I’ve got a older board that I really like but I was checking out how rough the bottom seem from various stress fractures in the glass, especially around the fin box. Any tips on the best methods to sand down the bottom and see if I can smooth this thing out a bit. It’s a good board and I’d like to save it but when I run my hand along the bottom I’m pretty confident that all those rough cracks must be effecting the glide and slowing me down. ~Chris
Chris: Sometimes the stress cracks are only in the surface layer of resin and can be removed by sanding down just to the cloth and redoing the hotcoat. Othertimes, the cracks are in the cloth and can be removed by rubbing the sanded down area with styrene and redoing the lam and hotcoat. Still other times, the cloth must be removed. Whatever the case, this is a job for someone with a soft touch. Before tackling this you might want to show the board to a friendly glasser in your area. Perhaps Kokua or cleanlines live in your area.Good luck.Hope this helps somewhat. Patrick
Howzit Patrick, seeing how I live on Kauai and Cleanlines lives on the east coast( I think)there might be a problem getting a look at this board. I did a bottom restoration recently,I first fixed any stresses or buckles then sanded the bottom and rails to the glass, next I reglassed it with 4oz,hotcoated and sanded. It was a little heavier but it needed a little weight so as not to flutter windy trade days. The guy was stoked and says the board works better now, just goes to show that some boards can be to light for some conditions. Aloha, Kokua