It is becoming harder to just go out and buy a new surfboard these days with smaller tighter budgets and higher prices so learning how to keep that magic board in top condition makes more sense than ever.
If you own a surfboard your eventually going to get a ding, there's just no avoiding it and sadly enough most dings happen in the home so be advised a protective board bag is where your board belongs when it's not in the water. Not only will it minimize ding potential, but it will protect your board from the yellowing effects of u.v. rays.
These days many boards have an outer resin coating or "glass job" made from epoxy and that means the core is likely to be made from a type of foam that is very water absorbent, great stuff when it's dry and the outer layer of resin and fiberglass are intact, big trouble if it's exposed to water for very long. What happens is the water gets in between the foam core and outer resin shell then expands and contracts with temperature and atmospheric pressure changes to create delamination (separation) of the outer shell from the foam which opens the door to several bad developments.
Weight gain - Heavy Boards Lower Performance
Weakening - Wet Spots are Potential Break / Buckle Spots
Yellowing - Lowers Resale Appeal
These conditions add up to lower performance, higher risk of breaking and just a plainly ugly looking surfboard! keep this in mind as we cover the basics of a good repair job. For my repairs I use a nontoxic sun activated acrylic resin. I'm still careful not to get any on my hands and to work in very well ventilated area, outside if possible.
Work in the Shade!
Prep is the first stage so make sure the ding is dry and all loose damaged material is removed.
Then sand the area making sure to create a surface that's clean so the new resin can get a grip for at least one inch or about 3 centimeters. Now it's not essential, but if you have some masking tape you can tape around the outside of the repair area to maintain the work area separate from the undamaged area.
Your ready to apply a thin layer of resin to the repair, but make sure your in the shade and position the ding so when resin is applied it won't run or drip out of the targeted area.
Apply enough resin to fill the ding and cover the sanded area then move the repair to direct sunlight.
Ok, after 3 minutes more or less the resin is fully cured and ready go! Remove the tape if you like what you see, if not repeat the process to add a buildup until your satisfied. You can use your sandpaper to blend in any excess resin to the original form of the surfboard and you're good to go!
Fixing a surfboard isn't that hard, I mean there are some dings I'd rather leave to a pro, but most of the time dings are small and easily fixable. For some reason people find excuses for why they can't do it so surfboard repair skills are always in demand, plus it beats the inconvenience of giving up your surfboard for sometimes a week or more and then paying at least twenty five dollars or more for someone to do what you can do in just a few minutes and a couple bucks! I found some really cool disposable kits online for just a couple bucks at phixdoctor.net and they fix like 5 dings! Now I'm the new repair pro in town.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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