Ding repair Question??

well first we need to know if it is an EPS /epoxy or a polyurethane epoxy board. if the foam looks like beads than it is eps if it looks like crushed dust it is poly... if it is EPS do not use poly you will melt you foam...not fun.... as far as bulk what do you mean my idea of bulk is 55 gallons? how much are you looking for, Greenlight has everything from 6 oz of RR epoxy to 6 gallons for retail, as well as q cell and cab. you dont need filler to fix a repair but it does help with strength as well as make it easier to sand and fill larger areas. i wouldn't use 3m that sound more like bondo than epoxy. but i could be wrong you dind't give a product number so... but anyway. make sure you scuff up your area well, clean area, than fill. sand down area flush. lam over area, feather edge. hotcoat area, feather/sand. gloss if you want or do the quick route and acylic clear over it... Hope this helps. oh and just a little teaser sorry i have to but it is just such a misunderstood terminology, all resin can be used on fiberglass... "Fiberglass resin" is actually polyester resin from what you are talking about, but all resin can be used in conjunction with fiberglass cloth. sorry i had to

 

most epoxy resins out that are not surfboard specific resin, they will get brown very fast, if you have a west marine somewhere they sell west systems epoxy. when you are doing ding repairs you will will fill area, than sand down your fill, than laminate over the area with fiberglass and resin, than sand the edges smooth, than apply more resin over the cured resin on the laminated cloth (called the hotcoat because when using poly resin you add more catalyst to kick it hot) than once that hotcoat or fillercoat or leveling coat whatever you want to call it, sand that smooth.

 

Dude... you need a ding guy.

 

2nd West Marine or any local marine shop... sometimes ACE's Hardware has a good selection too, not sure about epoxy tho. Also, almost all surf shops have smaller amount of ding repair kits. Don't mess around with a nice board like your firewire... make sure you know what your doing and use epoxy.... better yet, if you don't know what your doing, return your supplies and get a ding guy.

 

Greenlight will ship to you.

 

Here's your first problem: FireWire. Haha

 

Hey- here is a link with all kinds of info that many people could really benefit from... lots of ideas ect, but its mainly for boat fiberglass repair... but same theory:
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/use-guides/
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/HowTo-Publications/Fiberglass-Boat-Repair-and-Maintenance.pdf
Many of your questions will be answered here along with better step by step instructions.

As far as you question- med size ding- one layer of glass. hot coat is the last coat that you use more catalyst in to make it kick faster and to give it the finish.
As far as making it blend better- I would not do just a hotcoat and just leave it. Some ppl will paint it on with a brush and just leave it. I would continue to sand down the edges slightly to blend in the edges, then work your way down with wetsand paper- 200, 400 to 600 grit, essentially removing all the deep scratches from the sand paper grit previous. As 600 it will appear to be hazy looking. Then use some 1600 grit or 1200 rubbing compound. 3M makes some that you can find at an auto store that works well, i think its called scratch remover, you really gotta work it in of use a buffer. Thats the easiest way without buying lots of extra tools and stuff.
Im sure others have other ways that will work too...

 

the purpose is to seal your lamination and to have a smooth surface once sanded flat. usually small dings use one layer of cloth, 4 oz will feather easier. if you have an orbital sander that is a safer than using a grinder, if not just good old fashion elbow grease. always fill your dings higher than the surrounding area, it is better to sand down than have to fill again.

 

Dude, go to swaylocks.com and just read through the millions of ding repair threads and you will learn everything you need to know. If this is a board you care about and want it to come out as good as new I would say get it done by a pro, by the sounds of it you don't have the tools/experience to do it right. Just a suggestion though.

I learned ding repairs on some old beat up yellow boards and they turned out pretty bad at first. After a while you'll get the hang of it and now I feel much more comfortable repairing my nicer boards.

Get a power sander if you don't already have one, it will save you A LOT of time and will do a much better job.

 

when you laminate and hotcoat the area that you are fixing will now be raised higher than the remainder of the board. feathering is when you are bringing those two uneven parts together to create a nice smooth surface.

 

Yeah man that's true, you'll be good if you do some research. Definitely check out swaylocks.com for some good info and there's a lot of helpful videos on YouTube as well. Just take you're time and I'm sure it will turn out water tight and you'll be good to go. Having the right tools and supplies will make a big difference as well. Good luck man.

 

First... epoxy has to be mixed by the ratios the manufacturer says... EXACTLY. You can't deviate from the prescribed ratios or bad things WILL happen. Extra catalyst is used in hotcoats for poly only. Epoxy and hardener is not a catalytic reaction. It's an additive reaction... one particle of this matches up with one particle of that. A catalyst only speeds up a reaction that will happen on its own by creating a shortcut. Even hotcoats have limits on how much cat you can add before things get funky... yellow, brittle, hot enough to burn foam and fingers...

Second... there's nothing you can do about it now, except grind it all out and do it over. West Marine epoxy tends to be yellow anyway. Surfboard epoxy should have been the call. White paint won't match... it will be whiter to start and stay whiter as the board yellows. But... do whatever you think looks better at this point. Maybe a dab of white EPOXY pigment in the hotcoat?

Third... you should have just taken it to a ding guy, asked a lot of questions, and let him do the work. Maybe even watched, if he'd let you. You need some foundation of knowledge to start, even just doing dings.

 

this is kind of irrelevant to your question but did you ding the wood?