On Fixing Epoxy Surfboards-

 

I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. And so I figured it was about time that ol’ Uncle Doc let you in on how to do it, as they are popping up everywhere. It’s a good idea, the epoxy resin and polystyrene foam system allows a board that can be just as strong as a standard polyester resin/polyurethane foam board but considerably lighter (bad idea – boards are intentionally made too weak nowadays so the surfboard industry can sell you more boards.) or the same weight and twice as strong and thus last twice as long. Without making this into a blatant puff piece, there are two companies I am aware of that make first class epoxy boards: Henry Fry of Houston, Texas and Patagonia/Point Blanks. Both of them have put a whole lot of time, money and effort into developing the right set of materials and techniques …… and they are just about there. I’ve seen boards from both of ‘em and they are pretty good. I don’t sell either brand, nor do I own one or get any kind of commission or deals from either one.

 

But it’s not the same as the Clark Foam and not the same as the cheap polyester resin and catalyst you’re used to. And it takes some different techniques to fix them.

 

First, you gotta get the water out. The thing about EPS foam (extruded polystyrene foam.) or EPS foam (expanded polystyrene foam  Confused yet? It gets worse.) is that it takes on a lot of water real easy. And you don’t want to slosh while you surf, right? So, before you go and fill the ding, dry it.

 

Okay…what went in easy will come out pretty easy. Set the board with the ding down. That way, good old gravity will deal with the problem. Cute trick is to put some newspaper underneath the ding so that when the paper is dry it’s a Real Good Sign that all the water is out. Call it 24 hours, minimum. Don’t  heat up the board with a hair drier to speed up the process, it makes ugly things happen. Delams and all sorts of stuff like that.

 

Oh, and while I’m thinking of it, get out of the water as soon as possible after you ding the board. Or put some tape over it. You’d be amazed at how much water gets in there.

 

All right, the board’s dried out and ready. Good. Get some epoxy resin ready. Not that WEST crap or the five minute epoxy from the hardware store, good RAKA or System Three resin, the stuff that doesn’t dry a pale shade of cat-urine-yellow. If you use regular (polyester) surfboard resin it will turn the foam into Marshmallow Fluff, and you wouldn’t want that to happen.

 

Now, the nice thing about epoxies is that you can use most of your old ding repair additives: pigments and Cabosil and that stuff.. So, mix it up. Mix the rsin components first, as they really, really need to be completely mixed, then add whatever you are going to add like Cabosil or pigment or whatever. Good thing about epoxy is that you can mix it up in just about anything, including Styrofoam coffee cups. You can stir the stuff with plastic soup spoons if that’s all you have handy. Unlike polyester, which heats both Styrofoam and plastic spoons.

 

Bear in mind that the resin will only go off at one speed and if you don’t mix the epoxy in the right ratio it won’t go off at all. You can’t put in more hardener, for instance, to make it go off faster. Some resins have ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ hardeners available, which is good. Typically, it’s something like 6 to 24 hours before it’s ready to sand, so give time estimates accordingly. Heat and humidity do make a difference. Thick fills or laminations get warm and go off faster. Thin layers go off slower…just like the other kind of resin.

 

Wait until it is really, really dry to sand it, okay? Epoxy can fool you, when it’s still a little gummy it’ll appear dry and so it will clog the bejeezus out of your sandpaper.

 

For those who are traveling, RAKA (www.raka.com ) will sell you a trial or sample kit, small quantities of resin and filler. If you ask, they will send it with their #350 non-blushing hardener which is what you want for surfboard repair. It’s good resin. And it’s what I usually use.

 

There is also System Three, who make a nice series of resins for sailboard/surfboard use. Their #112 Surfboard/Sailboard resin contains something that is supposed to help it with the ultraviolet light damage that epoxies tend to get.

 

If you are considering doing and amount of real repairs or epoxy work, spring for the ‘mustard pumps’. These little guys are like the things you see in cafeterias, on the big mustard jars. They come in sets of two, with a spacer for one of the pumps which will go in the hardener jug. That way, getting the right amount of resin and hardener is easy; use the same number of ‘pumps’ of resin and hardener. Stir it up and there ya go.

 

Techniques: for epoxy and general ding repair-

 

Mix the resin and hardener first, then add pigment or filler.

 

Epoxy is expensive. And a bitch to sand, especially by hand. So, get clever and don’t put in any more filler than you have to. Likewise, squeegee out excess resin that’s in the cloth.

 

While you can’t use polyester resin on an epoxy board, you can use epoxy resin on a standard board. If you have extra resin mixed up, it won’t do any harm to use it and it just might do a better job on, say, a tail reinforcement or something like that.

 

Epoxies are typically a little thicker than polyester resins, so you will have to use a squeegee to really work the resin into the cloth. Old phone cards and similar items make very good quick and dirty squeegees, as do postcards and similar items.

 

There is a phenomenon called amine blush which some epoxies have, where the stuff gets a pink, purple or brown tint as it hardens. The best way to deal with this is to use a resin-hardener combination that doesn’t blush (like the ones mentioned above ) but you can minimize this by working in a cool, dark place.

 

Polyester resins can be affected by cold temperatures; freeze them and they are never the same. Epoxies don’t seem to have that problem, at least not to the same degree. That doesn’t mean you should store the stuff in your deep-freeze, but it’s okay to keep it in your cellar over the winter. The shelf life is several years….. I’ve had some System Three 112 resin that’s still good after four years.

 

Epoxies, at least the types used for surfboard repair, have a fairly long pot life. What that means is that you can work with a batch for up to an hour or two. This can be good and it can also be bad. The good part is that usually it doesn’t go off suddenly and you can make a good sized batch and do a bunch of dings. The bad part is that you can fiddle with the repair for a long time and generally make it worse with every little bright idea of how to do it better that you have. Resist the temptation to fiddle with it. Really. Go find something else to do for the time it takes to harden. This also goes for any ding repair, think through what you are gonna do before you do it.

Is it dry yet?? The way to figure that out is leave a little in the bottom of your mixing cup. Don’t stick your fingers in the repair. Not only is it a pain to get off your fingers, you can mess up the repair.

Okay, go have a beer. maybe several. As I may have mentioned, these things take a long, long time to dry. when it is dry, sand it and so forth and go surfin' fer cryin' out loud.