Thruster to 5-fin conversion: Step by Step

And the saga continues…work has been pretty brutal the last week or so but I was able to get an hour or so this morning and get some work done on the board—by the way its freezing—and I hate sanding with gloves! I haven’t really said this before….but step-by-step may be a bit of a misnomer. Really just a few tips for those of you interested in doing your own work on your board…however, some of the tips here could benefit one of you if you do it on your own. That and sways…
Sanding this board is a bit brutal as is sanding most boards from Global Surf…they must use a sub-standard epoxy and polyurethane resin as most of the resins melt rather than “sand.” Typically, I use a lower grit to get around this issue, but I was in a rush this morning and sanded the board with 100 grit. Can’t beat the weight of the Milwaukee 5540 grinder/polisher, but when sanding an entire board it does get a bit heavy. Regardless, I have been a longtime fan of the medium flex pad pretty versatile. But if I had the funds I’d get a soft-pad/super soft pad. Anyway, typically sanding prior to routing is ideal and due to the working around the routes I cut in a little too heavy as you can tell. I try to always let the sander do the work…but again I was rushing it a bit—also, notice how they printed the Global label right on to the board…and now it is no more ;-)





Now that board is prepped…I get everything else ready. Get all my gear into one place cut out my patches and also sand my boxes. Given the updated futures box…this is really not needed, but I still think that a mechanical adhesion, especially within EPS, benefits the box. Prep my boxes with tape and time to set these bad boys in…

 

I’m a fan of thinning out epoxy…just makes things easier for me. Plus I’m running out…and heating it up in the microwave helps me get a majority of it out of the container…30 sec or less should do (nt., I don’t put this in our cooking microwave—hope none of you do this as well). Then it’s onto glassing in the boxes—I usually use a brush and baste the entire footprint in resin prior to filling in half the deep route/footprint. Part of the reason for this is the fact that in the past I’ve had issues wherein the EPS absorbed too much of the resin into the foam and found dry areas around the upper route—the updated futures box should remedy this…but old habits right! After filling in the deeper route to about half-way up…I drop in the box and make sure its level with the flange route. The best part of this install with the new future box is less bubbles around the outside of the box itself. Then I lay down two layer of glass and done (nt., also a side note for some of you…I’ve a huge fan of using 4oz. warp on these type of installs. )…let this bad boy cure and come home tonight to sand and hotcoat.






Hopefully be able to post a few more pics tonight of the sanding and hotcoating process…after that my sanding process and done. My PT guy said I have a few more weeks until my shoulder is 100% then I’ll be getting this bad boy in the water! Stoked!!!!

 

Well...sanded a bit tonight and sadly the resin is still a bit gummy--that's what I get for using slow hardener in a cool basement in winter. As you can see...once the resin begins to smudge time to lay off it. Used a hard disk with 60 grit...no bueno! However a bit of heat for 40-60 minutes and I'll likely be good to go. However, I'll probably sand it after shoveling tomorrow. Thankfully... I've learned long go that everything is fixable...On a better noted the fin cant looks great!!!

 

As i stated earlier...a bit of heat cured up the resin pretty quickly...after a quick sand...and then prepping the boxes..I'm good to go for the hotcoat. Side note: quick tip for those of you doing ding repair...always tape off your glass/hotcoat. Makes sanding 10x easier. Back to the board itself, after prepping the boxes, a quick wipe down with denatured alcohol and mixed my resin and then paint it on...used the fast hardener and should be solid tomorrow--a final sand and polish and I'll be finished. Also, just a heads up...the Reason my rear boxes have a blue hue is because of the optical brightener used in the Resin Research Ph formula. Looks great in a lam--makes the board very white, but I just can't get the stuff to clear up with a fill of any sort...regardless...I like it.




I'll finish up tomorrow and post the final product...Hope everyone has a safe evening and morning commute...already snowing here in SNJ.

 

Well finished up sanding the board is morning and everything went incredibly well...food for thought when doing ding repair, etc. make sure you hotcoat is relatively thin--helps incredibly when sanding. If you keep it thin you can start at a higher grade sand paper. Used the polisher/grinder for both the 150 and 220. Then just wet started the wet sanding by hand from 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200. Then I do a quick polish and call it a day. Came out great over all and happy with the results. You really can't tell but there is a adhesion line with the original resin, but I don't expect any flaking, or anything of that nature...just can tell the different types of resin used on the board. Threw some older fins in so you can get a sense of how it looks overall. After I get back in the water (have another week or so of PT for a shoulder issue) I'll post up a ride report. Lmk if you have any questions...

 

Thanks for the tips LB...I would have used kwick kick but I'm outta hardener. I originally got the container of PH when it first came out from Brian (Greenlight) as I wanted to give it a whirl. On one of my first applications was for a broken box...guy tripped out a bit that the fill was blue when he picked up his board. Never heard back from him---most of my other fills have been with qcell, etc. Good call though...I'll definitely use your suggestion in the future. Funny with all the shenanigans on swaylocks nice to get some good info. on this board.

Just as an aside in general, for the hotcoat I mixed an older container (like 2 years old) of the original 2000 with about 1/2oz of the PH. Love how heating the resin (the older 2000)--even when it's solid--you can resurrect it.