I don’t know if any of you have heard about this but when I saw it done I was shocked that it was possible. At the last surf expo in Orlando, Mike Daniels exposed us to it in the shaping booth. After he finished shaping a a nice board for some pro he took a hand planer and dropped it on the board and put some big dents in the foam. then he took out a heat gun and gently heated the dented area. The foam popped back out - He said it was from the gas trapped inside the bubbles of the foam: that when heated they expand back to their original shape. He screened the area and you could not tell where the planer had hit. So much for light weight spackel. By the way how do I stop my replys to a thred from jumping to the top- or are they supposed to do that?
Not only does the heat help the foam reform, it softens the laminate to allow the foam to reform. It’s a great way to fix those nasty pressure dings, knees, elbows etc, especially on the bottom where the laminate is thinner and easier to reform to original. A hair dryer will do, be slow and careful, and although a hot gun is quicker, in the wrong hands can spell quick disaster. A piece of rail off-cut rubbed over it at the same time helps massage it back as well. Do not rush, and if it gets too hot to touch, then you are hot enough, go much further and the resin will discolour.
I’ve got a pretty much bullet proof JT longboard that has one quarter size pressure ding on the bottom from the baggage handlers. Could I try the hair dryer technique, or is this strictly for pre-glassed blanks or when you cut out damaged glass? Could the glass delam from the foam from the heat? Sorry for my lack of knowledge…
Even if the ding has broken the laminate bond, it will still come out, but a delam is a delam and needs to be repaired properly. If the damage has not delaminated it should work, just don’t overheat. Do it slowly so the heat has a chance to penetrate a little deeper into the foam. It must get hot, almost too hot to touch. Use some discretion and care, because you can burn it, and relatively easily. When finished, don’t expect it to be perfect, just better.
Herb Spitzer taught us that a few years ago…great trick.Where is Herb anway??
so the foam will expand and actually push up the indented glass? thanks
thats a pretty awesome idea. I ride small boards that generally have light glass jobs(4x4x4) and pressure dings are extremely common from duckdiving …either where my hands meet the rails or where my knees sometimes hit. Thanks for the tip.
…It funny to see some of these posts as people find new ways to skin the cat,eg.Gel fibers?
…The heater will not fix ,tears,holes,or bad shapes.Just non-torn dents and/or light scratches…Herb
ps. watch it that you don’t cook your blank in a bubbly,brown concave.
Yo Herb…I bet the diaper thing is long forgotten.Lets see if someone discovers that.Good posts though guys…thanks for the info.Me and Herb are just joshing you a bit.
I’m partical to the for sale sign thread,or the felt covers over the san-ding pad trick myself.
…Folks alot of stuff you’ve never dreamed of for use in building sticks is here in the archives…R.B,J.P.,S.B.G.C.,and a host of big pros and… garage guerillas(that’s me) have over the last 5 years contrubuted hundreds of ways toooooooooo… smash that fly !..and it all for free.Herb
Awe shucks fellas, I feel like i’m standing here with my penis hangin out. I figured you experienced guys knew about it. -
what happened to that guy Noodle that used to spew out mastercam G codes and station measurements and then ask for an opinion - does he still post?
Thanks for the dig, guys. Some people don’t realise the archives are a wonderful thing, but it’s like watching a movie with no interaction or modernisations. This is more fun, but not as much fun, as riding a wave, which I’m sure we all agree.
Noodel as we know him left about a year ago. He came in one day and said his good byes. Don’t remember the whys, I miss him, we had a few back and forths going there for a while.