A friend of mine in Phuket has asked if i know if it’s either possible to make your own resin up for ding repairs or is their an easy to get hold of alternative as he says it’s not easy for him to get hold of resin. I quote him below.
"Ok, so I was going to try and do some of my own repairs on an old busted up board for practice, but it’s very difficul to buy resin here so is there anyway I can make my own? "
I’ve had a search throught the archives and had no luck, i’ve also suggested that he go round the local boat yards and see what they might have to offer.
Have any of you guys got any suggestions for repairing boards without resin?
Have any of you guys got any suggestions for repairing boards without resin?
I guess the depends on how bad the dings are and how remote and/or broke the guy is. Silicone sealant, Super Glue, Bondo, plastic wood, maybe thickened enamel paint, maybe even varnish or polyurethane… if he’s doing the Desperation Samba there are all kinds of things to try that might be better than sitting on the beach. They just can’t be water based.
These are all for just filling in problem areas though. I would assume that if he can’t get resin he can’t get glass either.
The thought passes that whatever the guy finds that works could potentially change the world…wouldn’t that be a kick in the pants.
I’m hoping he’ll find some wonder goo in the forest and we can patent it! Ching, ching! The above are the sorts of things i’d got in mind but i’ve never actually used them myself.
Have any of you guys got any suggestions for repairing boards without resin?
I guess the depends on how bad the dings are and how remote and/or broke the guy is. Silicone sealant, Super Glue, Bondo, plastic wood, maybe thickened enamel paint, maybe even varnish or polyurethane… if he’s doing the Desperation Samba there are all kinds of things to try that might be better than sitting on the beach. They just can’t be water based.
These are all for just filling in problem areas though. I would assume that if he can’t get resin he can’t get glass either.
The thought passes that whatever the guy finds that works could potentially change the world…wouldn’t that be a kick in the pants.
Of the items you listed, I would vote for Bondo, possibly followed by paint, as the best alternative combining structural and cosmetic qualities. NTM, someone must be fixing bent cars in Thailand, so availability shouldn’t be a major problem. For a quick fix of cracks and smaller dings, melting on some flux rosin with a soldering iron might work pretty well. I just did some experimenting with the melting points of various resins/rosins a la the home-made surf wax thread - can you tell?
hm… how remote is this cat? Somebody go to ACE and pick up 5min epoxy tubes, grab a pigeon, strap it on and send it. oh, and sand paper, I would hope he can find a rock to wrap it around then. Tree sap can get pretty hard… we’re talking many, many swells cure time but it may work.
I would say just regular old 5 or 30 min epoxy, he won’t be able to fill in huge dings, but it will seal them up and make them stronger. Small dings shouldn’t be a problem.
Making your own resin…good trick, providing you have a small refinery nearby, and a good chemical engineer just hanging around.
As you advised him, the local boat guys should have a line on at least some kind of polyester resin. Even if it’s the kind that turns purple. Though my experience with ‘third world hardware store resins’ is that they are pretty good and will do an acceptable ding repair better than the stuff in US hardware or marine stores. If its a faintly green color in the uncured state that’s a good indication that it will harden fairly clear and make a very good repair.
Just a thought but has he considered ordering off of the net and getting it delivered.
Failing that if there are no boat yard around, try an automotive garage, they often carry poly resin, or car body filler or araldite will work at a push.
You’re gonna laugh…but chewed-up bread mixed with toothpaste (think old-fashoned Crest, not any of the gels) hardens just like Bondo. Sandable, shapable, paintable.
Seriously. Stuff it in a crack, sand it with a rock, paint it with anything you can find.
And for the propellerheads in the crowd, I’d go with a fine-structured bread made from refined flour, chewed 15-20 times, made into a fairly firm pulp with the natural addition of amylase, and then blended with toothpaste at a 2:1 ratio. Crusts removed of course. So there.