How to tackle epoxy surfboard repair?

Hi Guys,
I have dinged my new baby- bright blue North FreeStyle Fish- didnt even do it on the water which sucks [}:)]
It has 2 areas of cracks through the shell, but no bits missing and only slight compression. According to the manufacturer it is an Epoxy wood sandwich construction.

Couple of questions-
Can I take it out before I fix it?
And, what and where how to fix it (including colour matching), I would like to do it myself, and I am in Perth.

Thanks for any help

hey dude i use this stuff called 'sloares' it comes in a blue tube can buy it at most surf stores, comes with a little sanding pad,

- ruff up area with sand pad, where you want to put the res and make sure its dry and clean

- pore the solares on, now here is a good trick get some like clear laminating paper or like a sheet of hardish plastic leaflet, put this over the top and then use something flat and drag out the solares on either side of ding. if its on the corner of the board i use some masking tape to keep the sheet in the right spot and also if pulled tight will mould to natural contour of the board.
( remember all this has to be done in the shade)

- now take it out to the sunlight let it cure for about 2- 3 mins and its now rock hard.

- you can then use the light side of the sandpaper you get with the solares and sand it so the sides are flat with your board.

anyways i hope this helps, i swear by this stuff and its only like 30 bucks, best thing to take on surf trips too for those minor ding repairs.

I'm with lowstevo on this....but I just use the stuff like putty in my hands and rub it in...my fixes are ugly and the board has all these lumps where I did a fix...but it works....no worries, a board needs character.

I say take it somewhere.
Get a pro to fix it.
There is nothing worse than a botched board job
If you love your board you'll give it to a board lover to repair.

Kitehard recommended me someone in Osb. Pk i think.
The guy is apparently a genius.
Even brought boards back from the dead
Send him a pm.

Hey thanks guys,
Attached photos of the dings- they are close up- rail ding is about 5cm long, tail ding about 10cm long.

Why red thumbs on postings? Does someone disagree with the advice? PM if have private comments to make.

Nic

Do NOT use it before repair.
DO NOT use Solarez.

Solarez is cr@p-good for a short term repair on the run and that's it-it's absolute cr@p for any kind of structural repair as you need.

As others have said tail repairs are particularly problematic and need extra beefing up due to the tail often knocking things.

I use a 2 part epoxy from Whitworths and 6oz glass to repair my epoxy North Rocketfish (08' model).

Recently repaired the tail-not a pretty job (just lazy and more interested in strength than aesthetics) but strong and clear.

If your board is new-get someone who knows what they're doing and watch or ask them how they do it so you learn something for next time.

Make sure it has not been in the water for a considerable time and there is no water in the board before the repair.

I would be very careful if you do not know what you are doing. Straight mixed epoxy resin can give off a lot of heat as it cures. especially in an insulated polystyrene core. This can melt a chunk of the core out.
Someone commented on car bog. This is usually polyester based and will disolve styrene cores.
The cracks in the picture look to me like they need to be fixed professionally.
Thanks Adrian Roper

Hi again,
Tail ding happened from board slipping out of my fingers onto cement footpath after my second ever session on it, top of rail ding from cats knocking board over and into the wall (and blocking my front door in the process) while at work yesterday- had left board out to remind me to find out about fixing the tail ding....

Was hanging to go out on it today, but took your advise and caught up on study instead.

Thanks all.

The reason why you cover the expoxy with car bog, besides the easy of sanding, is that most epoxy is not uv stable and will colour unless painted.

Your going to be hard pressed to match the colour unless you spray it. you can get pigments for the resins but it will take some trial and error.

A board repairer will probably spray it any you wont be able to tell.

I reckon try to fix it yourself, the more you try the better you get, but it really depends on the resale value of the board I suppose.

Hi Nic,

So sorry to see the damage on the FSF Bummer! As reli says, I've had a number of boards both surfboards and twin tips fixed by Dave Stith of Katana Surf down in Ozzy Park.

He has done absolutley amazing repairs on as many as 6 of my boards and I have never had any problems with the repair work he has done. He has blended metalic golds and brown colours to resemble the timber grain of a wood mini mal so you could barely see the repair at all. I was so impressed with that work that I have taken all my repairs to him.

I often do small dings myself but if it's on boards I need to sell, then the repair needs to be structurally sound and aesthetically mint. We recently gave a twin tip that was unbelievably trashed from slider abuse. I thought the board may have been a throw away but we took it to Dave to get his thoughts. He said "Leave it with us, it'll be ready in a week". A bit over a week later (he had 80+ repairs to get through first), the board came back practically like new, none of us could believe it. The board is back on the water and holding up beautifully.

Dave's a true artiste when it comes to repairs and takes pride in his work, he's won me, so I'd suggest you take the board to see him and see what he says about colour matching the repair. He always gives a quote up front. Turn around us usually about a week.

He's at the end of Carbon Court on the right in an industrial row, off King Edward Road. Look up Katana Surf (08) 9244 1691

Nic, I hope you dont mind me answering publicly as there maybe others who could use similar help.

Good winds and keep us informed of how you go with your board.

By learning to fix your own board with survival stuff, AND learning to treat your board better, you will feel more confident about going remote.

Hey Guys,

I've seen the board and the damage is not that bad, the rail ding is about 3/4 of a foot away from the nose area so its not near a loaded area.

The tail damage is not that bad either, the ding is not mushy.
Ideally the tail should be glassed a bit but another drop on the tail would undo all that quickly. I tend to find that the 2 part epoxy mixes would well because they flex a bit unlike glass and resin/epoxy, as long as it is keyed in properly and water tight.

I once slapped a broken fin on with epoxy and used the board for a couple of years without a problem. Battled to get it off to do a proper glass repair, did the glass repair which only lasted a couple of sessions - Epoxy is good sh!te.

I think with repairs there is a happy medium between appearance and functionality.

Cheers
Rich

Epoxy and polyester are not the same so dont use solarez. Dave Smith from Katana in Ozzy Park is the way to go in Perth. If you want to use it in the meantime, use that kite bladder repair strip we all seem to have instead of filling it with wax. Wax isnt that waterproof and will still suck water in in most circumstances, also it is much easier to take off and sand for the repair later on.