Plus, the pressure dings are where your back foot goes, not where a beginner ‘knees’ a board as they climb to their feet. The shaper cut too deep into the foam where the soft stuff is. Maybe it was milled on a machine. Whatever. Bummer. I wouldn’t be a repeat customer. Mike
The board doesnt have a smell to it at all. Its just smells like nothing. No resin smell. The only day i can say it had that smell was the day i unboxed it, and after that i waited about 4 days before even surfing it. The board didnt smell like resin after i would say the second day. Yea its a custom. All i gave them were dimensions and volume and what shape i wanted the tail to be. 6’ 8", 3" thick, 48L, Swallowtail or fish tail (didn’t care so i left it to their knowledge for this part)
If this board is indeed 3" thick then I doubt they took too much foam off the deck side of the blank. Unless they used a blank that was far larger than the finished product, like a longboard blank. Even poly blanks come in different densities and I’d suspect this is a combination of low density foam and a light glass job.
I had a similar thing happen wth a Pavel 8 footer. After just a few surfs on it the tail showed multiple pressure dents. It was a custom order and I asked for a 3/4 deck patch. The board arrived with just a knee patch. I was not pleased. Glass job is single 8 oz volan with a fin patch and a knee patch. Not what I ordered, but Pavel’s kind of an idiot from what I can tell. Even if he is a good shaper.
Like I said back on page 1 your feet over time will create wells. Don’t worry about it. My favorite boards all have decks that are completely smashed in under my feet. I only worry about it if cracks form along the stringer at which time I’ll add a little glass to keep the water out.
Just can’t stay away from that name calling. Can we?
Next time ask for a layer of S Cloth rail to rail as your top layer of cloth. I suspect you are one of those guys who is just exceptionally hard on heel and knee dents. Getting to your feet on one knee is bad form anyway. Learn to snap up to your feet in one motion. Easier on the deck of your board and puts you in control of your board quicker. If the deck is glassed 6/4 E; try 6E and 4 S. If that doesn’t work go to6 S and 4 E.
no one has mentioned it but you could add a layer of deck patch fiberglass, or have it done.
like mako mentioned, it happens to all boards to some extent, if they’re ridden. some guys like it, in the way an old pair of jeans feels more comfortable than a new pair.
On one of my daly drivers the deck is sunk in a good 1/2" under the heel and ball of my back foot.
One reason I got into ordering boards, then going further into making them, was so I could get a triple 6oz glass job so the deck had at least a chance to last an acceptable duration through my 220LBs and late teen knee’s ability to throw it all down transitioning from a 40Lb 60’s style longboard to a multifinned shortboard when it got big enough. I’m also a Knee slammer, seeming to have developed an undesirable pop up in my youth where my right knee punches the deck to help force board down the face against strong offshores usually present. My Boards always quickly delaminated in this area. When New/newish I would add another patch there crossing the stringer to help mitigate the inevitable delam, crack along stringer/ water intrusion.
When overseas for extended periods, a few boards I had custom ordered came with triple 4 instead of triple 6 as I requested, and FCS round plugs not making the deck connection as required. I reinforced several decks and plugs next to my tent before even riding them, as their inevitable failure during epic conditions would otherwise keep me dry and cursing. Boards found on the rack in the 90s were rarely adequate for a 200+Lb rider and would suffer from what I consider to be way too light of a glass job too.
The last board I ever bought, in NZ in 2000, 6’11" x19 5/8" x 2 3/4 came with a triple 6 as ordered, but its fcs plugs too had no deck attachment. I did not have time to reinforce them before flying to Fiji, luckily they lasted without issue. I did later reinforce the plugs by drilling to the deck next to plugs and filling with milled fiberglass then glassing over, when back in the USA. That 6’11" round pin was not designed for any waves around here, and now 17 years later, does not have enough volume, even at 2 3/4" thick for me to ever surf it again. Now it is Dewaxed and will soon be for sale, but I fear it is too '90’s looking even for a capable surfer at 190+ Lbs who wants a strong good wave overseas travel board that is not easily going to snap or blow a fin in heavy conditions.
Not long after returning I got into making and riding HWS’s as the extra weight did not/does not bother me and I now find foam boards to be too squishy/flexible, without momentum, and too disposable for my admittedly unconventional desires.
Well placed pressure from foot, knee, or elbow can still split the wood grain in an area with little support underneath, but a full puncture is extremely rare and a small oval fiberglass and/or carbon fiber patch over the wound is usually more than sufficient, but the router and replacement wood has also been required on HWS number 1, now 15 years old.
If the Board shown in page one is epoxy, well epoxy must be mixed precisely. If outside a certain range it will still cure, and will sand, and appear OK, but remain softish and not have its full physical properties.
It is far too easy to not mix the Epoxy resin/hardener ratios properly and precisely, where as with polyester resin, too little catalyst just increases cure time and can screw up hot coats or gloss coats by too much dripping from the rails, but eventually the poly resin will still attain its full cure strength.
If the board in question is as new as claimed, and has absolutely no Smell, it might be epoxy, and the epoxy might not have been mixed as precisely as desirable/required and contributing to what appears to be a way understrength deck and underdensity foam.
Yea I definite understand what all of you are saying and really hope the board will at least hold for a year before unsurfable. I got a kick pad with the arch in the middle. Hoping this might help with the pressure that my foot is applying to the deck. The strange thing is that there are no dings from my front foot. Here’s a picture of the kickpad. And the worst ding. It doesn’t seems to be open but has what to appear to be stress fractures in the glass underlayer. I’m surfing this weekend on Sunday at cocoa beach FL and I’ll let y’all know how it goes( surfboard ding report lol)
Looks like the gloss coat is cracking a lot. Keep an eye on those spots. Like after your board is dry see if there’s any salty residue in those areas. That will mean it’s sucking water.
Looks like you needs a " help steezy illogic get a new board " go fund me page like Joe
I am stoked with all the great analysis that this thread has
fostered. Its been a while since I read one that had so much
good interpretation of the surfboard condition. All these
critiques may be true. As to the spider webbing, I have seen
this is boards I didn’t glass but shopped out where the sander
didn’t remove a lot of the sanding coat and left it thick. Anyway,
don’t be too upset, you should get a lot more than a year out
of your board and if you start to delam the deck, come back here
and do a repair search, we’ve seen it before! Just my 2c…
Thanks, ill definitely be keeping an eye on it. Not quite sure what i should be looking for as for if the water is coming in. Will it just be discolored under the spot? I head after washing the board if you use your mouth to create a suction on the spot and taste salt that thats a good way of testing? Idk could be a bs test to make you look dumb? lol??? WOuld you think it to be best for me to just get someone to add an extra layer of glass and resin to the board? Any opinions on who i should go to for this if and when the times comes that i need to. Im definitely not trying to make the board look like a bunch of patches of crap glass craftsmanship as im no expert in the field haha. (maybe if the board was only in the mid $200 range, but being its not i should leave it to an professional probably)
lol. Not sure i could convince my self to ever beg for money when i have a job and could easily decide to put money aside each month to create the funds necessary to buy a used or new board lol. But then again, im probably not going to be looking into buying a 1k plus surfboard anytime soon if not ever lol.
What did the shaper say when you showed him the photos? I would be raging if I got a brand new board and it looked like that after a few surfs.
Of course if you asked for a specific glass schedule for lightness it not his issue but you should at least let him know.
Its a surfboard, not a wall hanger. Ride it, enjoy. I don’t see anything in this thread that would make me point fingers at the builder especially when the board is in the hands of a beginner.
Boards do that. If you don’t want it to get banged up, don’t bang it up. Hang it on the wall and just look at it.
this was just the standard glass job. when i sent him the image he said it was normal and to get a traction pad to help with the pressure dings
Im not pointing fingers at anyone, thats why at first i didnt even want to name who the company was. I just found it kinda odd that afterr one surf it had as many pressure dings as it did. Yea im a beginner, but i have yet to catch a wave and eat it on this board lol. Every wave i caught i rode out. Even as a beginner im not going to treat my board with less respect then lets say you would, who wouldnt when you pay the prices that you pay for a surfboard…