Hi all,

I have an old windsurfer in my shed, a Jump City, foam / fibreglass construction. I have no idea what type of foam, but the glass has chipped away in two or three very small areas leaving some foam exposed. The foam is soft in these areas and very fine. It kind of has the consistency of expandable foam and leaves a dent if poked. I would say (but not certain) that most of the fibre glass would be fairly weak, perhaps due to sun damage or water impregnation.

My intention:

Cut the board down the middle, add a little width to the board by gluing foam between the two halves, blending the shape, and reglassing in the form of a stand up board.

My questions:

What adhesive to use? I guess this depends on the type of foam. Some may degrade the foam. Is there a universal product which will work no matter what?

Do I need to remove all existing fibre glass from the board before reshaping and glassing?

How can I alter the graphics without affecting the construction / adhesion of the new fibreglass?

Thanks,

Chris.

^^^ What he said

grandfromage said...

I'm more interested in messing around and doing it on the cheap than coming out of it with a quality product, but i hear what you're saying. The existing shape could work though i reckon.

Old windsurfers suck big time as stand up paddleboards Havnt seen a good one yet, they are so heavy, wrong rocker, plan shape, unbalanced, ugly etc..

Its a doable option, theres a few guys in Adelaide that have done this, there boards have turned out pretty good. I have just finished second board ready for glassing, I started with a 01 JP wave 72, I put tail rocker in before I cut down the middle. I did this by cutting grooves across the board starting just behind front tail pad ( about 6 cuts all up) I used a bit of weight on the deck to create rocker. To bond it I mixed up epoxy resin and Q cells. I used a band saw to slice it down the middle and then added 9 inches of EPS in between (bonded with same mix). You dont need to take off all existing glasss you just need to sand it to roughen it up so new resin/glass bonds. I've made this board 7'4 x 30 x 4, it weighjs 5.8kg before glassing which isn't that heavy compared to production boards. The hardest part is lining to halves up so they are even when you are bonding with EPS. Good luck

Grandefromage,

Drop a PM to Boardbumps and ask Rod Hocker what glue to use and any other questions you may habe I am sure he would tell you he is a great guy!

Phill

Great stuff there lads.

Bit more positive than initial responses! When you have an idea in your head and someone tells you your wasting you time, all be it meant with the best intentions, it sparks that little extra determination, will see how we go.

Rod is a wealth of knowledge. I have spoken to him before re paddle manufacture. Top bloke indeed.

Thanks for your all your help.

Chris.