How To Repair a Surfboard
How To Repair A Broken Surfboard?
The first step to repairing a broken surfboard is assessing the damage. This will determine your approach to fixing the board. Some of the most common ways a surfboard is damaged are a ding, delamination, and when the board snaps.
Repairing a Basic Surfboard Ding
A ding is the most common way a surfboard is damaged, it happens every time you drop your surfboard or hit it on something.
If your surfboard ding looks something like the one in the picture the first step to fixing this is first to remove any of the fiberglass that is broken or no longer connected to the foam core of the surfboard.
Now you're going to need a small piece of fiberglass and some resin. If your surfboard foam is made of EPS(Expanded Polystyrene) you need to use epoxy resin so the foam doesn’t melt. I you have a PU(Polyurethane) surfboard it doesn’t matter which resin you use, I recommend you use Solarez for either type.
After the area is clear and you have the materials you place the fiberglass over the ding with some also touching the fiberglass on the board.
Now measure out your resin and mix in the catalyst to activate the resin and begin the chemical reaction. (If you are using Solarez skip this step)
Now pour the resin over the fiberglass and make sure all of it gets wet. you can use a popsicle stick to spread the resin on your board.
wait until the resin is fully hardened (depending on what resin you use.) If you used Solarez put the entire board out in the sun for a few hours and it will be fully hardened.
The last step is to sand any extra fiberglass so the board is smooth.
Fixing a really small ding
If you have a very small ding like the one in the picture above The fix is much more simple, and only as a few steps.
All you need for this fix is some resin, a popsicle stick, and some sandpaper.
First, you just need to mix your catalyst into the resin so it activates. (If you have Solarez skip this step.)
then pour it onto the ding and let it fully harden
The last step is to just sand it down a little to make it a little smoother.
Delamination
Delamination is when the foam on a surfboard starts to erode. When this happens it makes bubbles under the fiberglass that continue to get bigger. This can happen when water gets under the fiberglass of your board or when you leave your surfboard out in the sun.
scrape all the wax off your surfboard. (you can melt the wax with a hair dryer or the sun, It will make it easier. You can also use a sock with flour to help take off the little bits of wax at the end or you can buy a pickle, it is a similar product.)
The first step is to feel out your entire surfboard and try to find the spots that are delaminated. You should also outline them with a marker as shown in the picture.
Next, make a very shallow cut on the marked lines with a dremel or a razor blade. (The fiberglass is very thin so try to make it a very small cut.)
now peel back the fiberglass and throw it away. (be very careful when doing this you might need to make some extra cuts as you do it.
Now you take your resin, and foam filler and mix them. Foam filler is a very fine powder you can just get it on Amazon. When you mix it with the resin it makes it a lot lighter and white.
Now spread the resin and foam filler mix on the exposed foam of the board and smooth it out to fill the hole.
When it is fully hardened sand it until smooth.
From here refer back to the Basic Ding Repair steps 3-7 because it is the same.
Snapped
Sadly with a snapped surfboard, there’s nothing you can do. It’s really hard to put a surfboard that has been completely snapped into two pieces back together. Unless it’s a longboard, or if it snapped very close to the nose. The only thing you can do for your surfboard is to reshape the nose.
scrape all the wax off the surfboard.
make a template of a surfboard nose and draw it onto the board.
With a razor blade cut some of the fiberglass off of the front of the board.
Then get a saw and cut out the exact shape you want. (try to save as much of the surfboard as possible.)
now get some sandpaper and try your best to round out the edges of the foam to match the rest of your surfboard.
From here the steps are similar to a basic ding repair refer to steps 3-6. make a lot more overlap so the fiberglass is hanging over the edge. (After you spread the resin on the fiberglass and it’s still wet fold the overhanging fiberglass under the board so it sticks to the other side.
repeat on the other side of the surfboard.
now you should have no exposed spots
because of the overhanging fiberglass that you stuck to the other side of the surfboard it will be very bumpy.
now the last step sand it thoroughly until smooth.
A Few Things to Remember
When working with these materials be very careful and take precautions.
When you are working with any type of resin you should wear disposable rubber gloves because when the resin activates it gets very hot and if it touches your skin it will stick and burn you. You should also wear a respirator, The fumes that the resin makes can be harmful if you are breathing them in too much. You should also wear one when cutting the foam so you don’t breathe any of it in.
The fiberglass is also pretty dangerous. You should always wear gloves when handling it. Fiberglass is like a cloth, it is woven together and it can give you little fiberglass splinters that are very hard to get out.
Also if the fix seems too big or is just something you would rather have a professional do I recommend you go to Ding King to get it fixed. Or if it’s a small ding email at Oliver.Toft.Amidei@gmail.com and I can fix it for you.
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