A friend gave me a fish and said if I can fix it, I can have it…
I believe it is an epoxy board, so I went and bought some epoxy Ding All and Q-Cell today. Already have the cloth. Is it true that epoxy can be used on any type of core, where polyester resin can only be used on the appropriate core? …should I spot check it anyway; just to make sure my board does not melt?
I was thinking about the whole ‘reinforce the stringer’ idea and it occurred to me to try notching down the sides of the stringer and then wrapping it with a 2 or 3 inch wide strip of glass after wood-gluing it to stabilize it. Sorta like a bone graft and a cast… How does that sound?
Thanks for the help!
Alright, here are some pics of the damage… Oh, the red is from an old patch the previous owner did. Should I cut all of that out? It doesn’t seem like it was the best repair job and as you can see, the break goes right through the center of it, so I question how water tight it is…
**Note the stringer broke at an angle, which is why I was thinking about that glass “cast” idea.
**The broken piece isn’t very big, so it shouldn’t be much of a weak spot, eh?
**As you can see from the next two shots, the pieces fit together pretty well. Not very evident in the shot is that the board side on the bottom is crunched in a little, so I’ll have to cut that out a little.
Also, it may or may not be relevant to anyone else who reads this, but I’ve done a hand full of ding repairs and they’ve all come out pretty good. Although none have been this involved and none have involved epoxy resin, I am not worried about doing it myself; in fact, I want the experience.
From the photos it doesn’t look like most commercial epoxies since I didn’t see any D-cell. It may be a straight lamination over an EPS core, but I can’t tell. You need to determine what it really is before you begin. You can use this bonding method for either epoxy or poly boards: Cut back any delaminated glass from both pieces (dremel tool with sanding barrel) and any stringer pieces. Apply white Gorilla Glue to the nose piece and wet the otherside (dripping) with water from a spray bottle. Push the pieces together and use wide masking tape to align and hold (very tightly, clamp if possible). After about 3 hours, remove the tape and the bond should be solid. Scrape off any excess glue that oozed out. From here, use epoxy or poly: For the missing glass area, bevel the edges with the dremel to the lowest angle to can get. Cut 6-8 oz cloth to fit the opening and layer until it comes up the rest of the glass, laminate (color if you want); hotcoat also if poly. Sand the whole nose area about 2-3" past where the glass was missing both sides. Mix up a filler and fill any holes, voids, low spots, etc, and sand again. Laminate the whole nose area on both sides using double laps, hotcoat, sand.
I only use GG for repairing any broken boards because the foaming cure will fill any voids + it has a density closer to the original foam than a resin filler paste. It also holds well enough to sand and glass without using a jig to support the broken halves. Only use the white color (clear in the bottle) unless you don’t mind a yellow glue line.
Listen to guys like PeteC and PlusOne. These are the people that taught me. Bill Barnfield did a really good thread on fixing broken boards. Do a search. Forget about reinforcing the stringer. I’ve done that…don’t waste your time. Make sure that the board is standing straight up when you glue the nose back on. That way you can get the rocker right…
We did a similar fix on a tail recently. As long as the nose fits good into the board just use some white gorilla glue and some clamps to put it back togther. make sure you keep the rocker right. Sand off the excess after about an hour or two (depending on temp). Then use low grit sandpaper to rough up the area and tape off. reglass with epoxy and preferably s glass with a 4-6 overlap to hold it. top then flip and do botttom. sand smooth and then hotcoat. sand and polish to desired finish.
im sure its not epoxy. But epoxy is stronger and lighter, therefore good for fixes because it supports the break and doesn’t add a ton of extra weight. It is a bit harder to work with if your not used to it, but your neighbors will thank you for not smelling up the vicinity. I use it all the time on poly construction and its alright.
this one was similar, but with the tail, we got it in two pieces like yours and it has held for numerous surf sessions so far. We have never got a board like this back because of the fix we did.
What gave you the idea that it’s epoxy construction? Sure doesn’t look like it.
Was there something you wished to add to this?
Oops… My response got chewed up somehow.
I was saying that I had two main reasons for thinking it was epoxy… The first has to do with the existing glass - in my limited experience, I have always seen glass fibers evident in a ding on PU boards but this is almost completely a sheer break. Even on one part where the break caused a delam and the glassing is ripped, the fibers are not frayed at all. There are a couple other small dings along the rails and it’s the same story there as well. Also, the glassing seems rather thin and I’m always reading “epoxy is stronger so less can be used” so I thought that might be what I’m seeing.
The other reason is that the shaper (In The Eye, Cape Hatteras, NC) says on their web page that they primarily make epoxy boards and only do PU if it’s specifically asked for, but my friend was the original owner and he bought it off the rack.
I then went on to say why I understand neither of these bits of ‘evidence’ are at all concrete, but I’m not going to bother typing all that out again. Suffice it to say I recognize this.
You want to repair poly boards with poly, and epoxy with epoxy. The first rule in board repairs is to try and put back the same stuff that was there is the first place. This is why I gave you details on replacing the torn/peeled back glass. This is the hardest part of any broken board repair. Don’t even try and glue that back down, nor use a resin filler to build it back up after trimming. Paste resin fillers are OK for filling small stuff, but in large areas the hard resin becomes a stress point in the soft foam. You want to maintain the continuous skin of the glass and not punctuate the foam with hard plugs. Using a filler paste in the areas of missing glass will result in spider web cracking over time under the cloth as the board flexes and the filled areas don’t.
