another good route. Maybe you could exchange the opportunity for a shaper to scan in a template from that board for a cheap machined blank that you could sand and glass yourself.
Keep your board out of hot cars and/or the sun next time.
Is it epoxy or poly? Either way, a job that big requires some serious sanding tools, materials, and some prior experience in repairs. Take it to a pro repair place and get an estimate, divide that by two and that’s about what you’ll spend in materials provided you have access to the tools.