2 posts
Hi guys, I'm just starting to get into kiteboarding and on a trip down to Melbourne to Sydney my board came off by car and some ran it over in a 4x4. Somehow though it looks like it could be repaired as it has only a couple a cracks, the biggest is about 2 inches.
Anyone now of a decent place to take it to get repaired in Melbourne, I'm in southbank, but work out towards the east of the city. Would prefer a place that could turn it around quickly and could drop off today.
Thanks in advance,
Jason
VIC
4501 posts
Stonker make their own boards so they should be able to do it, but they are out torquay way
VIC
2777 posts
whatever you do do not use the board while it is cracked, if you get water in the cracks it will ruin the core and it will never be the same.
If you have already been in the water leave the board in the sun for a day or two and you will actually begin to see the water seeping out of the cracks.
I have had some sucess using fibreglass resin stuff... ( not the fabric stuff just the two part hardener ) apply it reasonably liberally and then sand back with some wet and dry paper. How well it works depends on the location of the cracks and the amount of flex the board uses at that point. After about a month the cracks in mine started to open again.
But it may be enough to see you out on your trip.
VIC
1614 posts
I don't know of anywhere specifically but anyplace that uses epoxy and fibreglass should be able to do a basic job. That would include sailboard repairers, boat builders, and who knows what other folk, but not surfboard guys as they'll be using polyester resin in general.
For DIY, resin by itself won't do much unless you're clamping up a delamination. For most larger dings you'll want to sand it back to the laminate and then glass it. Two layers of 4oz should be enough for most dings.
Rather than put a filler coat on you can save a step by pressing down some plastic over the glass once it's wet out and in place. Take care with epoxy though, it's nasty stuff, even though it doesn't have much of an odour.
