fixing a delam

I've done this and it works pretty well. Easier than cutting the whole piece out. Depends on how much you love this board. If it's your "go to" than cut it all out and re-glass. If you don't do anything, the delam will grow, and the board will weaken, maybe, even break.

 

And better cosmetically, too.

 

I was always a promoter of cutting the area and reglassing - UNTIL it happened to a favorite board of mine with color on the deck. I let it sit for years and then last summer had an idea - along with the help from the wonderful guys at my local shop- GreenLight in squan!
The idea is this- vacuum bagging! It sounds crazy.... I know... But I did it and its WAY better then anything else and the results are better then anything else I have tried! I actually use this method for other glass repairs now too!

Here's what you gotta do- I did take pics at the time but I don't have them or the time to find and post. If I find them I will post....

What you need-
-Old vacuum with hose attachment- dont use your wife's or mothers- I found mine in the garbage
-A vacuum bag from Walmart or somewhere -large enough to cover the ding plus. They are the vacuum bags that you store cloths in and have an attachment for a vacuum hose
-a disposable syringe or a smaller sized turkey Baster
-packaging tape or clay
-resin

First cut a slit at one or both ends of the delam- so you can fit your syringe in to fill the whole area

Fill the whole area with resin- I put masking tape around the slit so when resin flows out its easy to clean up

Have the bag ready before- cut the bag so you have the vacuum port and enough plastic to cover the area. Secure the bag on the board covering the area- with packaging tape or clay- maybe try this first without resin and connect the vacuum - it should suck the delam flat to the board and actually tighten up the whole board! It takes a few min

So go at! Fill it up and hook up the vacuum! I taped my vacuum to the vacuum port and let it run the whole time the resin was hardening

Wish I could write more- but you get the idea... Right? Or am I just crazy... Idk... But it works great!

 

OK! Sooo i found the pics of the repair!
Check out the disposable pipettes that I used to inject the resin... these things worked great! Amazon.com "Samco 263 extra long" i think the 23ml size. Although you will have to cut the end hole bitter since the resin is so thick....
This is basically the same method as cutting a slit in the glass and laying something heavy on it to wieght it down... although this will give you a better and more acurate adheasion and it actually makes the board feel tighter if you dont have any other dings to let out the vacuum...

 

Just throwing this out there...

Best Thread! Thank you guys! I applied the peel-back method to repairing a soft spot on my board. Worked like a charm. Great info and keep it up!

I look forward to riding her tomorrow, good or mediocre waves