Wooden Skimboard- Fiberglass

General Discussion
1

I looked in the archives but couldn’t find an answer.

About 12 years ago I shaped a wooden skimboard in an oval shape. I coated it with marine grade, high-gloss polyurethane. It was perfect weight to resist the wind and fast enough to do some sick tricks in the sand. It also developed a slight bowl shaped concave on its own which none of my other ones did.

I am currently sanding it down after season and season of poly coats. I was thinking about throwing some cloth and some resin on it. Is this a dumb idea? A Sorta- if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it type of thing? I am looking at the hawaiian cloth and thinking of putting that on top. Should I just put polyurethane on it or should I try to glass it?

Honest opinions- thanks.

2

No one has helped me… sadness

3

Hello Tom,

Drawbacks to fibreglass for a skimboard are:

a) It is not very good at resisting abrasion from sand, as it has the same hardness as sand.

b) It will leave nasty sharp bits where it wears away.

c) It is unpleasant to use.

It sounds as if you already have it sorted with your polyurethane.

Roy

4

Hey man, if I was you and wanted to go ahead with the fibreglass, I’d do it with a light(4 oz or under because it already obviously has the neccessary strength and you want the board just to be sealed and smooth) cloth and epoxy resin. Run a light coat of epoxy over it first to seal the wood, and then wait until it is just tacky. Lay your your cloth over that and then squegee out as much resin as you can. Finish it with Spar Varnish once it’s dry because IMHO the spar varnish holds up over the sand way better than fibreglass. As for Hawaiian cloth, just varnish the deck and lay the cloth down and varnish over it. It’ll hold better than you might think. I do it all the time on my longskates, and haven’t peeled a piece yet, even after running it up on curbs at speed and other abuse. Looks wicked too, as long as it is a really colourless varnish. Decently grippy too if you only soak it to the deck. Hope it helps…

5

I’m with Roy on this one.

Adding another one pound is not a plus.

Bottom strength won’t be better with glass, for reasons Roy stated.

Flex is always a problem with ply boards, causing delams.

But DO put the inlay on the deck as advised.

6

Just to clarify: You want a exterior polyurethane “spar varnish”, not the real thing. A true spar varinsh by definition does not get hard - you will be able to scratch or dent it with your fingernail after weeks of drying. It will eventually get hard after a few years exposure to sun and weather but once it does it usually starts to peel and flake off. It is supposed to stay soft and flex with the wood it is covering - it’s usually used on traditional wooden boat spars and railings where flexibility was considered a good feature. It also has a yellowish tint.

On the other hand, a number of exterior polyurethanes are marketed as “spar varnish” and this is what you want. They dry clear and rock hard, even the waterbuorne varieties which is what I like to use because they usually dry clearer, faster, and are easy to clean up after (with water).

Make sure is says “polyurethane” and “exterior” on the label.

Epoxy would also be a good choice, I think most of them are much harder than polyester resin.

Quote:

Finish it with Spar Varnish once it’s dry because IMHO the spar varnish holds up over the sand way better than fibreglass.