Where's the glass ???

General Discussion
1

Some fool decided to drop in, on a big breaking closeout…as I was trying to get under it, with a longboard. Yea, we’ve got a crack in the rail and an 8" ‘dent’/shatter  going towards the stringer. Board is a custom epoxy, 4-5 year old  Pearson Arrow. OK, repair time; sanding down the rail to the glass, not findinding any glass…on the deck, few square inches of ‘gloss coat’ delamed, popped off might describe it better. Sanded through that and no glass, just a hard foam like material. Hmmm

The kicker…After I had the board a few months, I called the shop (Arrow) about another putting more glass on the bottom…$50 was the price. Day later got a call back saying it would be $200 !!  I took the bait and said OK. Then got a call from Bob P., saying they wouldn’t do the job at all, as the board had a ‘special finish’ they didn’t want to ruin…but I could order another one with the glass job I wanted !!!

So…what do I have under this thin flakey ‘gloss coat’ ?  And do I have justification to be totally pissed,i.e., compensated ?

 

2

Okay, I’ll take a stab at it.  More than likely the board was laminated using epoxy resin, hotcoated using epoxy resin, then gloss coated using polyester resin.  There are a couple ways to make polyester stick to epoxy, but typically polyester will not chemically bond to epoxy.  The epoxy below must be rough sanded to give the surface a “tooth” and sometimes a chemical is applied to promote adhesion mechanically and sort of chemically.

Even when the polyester/epoxy hybrid is done perfectly, the glass job is still subject to having the outer polyester come off in sheets if hit hard enough.

So my bet is the first responder was thinking you wanted a patch work for 50 bucks, the second was to glass the entire bottom for 200 and the last response was to wisely not open this can of worms.

The reason they are avoiding putting more glass on the board is that they would have to completely remove the polyester resin, which would most likely damage the layer of glass below it just enough to make it brittle.  The new layer of epoxy lamination would then bond to the original epoxy lamination, then they would probably put a new polyester resin gloss coat, if they are set in their ways to attain their look or finish.

For them to do all that, it would actually (from their point of view,) be more effort than to glass a new board entirely.  Re-glassing requires workers to get pulled off line, to figure, scratch their heads, and possibly wreck the board even worse…

That’s a bummer to say, but again, I am guessing and assuming quite a few things…

…from a board producer’s perspective, I would say the board is not defective in the strict sense, that it took some doing outside the norm to produce the problem.  Your best protection is to not purchase a board built in this manner ever again.  Recourse is hard to prove, since the basis was the result of a collision and typically a succinct warranty is not offered with surfboards.

A picture would really help, since this could be a molded board, or a vacuum bagged board with vinylester finish coat or some other concoction…

George

3

And to add insult to the injury...you asked for it.

 

Why were you in the guys way when he hit you.   It's up to the person paddling out, to get out of the guy dropping in's way.  Dosen't matter if it's a close out, .2 ft,  30 ft, beach break, or pipeline.

4

Ah ResHed…  You mean the guy riding the wave has right of way???  Ha!

I was talking with a bood friend about an “infamous” local occasion when he came out of a deep dry tube and almost ran over a buddy racing for the shoulder… The guy on the shoulder got pissed - the guy coming out of the tube should have changed course… Ha!

Plus George sounds like he has a good educated guess…

5

Plus, if you get a call from Bob P. with advice.  It’s probably good advice.  Mike

6

Thanks George, great insight…perspective. Tomorrow I’ll call Pearson and ask about the board construction/repair. That was the plan, but I thought I’d better check in at Sway’s beforehand.Thanks again.

resinhead,TaylorO…FYI,  Always appreciated your comments, humor (well usually)…again,FYI; been surfing since 17…now pushing 65, always(almost) follow the ‘rules of the road’. That incident I discribed…being at this tender age, I spend more time on the beach looking for the easiest way to get to the outside, than anything else. When a closeout/cleanup wave hits my ‘local’ break, it may extend 40’ to 50’, easily, on either side of the line up. Someone previously sitting safe out on the shoulder, then finds themself in ‘prime real estate’…or so they may believe, if the don’t have experience. Paddling out, way to the side of the line up, is where I met my ‘buddy’…in the white water.   Jeez, I know taking a cheap shot may be irresistable at times, but no one enjoys being called a jerk…especially here on Sways. Mahalo