my brother , who fxes boards for Island Surfboards [that's Phillip Island , in Victoria [australia] ] does his snap repairs with a resin and q-cell mix* , and has the board in an upright jig , so he can stand back and see the rocker .
I'll see if I can locate the photos he sent of the setup , if that would help ?
cheers
ben
...I have a feeling the board in his photos was ALSO an Al Merrick ...
[* I never know if "microballoons" is what you guys in america call q-cell ? ]
Q-cell = microballoons - I use to use it industrially (Wish I woulda stashed a giant bag full… Ha!) Its’ some type of tiny glass like bead that is heated and expands into tiny glass like “balloons” Great filler, sands easy, not for structural help - go with cabosil.
In a pinch most any kind of thickener will do... baking flour, talc, etc. Generally household stuff is cheaper than the 'composite' materials at the fiberglass place and works about as well. Add white pigment to the mix if desired.
just sanded and buff out the board last night. hope to try it tomorrow at chuns. used one of my homemade wood fins on it to hopefully replicate the aussie boards when Wayne Lynch and Michael Peterson rode single fins.
mahalo plenty for the compliments and for starting this thread. It is always great to see what craftsmen on every part of the world is doing. yes, I did make the fin. I have made a few for hobby purposes mainly and for friends. attached is a pic of my first restoration project, a 10 foot Downing I bought used back in the 80’s, and some of my first fins. recently I resotre a 60’s Bing, added a fin, and now is a wall hanger for my good friend.
awesome chip i appreciate the photos and ya i should probably make a jig for myself one of these days
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Hello SDRepair...it's a great thread.
I did not want to be a distraction. I think it's called synergy. People in different parts of the world finding solutions to the same problems....MarkSSD is near Old Town. He made a jig that works just like the one Chippy posted....Ours is a little bit more cave man but does the same thing.....mostly for longboards.....
Nice thread. Using pour foam is a good idea. I've never used it but I can see a weight differance as opposed to Q-cell for attaching two pieces. I never guaranteed a snap. I always cautioned against using a once snapped board in heavier surf. Since no one will guarantee a snap; if your customer breaks the board again in the same place it's not likly he would bring it back to you to be redone. Which means you would never know it snapped in the same place. In fact if it did the customer would think you did a shoddy job and should have used stringers or "sisters". I'm not criticizing you or your methods. Just stating the obvious that has been gained from lots of ding repair in places like Hawaii where the surf is considered heavier. A guy doesn't have to go overboard with doweling like someone posted above. Most of the time a couple of short links of paint stir stick along the stringer will do it. No matter what cutesy diamond shaped triple glass lay up. A board repaired without stinger/sisters wouldn't last long on Maui.
I also like the idea of a more mechanical reinforcement between the two halves. I know it’s there in the glass and the various glues tend to be stronger than the foam itself, but perhaps it’s for nothing more than peace of mind. Unneccessary or not, certainly my skills won’t notice a few extra ounces of heft as much as my brain may enjoy if but a little solace, real or imagined.
Sorry for opening up this old thread, but as I’m about to try fixing my snapped board, I think my post fits in here.
The board isnt completly snapped, but it looks like its mostly just the glassfiber lamination, that keeps it together on the bottom.
I’ve never tried to fix a snapped board before, so I’m not really sure if I should break the board completly and glue it back together, or if I should try and just glue it without breaking it.
what do you think? any good tips or recommandations on how to fix this?
I see this thread got drug back up and admitt I had forgotten about it. I realised that I didn’t reply to SD’s question. Mean’t no offense in my comments about anyone’s methods. Before I started doing alot of heavy ding repair I had seen a couple of repaired snaps done with what I call inserts. They were placed right along the stringer. Nice and tight. Noticeable, but note that noticeable. At the time I thought that particular method to be unnecessary and not cosmetic enough, I did a few snaps in Calif. and then later on Maui. I used mutple layers of glass top and bottom. No insert. They looked good, but I found out later that one in Calif and one on Maui both resnapped in the same place. I found out about one thru the grapevine. The other one was on Maui and snapped both times at “The Bay”. The owner realized how much time and effort I had put into it and though he had taken the board without paying when he picked it up payed me anyway, Nice guy. That’s when I started picking up one and five gallon basswood or pine paint stir sticks every time I was in Home Depot. I generally cut the handle area off so that I have a straight stick and insert them tight to the stringer bridging the snap. I would use the one gallon sticks on shortboards and the five gallon on longboards, Full length minus the handle area. I suppose you could get away with one or a shorter stick, but I usually used two… Use your own judgement. I Have repaired too many SoftTop surf school boards over the years I spent on Maui to give you any kind of count. At least 20 or 30 snaps, I was often able to obtain these boards. Repair them and resell them. Since Softtops are stringerless, I would place the inserts offset of center closer to the rail. Placed just below the surface, glassed over and repainted white, Stronger than they were new. And under your arm you could not notice any significant weight differance. Some of you boys can poo-poo using inserts if you want to, My customers are generally “return” customers. If you fix a snap for a guy and it resnapps; He will only return if he’s got the balls to bitch. I discourage customers when it comes to repairing a snap. Since I am primarily a shaper I instead encourage them to have a new one shaped. Lowel
The basic steps for repairing a snapped epoxy are on www.boardlady.com . It can be bonded with pour foam or gorilla glue, but keep in mind that you only have a 1 minute work time with pour foam. The vac bagging and the D-cell foam shown on the site isn’t necessary, and you can use an epoxy filler (or even bondo) and just hand laminate. You’ll also going to need airbrushing unless you don’t care what it looks like.
