One thing i noticed in the tail area of 1 of my swallow tails is that theres an air bubble maybe
around 2cm x 2cm. I suppose that this is a delam OR possibly bad laminating when the board was shaped. Is this a small air bubble or is it a delam?
I read here that you
can fill it with resin and catalyist using a syringe.Personally
i was going to do as Doc recommended by opening the delam and repairing
from there, using filler, resin and glass cloth. Does this work for
tiny delams?
Since i dont
have resin on hand, i was going to cut open and fill with sun cure.
Would this be a good way to fix the airbubble/ delam?
Ah- you said the magic word: "swallowtail". And what happens to me when reglassing one is that unless I get the laminating just right, I get delam bubbles just as you describe. Lets just say that those ___________ things are complex.
Personally, I hate suncure with a passion. Never had any luck with the stuff, as it's frequently mixed...or I'd prefer to say, 'contaminated' with fine fiberglass segments: kitty hair. Which in turn means that glassing with it is gonna be problematic and if you're thinking of using it as filler alone, without glass over it, that _____ ______ ______ ______ suncure ______ ____ will just crack out. ( "_____" represents words not suitable for a family audience )
So, if it's watertight now, I'd leave it alone until you can get to some real resin. Then, slit it along one edge, fill it ( straight resin is probably best, if it's a thin bubble) , sand it, glass over it and call it good.
Otherwise, you're kinda ..no pun intended... leaving yourself open to far worse consequences.
thanks for the response. This morning, first thing when sun came out, i fixed that tiny air bubble. When sanding and cutting the glass, there was a crater (2cm x 2 cm) where the air bubble was. I suppose foam had a hole in that area OR glass really did separate. I still strongly believe it was because of how the lamination was done.
Sadly i wasnt able to read this in time, i filled that little crater with sun cure.Leaving the suncure on its own is not a good idea. If i add fiber glass cloth over it with resin will it make this repair stronger? And what kind of resin should i use with the fiberglass? Epoxy or Polyester? I have a PU board. I want to try using epoxy resin so that the glass will be stiffer or more durable? Let me know if this is true.
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Ahhhm, sorry about that, I should have gotten to this earlier- anyhow,good question.
Myself, I'd probably use polyester, as (among other things) you probably don't want any strange little pockets of stiffness, the suncure will be more stiff than the plain glass that was there before, add the glass patch over top of it and you've got a perfectly good repair that'll blend in better.
Other reasons: polyester is cheaper, it's what was there in the first place, the additional strength and stiffness really shouldn't matter as the board is polyester/polyurethane.