I want to start doing my own board repairs and fiberglass work cuz I'm sick of the sun cure fix and paying other people. What products/tools do I need to get started repairing some spots? Any tips on repairs?
You need fiberglass (duh), laminating resin, sanding resin ("hot coat"), and fiberfill (if there's a hole to be filled). The resins will also need hardener too, or else it'll never cure. If you have a disk sander, your life will be much easier, just be sure not to sand your repaired glass off.
a sur-form helps (its like a rasp-helps with big chunky stuff that would be a pain to sand) several grades of sand paper up to the finest you can get. i guess the most important would be one heavy one medium and two really lightwieghts that you can also wet sand with. wet sanding means you use water on the surface to be sanded while you sand. i dont believe you can do this with all sand paper so ask if your at the store and not sure. you may not be able to get a gloss coat finish with out something to polish with a stand or sawhorses would also be awesome and something i wish i had. tape suplies of course. and also patience and think things through. when you drop that hardener in sheet can kinda hit the fan all of a sudden. just take your time and think about how the way you repair it will help or hinder you in finishing the ding. i guess that makes sense. i dont do the best repairs but i have no power tools so i just have functional ones. make sure you saturate the cloth completly with resin or it will leak. try not to sand through the cloth either or it will probably leak.
The equipment you need really depends on what kind of repairs you plan on doing. For most minor dings, cracks, and gashes all you need is suncure and sandpaper. Its simple and functional. Larger dings? Then you'll need fiberglass, thickener, laminating resin, sanding resin and more equipment... respirator, disk sander, squeegee, latex gloves, and good tape just to name a few. Large delams? Then your talking about getting a vaccum pump. Fin box/ leash plug repairs? Now you need a router, templates, and access to boxes and plugs. Plan to do epoxy boards or surftechs? Then you'll need some epoxy resin and it would be a good idea to learn about the different core and skin materials, composite construction and vaccum bagging. NOTE: PE resin will dissolve EPS, the core of most epoxy boards. If you want your repairs to look good youll need some pigments and/or an airbrush set up. Like anything, the equipment you need depends on the job you want to do. Unless you plan on doing a lot of boards the setup costs will be pretty high. I say stick with the suncure and let a pro handle the major repairs.
You can do a lot of repairs with just a few tools. Get some Sun Cure Resin, not the gel, but an actual bottle of resin. Get some fiberglass cloth, several different grits of sand paper, and some type of filler for holes. Practice on a beater board. Do research and ask shappers/ding repair guys for tips .
