Rescue Paddle Board - fin and ding repair

[K10]

I scored an old Rescue Paddle Board minus the fin and need some help on how to make and install a new one

It’s in pretty good nick despite about a dozen dings that must have been repaired during the great sandpaper famine!

There was no prep or finishing sanding done at all and there was heaps of dry glass poking out of the over sized sloppy repairs, and the resin had turned to a brown rubbery consistency which came off the paint like a scab using a blunt chisel as a scraper.

Anyway I have cleaned up the majority of the bad repairs and left the better ones till I start power sanding and see how they handle that.

The fin was replaced with wood at some stage but has come off(see pic) so I was going to use some marine ply rather than find and foil a suitable glass fin

It will only be used in small surf for a bit of fun but I want to make the fin repair strong just the same.





Here are my questions

I read somewhere that wood and polyester resin don’t mix – should I use epoxy?

The foam is EPS? (Polystyrene beads like an old esky) which I also read doesn’t play well with polyester - Does that mean the resin used was epoxy and therefore should I use epoxy to repair the dings?

Any help would be greatly appreciated guys

[ric_vidal]

Here are my questions

I read somewhere that wood and polyester resin don’t mix – should I use epoxy?

The foam is EPS? (Polystyrene beads like an old esky) which I also read doesn’t play well with polyester - Does that mean the resin used was epoxy and therefore should I use epoxy to repair the dings?

Any help would be greatly appreciated guys

Use epoxy when in contact with the EPS... Selleys make a product called Knead-It Aqua that is good for fixing dings. It is like a putty so you can mould it to an extent, then sand and glass over it. Even use water-based spackle if you want as long as it is glassed over. You can use poly there after as long as the area is well keyed with 36 grit.

Watch epoxy when in volume, it gets hot and can create problems and expands (the Selley’s product doesn’t)

Might be worth putting a box in but you might need to insert some higher density foam first. Some board makers should have some off cuts of PU you could use to put one into. Box will cost about $10 and it might be worth just getting that and a fin from Dion Chemicals if you are on the northern beaches.

[K10]

Thanks Ric
The Knead-It Aqua sounds like a good thing for the smaller dings where I wouldn't use glass anyway

Im' ok with basic dings etc but I think I might take it to a repairer to get the fin box put in
Any suggestions? on the NB

[ric_vidal]

Thanks Ric
The Knead-It Aqua sounds like a good thing for the smaller dings where I wouldn't use glass anyway

Im' ok with basic dings etc but I think I might take it to a repairer to get the fin box put in
Any suggestions? on the NB

Kind of what I am doing these days, K10, down at Pure Surfboards (Cromer). Drop in if you Knead some help.

[Nick Carroll]

K10, don't go the glass-in with the fin, put a box in. It's partly a safety measure. Hit or get hit by a glassed-in fin attached to a 12-kilo ex rescue board and you may well break a bone.

[K10]

Yeah agreed Nick, I looked closer at some of the boards at the club yesterday and Bennett make a rescue board fin for a box so I will try to get one of those and have Ric put it in.

Ric, the Knead It Aqua was dead easy to use, filled most of the smaller dings with it in minutes

I removed the remaining horrible old repairs and most were minor underneath all that excess resin and probably unnecessary glass, except for two on the side and nose where the glass is split right through.

They are too much volume/area for the Selleys stuff and will Knead to be re glassed
I might get some epoxy and glass from FGI and give it a go.
Any tips for working with epoxy as opposed to poly?

Once the repairs are done I will bring it over for the fin box, should I remove all the sh1tty repair resin/glass and wooden fin remnants first? (see pic above) or do you want to see it in all its horribleness?

[ric_vidal]

They are too much volume/area for the Selleys stuff and will Knead to be re glassed
I might get some epoxy and glass from FGI and give it a go.
Any tips for working with epoxy as opposed to poly?

Once the repairs are done I will bring it over for the fin box, should I remove all the sh1tty repair resin/glass and wooden fin remnants first? (see pic above) or do you want to see it in all its horribleness?

K10, if you just Knead some off cuts of glass come and see us, plenty of 6oz pieces floating around at the moment.

You possibly should glass over the Knead-it. You can use poly as long as it is well keyed and there is no contact with the EPS.

Epoxy is much the same as poly but much, much slower, just watch it in any volume, it gets hot and nasty... think melt things.

For bigger stuff you can also get 2 part polyurethane from FGI or I can give you some. Works well with EPS, ’cept the colour. Mix it 50/50, pour and watch it expand 3 times. Watch the nasty fumes though. The sand down and fill the voids with something else then glass over as normal.

[K10]

Thanks for the info and offers Ric

I know its been over a year since my original post but i have finally got the board to the stage where Im ready to do the fin box and paint the bloody thing. (I'm working on it outdoors and have to wait for good weather so I want to finish it this year before winter sets in)

I have fixed all the little holes and cracks (20cent piece size) with the aqua knead it and glassed the major structual damage.
I ended up just chucking some foam pieces in the larger holes which require glassing over but i'm leaving them for when i do the fin box, which I got from Bennetts

It was a very expensive fin and box as I bought 2 boards while I was there, which I have been busy using.

I ran a centre line and marked the fin box location, looks ok based on the remnants of the old builders ply fin which I need to extricate with an angle grinder

My questions in relation to installing the box are
- how much clearance do you leave around and under the box?(for filing with Q cell)
and
- what do you use to get it setup straight vertically, I'm worried it will look true untill I put a fin in it

As for finishing, I plan to skim it with auto filler to fill small dents and other irregularities, then spray can primer/undercoat and spray can paint (from bunnings)

I will chuck some more pics up too before i do any more work, which should be by the end of the month as I'm off to Crescent for the school hols next week.

[ric_vidal]

My questions in relation to installing the box are
- how much clearance do you leave around and under the box?(for filing with Q cell)
and
- what do you use to get it setup straight vertically, I'm worried it will look true untill I put a fin in it

As for finishing, I plan to skim it with auto filler to fill small dents and other irregularities, then spray can primer/undercoat and spray can paint (from bunnings)

I will chuck some more pics up too before i do any more work, which should be by the end of the month as I'm off to Crescent for the school hols next week.

K9 Best option for the fin box is a trimmer/router and jig, but I have done (slowly) with a Stanley, straight edge and chisel. Not sure how thick your glass will be at that point of a rescue.

Clearance we have is about 3mm all sides, underneath can be minimal as the box needs to protrude from the board bottom so it can be ground down flat after the installation. How much it protrudes will depend on the rocker curve through the tail. Rescue board will probably be pretty flat so as long as it protrudes a bit you will be fine. Longboards are generally determined by the tail thickness.

This is important K10...

Paddle board I fixed recently had a block of high density foam (klegecell) to mount the fin box into so I had to fashion another. This I believe is very important if your board is EPS foam as it is so soft that the box will just roll otherwise. HD foam increases the load area and can be glassed in and over. Use anything you can find, even offcuts from a normal PU blank.

The one I did I used carbon fibre around the box itself and also the reinforcing of the bottom. Extra glass in the area BEFORE installation is important, especially when grinding the box flat (ie multiple layers). If you use carbon, just lay another layer or two of e-glass over the top. If (when) you hit the weave you can reapply resin later to keep it smooth.

Remember EPS means epoxy resin must be used, epoxy in volume gets HOT. We use polyester for normal boards and it can be bad enough. We don’t use q-cell with the resin, just white or coloured pigment and have a layer or two of glass around and under the box.

Put resin in the hole first then immerse the box, that way resin will be underneath.

To align, we use an old fin in the box with tape around the base so resin doesn’t get into it and then tape over the top of the fin to keep it true looking from the nose. You may need to dam around the box area with tape or some such to stop the resin running away from the fin area.

Give plenty of time for the resin to cure or the box may separate from the resin around it. It’s not a problem if it does, just doesn’t look the best and reality is resin doesn’t really bond that well to the box material, hence the grooves etc in the unseen part of the box.

If using epoxy you may need to consider a multiple fill approach. Do a bit, let it set and cool, then do another fill and let it do the same. I say this as I have seen some nastiness when redoing FCS plugs with ’poxy.

See ya at Crescent, I’ll be the old, crippled carnt on either a stripped carbon bottom/rail mal or one with mottled blue and black down just one side.

[K10]

Thanks ric

It all sounds too hi tech for a neanderthal with an angle grinder like me

I see what you mean about the EPS and the fin box, whoever put the builder's ply fin in put lots of wood shavings and crap around the base so fark knows whats under it, once thats removed it will need something substantial for the fin box to be mounted in

I will drop it over when I get back from Hols

PS I will be up there from this Sat to next Sat and I will be on a new blue and purple Bennett mal and I wear a gay looking hat