Should I repair myself or bring to surfshop?

how nice is the board? if it was new a shop fix would be good but most dings are easy to fix by your self.

 

I would say try it yourself with some simple suncure (large container costs like 10 bucks at the local surf shop). Take your time repairing it and get some good sanding on it to smooth out any imperfections. If you don't like your fix then you could always take back to the shop to repair it.

 

I'd learn to do it your self. If you are a serious surfer who surfs a lot dings are something that are gonna happen and you can't wait 3-4 weeks everytime your board gets a ding or needs repair. Not to mention the money it'll cost.

Chances are your first repairs will not be good but will get the job done. The more you do the better you'll get.

 

Is that a nose ding? Tail of a fish? Hard to tell from the photo. Ding repair is not rocket science but there are a lot of little tricks to learn - often the hard way - rebuilding a nose/tail might not be the best place to start off as there are a number of steps involved. If it is a beater board or don't mind showing your wounds or having to make a second or third try, definitely go for it. There is lots to learn and you feel pretty good when it comes out well. On the other hand, if you want it to look "good as new" or are thinking about resale, then bring it in and have someone else do it. Austin and crew in VA beach will do a great job for you.

 

P.S. Sorry to have to say this - and no disrespect Dalarast, but gobs of suncure are not a repair for a ding this size, it is leakproofing so you can surf until you can get the job right. I often use a waterproof epoxy paste to seal it up so I can surf a few days (comes in a stick, cut off a piece and mix the two bits together with your fingers - Home Depot glue department - this stuff even cures underwater!) If seals the wounds, waterproofs, then sands off pretty easily when you are ready to do the real repair. If it is a poly-resin board, make sure you get ALL the epoxy residue off before you do the real repair. Poly does not bond to the left over epoxy paste.

 

No disrespect to anyone but that's a pretty good ding on the tail and in all honestly those are pretty tough to fix if you have never done it, I would bring in to the shop and have them fix it the right way, it would be worth the little bit of cash you would spent... and pmoos is right Suncure is not the answer.

 

I'd say bring it to the shop if you've never done any ding repair. If it was a rail ding that would be a different story because there are no sharp corners and all you'd have to do is sand around the area, fill with q-cell then patch it up with fiberglass. The tail of a fish is a real b$#@h to do. For you it would probably take a couple of pours of q-cell just to get the shape back. Then you'd have to glass the ding. Like I said if you have never worked with fiberglass before getting the wrap of that sharp of a corner would be very frustrating for you. Save yourself a headache and take it to the shop. Meanwhile if you do have a beater board thats got some minor dings that would be a great board to learn repairs on.

 

YouTube brah YouTube ... You can do it!

 

Your best bet would probably be to take it to a shop. i do ding repair for local surfshops and turnaround time for me is about a week. from the picture it looks like its not too big of a chunk out of the tail but it would need some experience to be able to shape it back correctly. i would say anywhere from 35-50.

 

Id say it would run at about $35. From the look of the 1st pic it looks like the other tail has some minor damage as well, you should have them fix both so you dont have to bring the board in again.

 

You good bro. True that suncure will not be a perm fix; but its quick and easy and gets him back in the water. It's summer flat season so could be a good time to try a perm fix or use the shop.

Now repairing a board with a good portion of a tail off of it I don't know if that will an easy thing to learn on as your looking at more possible structure damage and really have to get the glassing right so not to lose any of the shape of the board. Try some minor deck damage repairs first just to get the hang of it.

 

If ya love to surf n don't feel confident after looking it up on u tube take it to your local shop. If ya want to learn talk to them and ask to watch them. If they let ya watch them show ya, ur in a good place. They understand u want to learn n ur in it for the long haul. We all ain't rich n should pass it down. Good luck

 

suncure and solarez sun curing products can be used for permanent repair.

there is not too much magic or science behind a ding repair.
for what you have, I would probably just use a sun curing type of product that has fiberglass chopped up in
the mixture.
clean out the area of loose or weakened surfboard fiberglass and debris.
then use sand paper to scour up or rough up the glass area so the sun curing resin has something to grab onto.
then in the shade put your sun curing in the ding and around about 1/2 inch past the damage.
take it out to sun. after it cures sand it to the shape of the tail. rough grain first to shape, then smooth out with a fine grain sand paper.

 

The problem i have found with suncure products is that they get really brittle after a while. its like it doesn't stop curing. i only use it for patches on small dings so i can surf before i do a permanent fix.

 

if the ding is too deep you can't use it as the uv rays won't be able to penetrate throughout. I'd say the deepest ding I would use it with is the max... 1/2 inch deep and that would be pushing it. In that case Id use regular filler with resin and hardner. then top thin layer of suncure type resin.

 

always a good idea to sand up the suncure resin to sort of give it a top layer that isn't clear. that would disperse the uv rays to prevent them from penetrating below.