Robbo's HWS devastation

General Discussion
1

well guys I am a VERY upset man as I write this today.

this morning I went down to my local beach to meet up with the local longboard club for the first time and to surf my board for the second ever time, all was going well, as usual there was alot of oohing and ahhing, then we hit the water, I got a couple of nice waves too and was suitably stoked with the morning, then as I was paddling back out to the lineup a young girl from the club (13-14ish) came off right in front of me and put 2 fin chops in my rail, one VERY big one.

I just can’t believe this has happened, all that work and then something silly like this happens that is totally out of your control, devastating, I know “it’s only a surfboard” and “it’s there to be surfed” but this happening on the second ever session? how unlucky huh.

anyway here are some pics of the carnage, I have cut any loose glass away and any mashed up rail material that was unsavable, I will take it back to the glasser this week and see what he thinks he can do, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as niether he or myself have had any experience repairing something like this before, Paul? other woodies? PLEASE!!!


2

I’m no expert, but I was thinking maybe mix up some loose fiberglass and resin, and shove it down in there? then sand smooth.

3



4

Well it rode well and didn’t fly apart so it’s nearly all good.

Fix it and start another woodie? having only one makes it tough when they need repair.

:slight_smile:

5

bad luck mate

i feel your pain

i guess i have to say iff you dont any dings on your board

hang it on the wall

if you want to maintain the esthetic when repairing

make up a new rail section

and add it in

glass over

your gunna need to learn how to glass though

or youll never get to surf the thing

yeah,i agree with roy

i usuallly have a couple of spares in the car when surfing around inexperienced longboarders

cuz they are the main cause of damage to my boards

6

agh- i feel your pain. frickin newbies on longboards, two nightmares for the price of one.

on the other hand, it didn’t carve all the way to the centerline, as it would have on a more conventional board. And theres no major structural horrors to deal with. This says a lot about how nice this method of construction is.

and, if you have scraps from the original building process and patience, you can fix it just about as good as new.

now, i am not a wooden board guy, i am a wooden boat guy. And fixing things like this is no biggie, really. For a wooden boat guy, this isn’t a big deal. here’s how I would do it:

first, very carefully sand away just the cloth over the area you’ll be working in. DO NOT rip off pieces, sand patiently and gently.

If I am understanding the pics, you have alternating layers of cork and balsa or something in a light colored wood that make up the rails. Ok, cut them out and carefully stairstep your cuts, as in step 2. Replace, layer by layer, glue 'em in with the same stuff you used to make it in the first place.Shape the new material to shape once the whole thing is done.

Glass over all, feather the edges of the glass nicely, gloss and polish. If you have good sharp chisels, a scraper or two and mebbe a good back saw, you ought to be able to make it all but invisible

hope that’s of use.

doc…

7

You almost had a target on you out there, huh…???..

I had a couple repairs like that…One way worse, the other not as bad…

Doc’s suggestion is the way to go…

Make sure it’s dry, but it looks like you’ve got that figured out…

No biggee, really…

Just a bigger scratch than most…

Next time, avoid the weekends…

8

thanks heaps guys and especially Doc for the visual step-by-step method, I think that is what I will do, I’m slightly embarressed I didn’t think of it myself actually, it seems so logical! thanks again, I will keep you all updated on how it goes.

any suggestion on how to sand the glass off? I have a belt sander (a tad harsh?) and an orbital sander, and of course blocks for hand sanding, what grits should I use? start with 80? sand THROUGH all the cloth ar just sand TO the cloth? I’m guessing through. thanks again for your input guys.

9

Whoops, sorry, I shoulda been more specific -

Now, I’d avoid the belt sander. The problem with it is that you’re really sanding flat with it, and tthis is gonna be very curved, in all dimensions. I’d go lightly with a random orbital sander, or lightly and carefully with an orbital, finish up with sandpaper - no blocks, just sandpaper.

As an aside, I once had a guy working with me, and when he did board repairs ( for himself ) he always hand sanded with a hard block of wood, even when he found himself sanding rails. Now, when ya sand a curve with a flat block you can find yourself sanding through glass and into the foam if you’re not careful…and this boy wasn’t careful.

80 grit will be fine - you are looking to sand away evenly through the cloth, so that you can cut the wood and cork cleanly away, which in turn will make it a helluva lot easier to fit the wood precisely. I might even back-bevel your cuts in order to give the tightest joint possible -

The thing is, a 90° cut is gonna be easier to do, but as the strip of wood curves, it’ll open up some and so on; this will have less tendancy to spring out as well.

It will make the difficulty of the cuts go up by about 200%. Make your cuts on the board ( I’d suggest either a coping saw or the finest tooth saw you can find, by hand, with great care) , then do the cuts on your new pieces to match them, not the other way around. And if you’re not real comfortable with it, bag it, go with 90° cuts. Save the cute tricks for the next time.

Sanding your way out - well, just like you did when building the board.

That help any?

doc…

10

thanks Doc, you’re a legend mate, and a generous one at that!

11

Heh-

Robbo, once opon a time, some very generous people were very kind with imparting their skills to me, such as I was able to understand and learn.

The price of that knowledge was that someday I would pass it on, so it wouldn’t vanish.

And you, sir, are part of the payback - and someday it’ll be your turn.

doc…

12

Hey Doc,

You left out my motto - feather, feather, feather.

Is that because you think it’s unnecessary?

13

Whoops - you’re right, you’re right, you’re absolutely right.

doc…

14

You know how to put salve on the immediate wound, now go find the little wench and shoot her. :slight_smile:

15
Quote:

You know how to put salve on the immediate wound, now go find the little wench and shoot her. :slight_smile:

ha ha haaaaaa! you made me laugh out loud!

thats a bit harsh though mate… SHE’S NOT THAT LITTLE!!!

16

hey guys, will I get itchy while sanding the glass back? it’s poly with 6+4oz, I have never sanded glass before and just want to know whether to cover my skin or not.

thanking you!

17

Yes.

But thirty years from now, you won’t even notice it anymore…

18
Quote:

Yes.

But thirty years from now, you won’t even notice it anymore…

so… you’re saying I should wait thirty years and THEN sand it?

hehe just joking! but i’ll take that as a recommendation to cover up while sanding!

thanks Balsa.

19

well guys after getting motivated by a possible “auslocks board, east coast aussie swayday” approaching I though I had better get onto fixing my board ready for the big day if it comes!

I was very hesitant when sanding the glass back, I have never sanded glass before so was taking it slow with an orbital sander with 120 grit paper.

then I started to step back the layers of cork and balsa as suggested by Doc in above posts, this was incredibly tricky,

I then proceded to cut and patch (or is that “cut and PASTE?!”) pieces of cork and balsa in and start to build the rails out again,

I had 2 choonks to fix, 1 big 1 small.

as I write this tonight all the little pieces are in and glued and taped and drying overnight.

will take pics tomoz and post as soon as poss.

this sounded a hell of alot easier when I was reading it in above posts!!! to top it off I gave myself a good slice with my stanley knife (utility knife for the U.S.!!), while I was stepping back the rails, right across my left knuckle, EEEOOOWW!!!

while the glue was drying I decided to start on my longboard skateboard deck, but I’ll switch to my other thread for that!

20

Robbo, I sympathize with you: did exactly the same two days ago. Still hurts and is a real handicap for many usual handlings…