Surfing Waves

I watched a YouTube vid just now with Bill Stewart saying that new poly boards are still soft (prone to dings/dents) when you buy them and that you should let them sit in the sun, deck up, for a day before use.

This supposedly causes a last reaction/curing that brings the board to final "hardness."

Is this legit? I just bought a new board LOL So was thinking of just doing it since it's been hot out.

Foam blanks do harden up when exposed to air - a good shaper will try to use the already exposed part of the blank as the deck, taking as little as possible off that side, and do the main shaping (taking away stuff) on the bottom. Essentially the outside of the original blank is hardened, as you take away that top layer you get into the softer stuff. But after shaping they are covered by fibreglass, so are no longer exposed to air and so no longer will harden up

So it wouldnt surprise me if a blast of heat did harden up the foam and/or resin, but it might also make it more brittle and the UV might cause longer term damage to the foam. If you have a really lightly glassed board I guess maybe, not that I would ever do it. But if you have a 6+6 coating or something, it seems unnecessarily risky

anyway, your board will get plenty of time in the sun just through use. You spend hours sitting on it and there will be times when its on the beach or in the car in the sun. Doing intentionally seems a bit pointless

But far be it from me to disagree with Bill Stewart! I'm definitely not a materials chemist or any one with actual knowledge

What I have heard is to let the board sit for a day or two after making to let the resin continue to harden. The idea was it would prevent dents. But it's been around 30 or so years since I had a new polyester resin board.