calling all surfboard repair pros! questions...

[oahu mike]

aloha everyone, first time post:

i scored a sweet brand new 9'1 for xmas, i've ridden it only about 10 times, and i am already starting to notice a crack on the deck, but not a proper crack all the way thru, but a crack under the glass, about 4 inches long and kind of spiderweb looking in appearance. the deck surface above this crack is still rock hard however. when i go for waves i sometimes kick my feet to give myself all the acceleration i can, and i have noticed that my knee has been striking the deck in that spot in the process, and this is where i think this crack came from (never been a problem on other boards however)

1) is this a crack that needs to be repaired, since the water-tightness is not being affected? i have noticed in the last week that the crack appears to slowly be getting longer.

2) will this crack below the deck eventually lead to a delam if left alone?

3) if it does need repairing, can it be done without telling that it was repaired? the board is entirely shiny pearl white in color.

mahalos for your kokua!

mike

[billie_morini]

oahu mike,
certainly photos would help, but I think the stringer may not have been planed to the same height as the foam. I've posted a photo from when I had this kind of problem with my favorite board. Simply knees striking the deck should not cause cracks, but they can occur when the stringer isn't planed correctly. If your problem is anything like my photo, it'll lead to problems (i.e., leaks, delamination). Repairs can be nearly undetectable. It depends on how much time or money you want to put into it. It's good to hear you like your new board so much. It's sad to know there is a problem with it.

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[oahu mike]

thank you for your quick reply billie...

my crack does look similar to the ones in your pics, i will def. try to get some posted tomorrow.

now that you mention the stringer not being planed properly...i took a closer look at the board after tonight's session, and sure enough- running along either side of the length of the stringer on the deck the fiberglass seems to be slightly sagged on either side for 2-3 ft of the length of the board, with the stringer now starting to sit higher than the fiber glass on either side of it. ARGGHH!!

this board is so damn cherry and beautiful and rides like a dream, it was designed for keegan edwards to ride exclusively at pipeline by tommy tanaka before keegan decided to go with a thicker board..my wife scored it for me and surprised me with it for xmas and i was so stoked..

question for ANYONE reading this: since this board is but a week old and barely ridden now with the problems mentioned..what is my next course of action? do surf shops typically own up to their shaping mistakes and swap a new one out for the old one, or do i have to sink more money into it to get it repaired? it's a $700 board.

so damn bummed man

mike

[kitesurfer]

For a new board this does not sound good unfortunately. Do you know if the board was really new (i.e recently glassed within a week) before you took it out for a surf?
New boards require about a week depending on temperture to cure fully if it is polyester, longer for epoxy.
If i was you i would take it back to the shop and see what they say. If you like the board try to get some money back or a free repair. Especially if the stringer is high as billie is right this will cause problems.

Good luck

KS

[oahu mike]

took the board back to the factory in wahiawa today, the guy started to give me attitude about it like "these things just happen" and he offered to put a big ugly visible fiberglass patch on it and send me on my way. i argued with him that i could pick up a repaired surfboard like this at a garage sale/craigslist for 100 bucks..where is the value that was payed for? a week old and already major problems in need of a 3 foot patch? he seemed totally stumped by this logic, then the owner called and discussed the board with him...

long story short they decided to shape the exact same board for me from scratch, no charge! they said this time they are going to use different foam and plane the stringer correctly so i shouldn't have this problem. whew!

anyway, here's some pics of the virgin board, as seen on xmas day when i got it. shaped by tommy tanaka (who lives right down the street from me in ewa beach) for pro keegan edwards to ride at pipeline beach. but keegan is a little guy, and he thought there was too much thickness to it so he went for a different design. this board rides like a damn dream, can't wait to feel her against my bare skin again!

thanks to those who replied, to those who didn't, i hope you gained some knowledge.

see you on da water...aloha!

mike

[billie_morini]

Oahu Mike,
This story has a fabulous conclusion. Be sure to post photos of the new board when you get it. If I were you, I'd get a photo of you, shaper and/or business owner when you pick up the new board. Then I'd post the photo on this website with a paragraph describing how well you were treated. Once that is posted and several forum members say, "That's cool!" tell the business owner to look at the link that portrays him in a positive light to a very large and enthusiastic group of surfers.

By the way, the photos you posted of the virgin board are really very pretty. No wonder you were heart broken. But, this is a story that ends well.

For the guys that don't speak Hawaiian: the word on the fin, "Ali'l", means "King."

[surfboard repair]

Hi

by the way that you have described it the crack sounds like it will need to be repaired and it sounds like it probably is caused because of your knee its very common.

it can also be done to look like nothing has happened what you will need to do first is sand the area and remove all of the cracked glass being carefull not to sand any further than needed a great way to see if you have gone far enough is to wipe over the area with a damp rag, this will make the whole area clear again and you can see if it has all been removed if not let it dry and sand again.

once all of the cracked glass is removed make sure you have prepared an area atleast 2-3 inches larger than the crack itself and make sure that the area is in a round or oval shape this is so when the the area is repaired it will be as strong as new, straight lines mean weak points so the more curve the better. when you glass the area remember to cut your glass in a curved shape also and what you can also do is put an extra layer or 2 on the area to strengthen it so that if your knee hits it again it wont occur again. i would suggest atleast 2 layers of 6oz on the area one larger (right out to the edge of your prepared area) and one half an inch to an inch smaller on the top. the reason for the size differance is so that when you sand the area you will be able to taper your new glass into the old easily and larger layer always on the bottom because it is the majority of the strength and if it was on top when its sanded you would be sanding into the strength layer. once the glass is laminated onto the area and the resin has gelled you will need to filler coat the area this will fill up the low points in the cloth and bring it all to one height and means when you sand mainly filler resin is sanded accept for around the edges of coarse where glass has to be sanded into to get the right shape into the board. a filler coat is applied with a brush and left to settle out, the more it settles the easier it is to sand. when that is hard and ready to sand sand the whole area fairing it into the old glass, maybe start with 80 grit then 120 and finish with 180 remembering that all you are doing is fairing the new into the old. once that is done all you need to do is gloss coat the area using the same resin that you did to do your filler coat brushing it on keeping to your prepared area only letting it settle out, once that is ready to sand it needs to be wet sanded i would start with 320 grit just again blending the new into the old once it is fairly close progress to 800 grit then 1200 remember not to over sand as you will just go through to the glass underneath and it wont look right. once 1200 is done its ready to buff with just an ordinary cutting compound and thats it


Hope that was helpfull

sorry i couldnt get it to you earlier,
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[kitesurfer]

Mike thats excellent news. Good to hear your shop and the surfboard suppliers doing the right thing.

KS