Hello, I have a new to me No dings or pressure dings, 9’4" x 23" x 3" Channel Bottom Quad. 6+6 on deck 6 on bottom. Blue Resin Tint with Flake and Gloss Coat. Nice Shape, Nice Rails. But you know when you pick up a board and you are immediatley struck with how heavy the board is… This board is heavy. It weighs as much as my 10’0" which is older, has some dings, but thinner glass. I took the 9’4" out the other day and it surfed great down the line, but really felt the weight in the cut back… My Question. Is it worth it to sand this board down? sand off the gloss coat, sand out some of the resin in the rail channels. How much weight could I remove? I’m good with sanding and I like a sanded finish. Idea would be start with 320 to remove gloss, maybe some 220 in the channels. Then switch over to Hand wetsanding 400,800, 1000. I don’t mind the labor. But is it going to make a substantial difference? Anything to avoid? Or is it better to sell this board and move on? Nice Shape… Nice Tail and Rails… Paddles pretty good even heavy. Paid $450 for the board.
Think it’s possible to remove 1-2lbs from this board in sanding?
Come on I know there’s some experience out there.
Let me frame it a different way. Can a 6+6 top 6 bottom Longboard with a sanded finish be pretty light? or is it always going to be pretty heavy? I may be attempting to change the DNA of this board?
In all honesty I think you stand a very good chance of ruining a beautiful board here. If the laminator and sander were even half decent, you’d be lucky to remove a few ounces without completely compromising the glass job and have you ever sanded channels before? 
Also, there’s a good chance that the extra weight is in the density of the blank as much as the glass.
Just a dumb thought - you might be feeling the channels “lock in” during the cutback more than the glass/resin itself? I’ve never ran/ridden channels before but I understand they’re meant to track and hold really well (especially in heavier more critical surf?)
Planemonkey, I’ve put in my 10,000 hours of sanding channels for Speargun Bands and fixed and restored boards. Not one person I’ve spoken with has suggested sanding the board down… So I guess I’ll try it again in the next big swell… I may be trying to change a dog into a cat… a heavier down the line glider into a higher performance longboard… I guess I figured I’d just sand this thing down until it was light enough and then if there was any burn through, I’d hot coat it and leave the whole board with a sanded hot coat finish to 6-800 wetsand. I want the strength of the 6+6/6, but you know when you are restoring an old classic and you get to the point where you can either make it sanded finish to ride, or throw on a thick gloss coat and now it’s perfect but heavy…
PNW Cool dad, you may have a point. Also this board is a Twinzer, which I have never ridden before and dang those fins held me right into the juice of the wall, but maybe I need to approach the turns differently. I’ll give another try.
Personally I would leave the glass job alone.
Cooldaddy mentions channels tracking, a way to deal with this is to go back and observe the foot work of the mal riders in the ‘60’s’.
Here is one example Midget Farrelly
Strictly Hot | Midget Farrelly - YouTube
Note the busy foot movement and the diagonal and parallel stance.
With a diagonal stance (and therefore diagonal weight) his front foot is either side of the stringer dependant on the turn he is about to do, before he does a cutback his foot is to the left of stringer (48 sec), similarly on a forehand bottom turn his front foot is to the right of the stringer.
This is a gun, not a cruiser longboard. This board is meant to go fast and straight. Id leave it alone and if you got the balls, take it out on a bigger day. Good luck!!
Creager I took it out last week during that big swell we had here in Hawaii. It did go Fast and Straight. Also it didn’t snap when the entire lineup got caught inside and I got dragged 100’ underwater. I’m gonna give it another go next swell. Yes, this is my Gun for the big days. I have a 6’2" Fish, 7’8" Mid Size, 10’0 2+1 for the other days.