Do epoxy dings need to be repaired?

[Buttertoes]

Horrors... the wind took my epoxy longboard out of my hands in the parking lot and down she went! I later found a tiny chip smaller than my pinkie fingernail on the rail.

This is the first injury it's sustained and has me wondering if it must be repaired or if this is why we buy epoxy boards to learn on? what do I look for to tell if it's just a blemish, or something that needs professional attention?

[jaffa1949]

Ouch for you, post a picture and there will be plenty of advice, but you can get solarez type stuff for your board that is epoxy, the ordinary stuff won't work. The ding is probably smaller than what you would have got with a normal board.
if the ding is liable to let in water then I'd fix it although some of the epoxy boards claim a leak won't be a problem. IMO water anywhere in the board will cause a problem eventually
Be self reliant and follow the instructions carefully, good practice for those overseas trips to warm waters where there is no surf repair shop.

[Buttertoes]

wow, the more you look, the more you find eh? I thought I'd been taking pretty good care of it but I guess you can't control everything. I found 3 chips (and a bunch of scratches that I can't imagine how they happened...)

They look pretty superficial to me, but what do I know

[Rickyroughneck]

wow, the more you look, the more you find eh? I thought I'd been taking pretty good care of it but I guess you can't control everything. I found 3 chips (and a bunch of scratches that I can't imagine how they happened...)

They look pretty superficial to me, but what do I know

Bottom one is fine, you can leave that, only a paint chip. The other two also look fine, UNLESS that is the foam I can see, in which case it will need a layer of resin over it.

I am not a great fan of these ding sticks (solarez) but they should work. I personally patch with fibreglass cloth if it is a big ding, or if it is small I fill with resin + microball mix with a thin top coat of resin (all of which you get in a ding repair kit). Remember to give the area a sand first. What I used on my NSP was araldite, an epoxy resin glue, not the best but cheap and easy to do.

Be sure to use epoxy, because polyester will melt the foam in your surfboard (styrene thinner attacks it).

The last thing to note is that epoxy resin (what is used in your board) is not very UV resistant. If you leave a large area exposed then you will want to give it a lick of paint.

[Buttertoes]

Thanks so much guys! That's a relief, though I'm not sure if foam showing or not, but the damage isn't deep. There is something visible in the middle photo I noticed a couple of weeks ago, tiny raised bumps that seem a bit blistery. Could that be water getting in through pores in the paint? Air bubbles? It's possible it came that way since they are only visible when the board has bright light coming across on a sharp angle.

What kind of paint do you use to cover chips? I will see if I can pick some up.
I'll keep an eye out for the products you mention. I imagine it's only a matter of time before something more serious happens

[drowningbitbybit]

They all look fine to me.
I think I'd put some epoxy resin (a suncure resin will do) in the middle one just to be on the safe side.

The little bumps are no drama - epoxy boards often have those (dont know what they are though or what causes them).

If you want to paint the repair, you can spray it, but then you'll lose the gloss finish unless you lacquer and polish it too. For small dings like that, Posca Pens (paint pens, basically) are okay to touch boards up.

But dont panic about it - Ive got one epoxy board and its so battered its seven parts suncure, two parts paint, and one part surfboard

[jaffa1949]

Hi all contributing to this thread, IMO Solarez is a temporary fix only or a sealant on a superficial ding. A traveller's repair when well away from civilisation.
Buttertoes I'd look to properly seal the ding in the middle photo as it will catch those edges and get worse, the under stuff showing looks a little like foam poke it with your finger nail if it feels like foam it is. It then should have an immediate repair above and beyond solarez.
All the other tips to maintain paint and finish are great too.
When your board retires it will have all its battle scars etched somewhere on its hide. You'll even know the glorious history of some of them

[kitesurfer]

No need to worry about doing anything with any of those dings.

KS

[Buttertoes]

Whether or not its truly needed I thought it would be good to have some repair stuff on hand so I went to the marine supply store who only sold it in large quantities (it was the West Systems epoxy: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cmpages/s10.php ).
I thought I'd check a hardware store and bought this:
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/lepagel ... oxy/973090
If its no good I'm sure I'll find other uses for it. Does anyone know if it's safe to use? Of course their staff had no idea if not I'll keep looking

[drowningbitbybit]

You dont need large quantities or stuff from hardware stores, all you need is something like
http://www.surfing-waves.com/Item/JS365 ... e_2_0z.htm

[jaffa1949]

Unless you are planning a huge lot of dings , I wouldn't get large quantities of commercial resin, they are flammable, poisonous and they degrade overtime if you don't use them.
A tube of the epoxy solrez as shown will do the deck ding IMO that's the only one to worry about.
The Le Page is not the right product, it's a glue, it requires mixing and will probably not harden as well if you don't get the proportions right and doesn't have glass fibre in the resin.
The solarez doesn't need mixing , you just apply.
Sand the edges of the ding to give grip then apply Just do the application out of the sun, shape with an icypole stick and then place board in the sun. lightly sand back to smoothness.

Valuable lesson here, people who don't surf usually have no idea of how to look after surfing equipment and things. Support your local surf industry although Nova Scotia might only have a few but they'd need every customer they can get.

[drowningbitbybit]

people who don't surf usually have no idea of how to look after surfing equipment

...while people who do surf just patch the little bugger up until its waterproof, then go out and do it all over again

I should get round to putting up some pics of my boards, then the newbies would stop worrying about their tiny scratches

[Buttertoes]

I suppose a reality check is thinking of the shape the rentals are in eh? Everything should come brand new with a big ugly scratch on it so people don't have to worry about the first mark

I wasn't going to buy that huge quantity of resin but thanks for telling me the other stuff isn't what I need. I'll visit the surf shop next weekend and see if they carry anything (its an hour away or I'd have gone there tonight).

the first few marks are pretty freeing. Glad to know I don't have to worry about them too much
Thanks for your help everyone

I'll keep looking for solares (marine place never heard of it)