Ding repair Help needed!

[JackKershaw]

Hi everyone

I'm completely new to surfboard repair, and recently discovered a ding on my board. As I live in Manchester in the UK there are no repair shops close and I've decided to repair the board myself.

I did a little research, and have a small problem. I understand that boards fall into two categories; Polyester and Epoxy and that if you use the wrong type of resin when repairing, it can eat away the foam in your board.

So my question is, would anybody be able to identify what the board is made of, and which resin to repair it with? It is a 6" Custom board shaped by Glen D'arcy if that helps. I'll also attach a photo.

[tony g]

It looks like polyester, but looks can be deceiving. It is hard to tell now days from a photo, if a board is polyester, or epoxy. You can have an epoxy boards now days that is hand shaped and looks just like a traditional polyester surfboard. The only way to know for sure is contact the manufacture, or look for a laminate on the board that says if it is epoxy. When in doubt you can use a repair kit like ding all epoxy and it will work on polyester, or epoxy surfboards. When you go to buy a repair kit just check the label and make sure it is safe for both.The big problems occur when putting polyester resin on epoxy foam because the resin melts the epoxy foam.

[JackKershaw]

Cheers, I found Glen's email address so will ask him if he knows. If not, i'll just buy an epoxy repair kit which should work on PU or EPS. Thanks!

[Jimi]

I agree, it looks like polyester, and in 99% of cases if you can see the stringer it's polyester, however it's possible it could be epoxy.

You can tell from the smell if you sand it, but that takes a fair bit of experience.

Personally I'd go polyester, but I'm less careful when repairing my own boards. Also, you can test it on the foam. EPS rapidly turns to mush with even a little polyester on it. If that happens, just scrape it off from the test area and you won't be any worse off than before as the damage will be minimal. Plus with UV resins, they set pretty quickly and aren't likely to do too much damage.

Take this advice as what I'd do personally, but it's not the most careful approach. First, wait and see what you hear back from Glen.

[Verde]

I agree with Jimi, if you have some polyester resin pick a little piece of foam off and see if it dissolves or not. For your first repair there's a good chance you wont get a good bond if you do epoxy over polyester