Surfing Waves

hey all. i found a small crack in the fiberglass of my board. i'm not too sure how far down it goes, so as a temporary fix, i filled it in with some wax, which i now know isn't ideal. would suncure be the best long term repair for this? also, what's the best way to get all the wax out of the ding?

I'm not a repair expert, but I fixed a couple of dings on my board not too long ago and this is what I did..
depends where it is really but if it's a crack suncure should be fine. it depends on how big the crack is but I'd get a toothpick or a stanley knife, whatever fits best and caaaareeefullllyyy see if you can dig out the wax- just be careful not to damage the foam any more than it is already.
if it's just a sliver don't worry about doing this, but if it's a bigger crack that's damaged the surface of the board then it may be a good idea to cut out the damaged bit with a stanley knife, then rough it up with some sandpaper and do the suncure. that might get the wax out too, but as I said, only do that if it's a bigger ding, you don't want to further damage your board, you know? just make sure the foam's had a chance to dry. hope that helped- as I said I'm not an expert but that's how I've worked my dings and the repairs have held up ok

SFisburning wrote:also, what's the best way to get all the wax out of the ding?

Don't put it in there in the first place.
Putting wax in a ding is a mistake many surfers make. It is exactly what you don't want to do from a repair point of view, especially so on small dings.
The reason why is becasue when you come to fix the board properly the resin will not stick to the wax so to ensure a good bond you will need to dig all the wax out and in doing so creating more work for yourself. Better off covering the ding temporarily with gaffa tape.

KS

I agree, never put it in, better to have some water get in and dry it out after the session. I use a dye grinder hooked to a compressor(grinder is like 50 bucks and really worth it). with the crack and wax already there I have found that its usually better to gut out the ding and start fresh because cracks almost always come back on the rails. Use some cabasil with the sun cure or resin then cloth over with a diamond sahpe or circle piece of cloth. Hope this helps, you helped me out before ks.
mike

If you have a ding with some surf wax in it try this. First clean the general area with a wax scraper and then a clean dry towel to buff off all the excess surf wax. I then like to tape off the small area needing repair with 3M masking tape as it does not melt as easy when resin is applied. Then you will need to sand down the damaged area by hand, or machine if it is a small ding do not be afraid to rough it up. I like 60 grip paper so I do not have to sand forever and to make sure I get the crack, or hole feathered out. Then clean with acetone and a clean dry cloth, and that will get any excess wax that may have been left. I then like to start with small pieces of fiberglass cloth and layer them till I am a little higher that the original finish glass height. The layers get bigger as you go. It is important that you feather sand before you put the glass on and give the new glass a rough finish to adhere to. Then apply laminating resin between layers, and after that dries put one coat of sanding resin over entire repair and sand smooth after it dries and go surfing. This may sound like a lot, but it is not that bad and you will be fixing your board properly. If you mess up you can always sand it off and redo the repair. It is not a big deal. I hope this helps!