My first surfboard repair - (WIP)

[oldmansurfer]

The thing about fixing surfboards is that just about any damage can be fixed if you know how. It is good to learn how on an old surfboard not something brand new. The more you do it the more comfortable you will be and the less mistakes you will make and the more you will know about fixing your mistakes when they do occur.

[IanCaio]

Sure, I don't know if I would feel confortable learning on a brand new board. And I was in sort of a no-exit situation: either repair it myself, or not repair it at all (because the guy wanted to charge me too much to do it). I'm glad I'm having this opportunity to learn though .

Didn't start sanding today yet, gonna work at night or tomorrow morning. About the loose spots, I'm not sure if the resin will reach the space between the fiberglass and the fin. Maybe if I had a syringe. Here are some updates on the work:

[IanCaio]

Oh, I was thinking here, about painting the board before the gloss coat. Wouldn't it be better? I wouldn't need lacquer spray because the hot coat would protect the ink.

I am just worried if spray paint can handle the resin without getting blurred, because of resin chemicals. It would screw the paint job if it didn't.

[IanCaio]

Started glosscoating the board, mostly because of the spider web cracks along the board. Not sure if it will make much difference though. My thoughts on the gloascoat:
-Resin won't flow through the board easily as it seems in the videos (on them, it feels like paint, on reality it's more like painting with a glue). Maybe I should have used more styrene monomer to make it less viscous.
-I thought the loose spots would disappear after the glosscoat, they didn't. Not sure if they are strenghtened enough. Maybe I should have hot coated it before the gloss coat.
-You WILL need a new brush after doing it, seems like real trouble to recover a brush after glosscoating.

Pictures as always:

[oldmansurfer]

Allright!!! Time to go surf.

[IanCaio]

Almost!
I noticed two small dry spots, but the gloss coat is more about covering those cracks I mentioned, so I will just leave it. If I try to make everything perfect the first time, I will take too long to finish it, and will have to spend more bucks than I want.
I'm about to gloss coat the deck, paint it, and than it's done and ready for waves.

Wait for one of those cliches "before and after" images!

I plan to hit the beach next weekend, for a full week (thankful for the holidays). If I finish the board earlier and have some extra money on the bank I might hit it this weekend too!

[IanCaio]

It's been 24h since I gloss coated the deck, and both deck and bottom didn't cure properly. They are hard, and shiny, but a little bit sticky. This hasn't happened so far, I'm again a little frustrated. I have a few theories so far:

-Humidity. I was surprised by a weather change that day, and even though the board is in a covered place, humidity was a little high. However, I've heard that resin that doesn't cure because of humidity doesn't stay shiny, or hard enough, but actually stays a little opacque. Hopefully it isn't the case then.
-Not enough wax solution, or something wrong with mixing it. This sounds like the most accurate (and less damaging) theory, and if it's right I could simply paint over the resin, closing contact with atmosfere and enabling it to cure completely.

When I touch the board my hand don't instantly stick to it, but if I leave it and press gently I can feel it stickying a little. Hard to explain.

Any thoughts?

I am trying to find a hair dryier to heat the board a little and see if it makes a difference and help it fully cure.

[oldmansurfer]

I would wait for it to harden completely. No idea bout the amount of wax because I have only used premade finish resin. Possibly what I might do is a very light coat of finish resin with more catalyst per volume than what you used on that one but I would wait another day or so before attempting anything. DId the resin in the cup harden? If so then deffinitely I woudl wait.

[IanCaio]

The resin in the cup hardened, however I thought the fact the glosscoat is a thin layer should make it cure faster. I will wait until tomorrow, and try the hair drier trick before making a call of what to do. I hope it works, because if I need to give it a new coat I will need to buy more resin and 2 new brushes (about 30 bucks). Also I would have too much leftover resin. But let's see what happens.
I didn't do anything besides passing the sandpaper lightly to check if the resin was tacky or sandable.

[IanCaio]

Started paint job, guess it is making the stickness go out. The cans I had were only enough for the bottom. Can only continue monday now. The result isn't perfect, but I'm liking it. After I am done I will give it a layer of varnish and the board is gonna be ready.

Here the results so far:

[billie_morini]

Zebra stripes!
Awesome!
Next best thing to:

[dtc]

I did read somewhere that someone claims zebra stripes repel sharks, so it may be better than having a sticker!

here we go

http://whitelines.com/news/new-invisibi ... tmW9jgO.97

[IanCaio]

I have heard that too. Never heard of sharks on my break, but the stripes are easy to do, and I kinda liked the result. It made the board look more original!

Tomorrow I will buy some more white spray, so I can finish the deck and start giving layers of varnish. I will buy a opacque one, can't find shiny varnish on spray on the hardware store I'm buying stuff from.

I will give 2 to 3 layers, with 24h of time between them. I need this board ready by friday!

[benjl]

Nice looking board man and good job on all the repair work

[IanCaio]

Thanks Benji!

Deck paint job is basically done. Not perfect (small accident on the tail) but I think I will let it how it is, and start giving the varnish layer.

I am kinda tired of trying to make it look perfect..

[oldmansurfer]

Pretty nice outcome except for the bleed through areas but the tail pad. I hope it works as well as it looks.

[IanCaio]

Thanks oldmansurfer,
Yeah, the bleed areas are the small accidents I mentioned.
I will leave it this way, doesn't look all that bad I guess, and I'm more worried about how it will ride than how it will look. Hoping the fin is good. I will have the answer this saturday anyways.

[benjl]

Impressive creativity with the colours in the end, I like it!

Out of curiosity, what did you use to paint it etc? I might try doing something similar to give my bland looking board some appeal! haha.

[IanCaio]

Thanks Benji!
On the deck I was thinking only plain white would be quite boring and empty, so I made some random black stripes with some tape.

I used some acrylic spray paint to do it and varnish in spray to protect it from the water. I'm kind of worried if it is gonna be protected though, as I think the ink seems a little fragile and the varnish didn't give it a thick layer as I thought. I would recommend you use automotive varnish (the one with catalyzer) and some thin brush to cover the artwork. Maybe the result will last longer. I will get you a more specific info on the spray cans in a minute!

I'm even worried waxing it will be harsh on the paint job (maybe the brand of spray I used was also too cheap ). But it is more of a stetical issue, so I'm not gonna bother too much about it, even though it would be sad to see all the paint job going away so easily.

As promised, the before and after cliche pictures. Work is done, let's surf!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

[billie_morini]

Hi Ian,
it's been 6 months since you repaired dings, applied psycho paint scheme, and return to the sea. So, how does this new improved board surf?

The reason I was thinking about you is I've been making a lot of repairs to my boards. One has a bamboo laminate deck that got busted when loaned to a young friend.
billie