Second start-to-finish board: Two brittle spots

General Discussion
1

Hi friends — I’m about to undertake final sanding for my second start to finish board, which went really well.

There are two problem spots, however, that i clearly need to address, first, and I’m hoping you’ll cast your eyes on the spots and review my plan on how to handle.

(Context: PU blank, RR CE epoxy, 1 layer 4oz on bottom, 2 layers 4 oz on deck.)

I have two quarter-sized spots on the board, shown in the attached pictures, that I think were air bubbles, or perhaps i did not saturate the cloth in those spots. During first-round sanding, I got down “into” these air bubbles or dry-cloth spots.

What’s there now is this sort of brittle “surface” layer that has cracked around the edges in some spots. Like, I could use tweezers I bet and sort of lift the edge up and peer under. It’s clear that these spots are not structured like the rest of the board — something tells me that the weave just wasn’t wet or indeed maybe air under.

In case they didn’t attach, here are some pics:


My plan is to mix up a small RR batch, go in with tweezers, and lift up the edge and get epoxy under there, then lower the top and of course seal the top with epoxy as well.

Or would it be preferable to “crack off” that brittle top, sand around it, and just fill in completely with epoxy?

Thanks for any suggestions, all!

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2

As near as I can tell from small pics on my phone, those areas didnt get sufficient resin when glassing.

You can try working some fresh epoxy mix into the dry spots to see if they wet out properly. If they do, I would still cap them with a small piece of 4 oz cloth, sand and finish like you would a ding repair.

If not, then cut and pry the dry chip out and fill with a couple little patches of glass, feather the edges and fill coat / sand like a ding repair.

3

I’ve had the same thing. In my limited experience, those pieces are no longer structurally relevant and should be removed. Inspect the area under and around it too. Make sure there’s no soft or weak spots. After I removed the loose glass I put more glass over those spots since they felt a bit soft. It’s sort of like doing a ding repair. Fix it then do your final sanding so everything blends nicely.

I used a razor to cut the loose stuff out did some sanding before adding anything. It’s easier to make the area smooth, clean and feather the surrounding glass so the patch will fit over it nicely, rather than bunching up on the edges of where the chip came up, if you’re adding more glass.

I tried filling it with epoxy and the area seemed soft, like if it took a hit it’d cause a lot of damage and water intrusion, which is why I’d do glass reinforcement the first time from now on. Fiber filled resin, like suncure with the glass fiber in it sort of works, but I’d do it proper.

4

After looking more closely, i realized i would have a bad time trying to get epoxy in under these spots and would probably just re-cap a problem area. so i used a razor as suggested and cut the bad area out.

interestingly, beneath each was a small air bubble and a hard shell of epoxy that appeared to have a layer of weave under it. so i think i’m good – i filled each with epoxy last night and this morning they are looking good, just need a sand with some 80 grit to blend in.

thanks everyone!

5

From your last post; it sounds as though you got a dry spot/air between layers at the lap. Just be sure next tine that your laps are completely saturated. Sometimes at first glance it appears that they are, but usually on closer inspection small dry spots can be found.