How To: Broken surfboard repair by DingDrx

[@live4thetruth]

Step by step on how to work miracles! By far the best broken board repair vid in the cosmos.

[@dannydonnelly8345]

#1broken board repair, Brilliant!

[@bananabreacher]

Thanks for posting this man. My stewart decided it didn't like its nose anymore.

[@bombsqaud558]

Yep! Nice job! G,day from West Australia!

[@staticclay]

Ding Drx is a legend.

[@hoveasy]

Very professional, thanks for the video.

[@chloestafford926]

Hey, thanks so much for this vid. be great to get a shopping list?

[@cameraman2149]

Great video! Hopefully you see this. But I got a pretty clean snapped board. What oz cloth do you recommend for a poly board 4oz or 6oz? Also did you put two layers of cloth on the deck and bottom deck? It goes lamination resin and then sanding resin right? I’ve also heard you are not supposed to sand laminating resin. But I see you did or did you apply something else. Thanks :)

[@dingdrx]

Where did you see me sand laminating resin??? Do not try to sand laminating resin. Do exactly the same thing I did in this vid. The only difference for you is to use laminating resin first then sanding resin just like you said. You’ll still finish off with a final sanding resin coat, exactly as in the vid. Good luck 👍🏽

[@tannersanders1709]

List of materials and where to buy?

[@middleagedshred]

Great guide and repair method man....hope its ok if I link this as the tutorial I followed for a snapped board repair montage vid that I have done.

[@dingdrx]

Definitely! Go right ahead 🤙🏽

[@middleagedshred]

@@dingdrx Thanks man..i,m honoured...repair seems to be holding,.. i,ll try not to nosedive it into dumping shorebreak again...)

[@dingdrx]

@@middleagedshred surf the hell out of it!

[@middleagedshred]

@@dingdrx Will do..glad I could resore it..I was gonna turn it into a shorter board until I saw your way of fixing it..No popsicle sticks required...)

[@jonathanmccorriston3408]

Great instruction. Thanks for the effort to do this. How would you approach a long board with a nose break that has not broken the top glass of the board, just bottom, foam and stringer? I am thinking trim jaggered stringer and foam, align board so top layer is in the right curve, fill gap with epoxy and micro bubbles, reinforce stringer with string and resin like you taught, then re-glass bottom and sides like you taught. Does that seem reasonable?

[@dingdrx]

Hey Jonathan, thank you and great question. What you’re describing is a buckle and those need to be dealt with almost the same way. You’ll need to go ahead and break open the crack allowing you to fill it with the same microballoon/epoxy mix. Be careful not to break the undamaged fiberglass. Then align it accordingly. No need to trim the foam, possibly the stringer but usually it’s fine. Then reinforce the stringer as shown and proceed to glass one side and rails as shown. You may need to increase the length of your laps but that’s it. Sounds like you have a good idea on what to do.

[@marieberteloot916]

Really good video ! I've shoose your way to fix my board. Is there a particular reason you have put the fiberglass on the bottom of the board ? I was gonna put it on top...but didn't do it yet. Thank you

[@marieberteloot916]

oups sorry. i watched it again. you've pot fiberglass on both side ;) Thanks for the vid

[@naalekker]

Hey, do you not get a raised bump by glassing straight over the original glass?

[@dingdrx]

Good question! When you prep the surface for cloth, you remove enough material to prevent this from happening. You also need to make sure to blend the old and new material once you’re ready to sand the newly applied resin and cloth. Hope that helps. My apologies for the delay in responding.

[@lancetaylor1810]

Hey DrDing...awesome vid great help, my board came up like new...no issues at all...thanks heaps Cheers L

[@dingdrx]

Nice! Glad the video helped

[@garyh4458]

That stringer isn't just there for show. It adds a ton of strength.

[@dingdrx]

@@garyh4458 exactly! But it still needs to flex. However If you create a stiff spot then the forces applied to that area which are normally evenly absorbed and displaced by the original flex pattern, will suddenly become amplified by the stiff section and directly applied to the area where the repair stops, causing a new buckle or break. This is the most common mistake made by the average repair specialist.

[@garyh4458]

@@dingdrx All you would need to do is put some wood glue on the string and push it together with the rest of it.

[@dmac5678]

Why did you do a final lam coat when you already did a filler/hot coat. Also I thought laminating resin can’t be sanded easily

[@mikebula]

Sick video dude! Thanks for sharing 👍

[@juanmanuelgomez7814]

Hey great video!! Just a question, my board broke in half but is still attatched with The fiberglass in The bottom, should i cut it and then join The 2 half or is better to fill The gap and once its cured cut The buckle in The bottom? There is also some peces of The foam a little bit loose, i take those out or is better to Just leave them there and soak them in resin and q cell. Cheers!!

[@dingdrx]

Hey Juan, great question... DO NOT cut the fiberglass on the bottom. Use some board horses to support the two ends of the board with the split side facing upward. Then mix your epoxy and microballon filler so it can be poured into the crack. Try to get the consistency of something like honey... Use your hand to push up on the board in the middle to open the crack and make plenty of room to pour in the epoxy mixture. Then, place a weight onto the board to apply downward pressure which will squeeze the two pieces together. It is important to choose the correct weight and place it properly in order to restore the rocker to it's original curve. If the weight is too heavy and it is placed directly in the middle near the crack then your board will likely cure with a kink, adding more rocker. By placing the weight closer towards the tail or the nose of the board you can decrease the pressure and therefore decrease the unwanted additional pressure that will increase the rocker. If the weight is placed too far onto the tail or the nose, even onto the other side of the board horse, then the weight will cause the board to rise in the center and create a negative rocker... Just keep this in mind when you are placing the weight and do your best to restore the rocker back to it's original position. Then do everything else the same, minus the new piece of cloth on the bottom side. Hope this is helpful

[@MegaMarkho]

Best method I've seen so far. Thanks so much for this vid! Question, i have a snapped longboard, and saw another approach to reinforcing the stringer with 1/4" plywood strips along the stringer, instead of how you use cloth strips. Is there much a difference in strength?

[@dingdrx]

Glad you like the vid! Good Question on the plywood, I'm familiar with that method. Although that method is better than many other ones, it's not nearly as good as this one. The plywood method is ugly, it gives you much less control of the strength, it's a nightmare to sand and it is much heavier. You don't want to or need to make the board thousands of times stronger in the middle, that is just ridiculous. The best strength is the strength that was there before the board even broke. The fin rope method gives you complete control of the strength, the color and you can even curve it around fin boxes when boards break right in front of a fin box. It's light weight and the materials are easy to obtain and sand. In fact if you master this technique you can even restore the original flex that the board had before it broke. Try both ways and I guarantee you will never choose plywood ever again. Cheers

[@jeremezuanich1444]

@@dingdrx I broke a FireWire with parabolic bolsa rails about 2" above the fins, considering the placement of those "stringers" how would you adopt this method to repair that board? It is also not PU....

[@dingdrx]

@@jeremezuanich1444 great question! You use the exact same methods. Place the fin rope along the two stringers instead of the center and cut your cloth longer on the rails and shorter in the center. Pretty much the inverted version of the pattern used on a standard blank. Hope that helps.

[@jeremezuanich1444]

@@dingdrx Thank you so much! I am going to go for it!

[@jeremezuanich1444]

@@dingdrx Hi Ding Drx! So I buckled a second PU board and there is a clear fold point effecting the rocker though all the obvious damage is to the top of the deck, how do I properly, "unfold" the board, as I read you recommend leaving intact glass( I have seen other vids suggesting you just finish snapping the whole thing...)

[@sambasscello]

cool instructional video. i actually started step one: gluing the board back together. i have a question. this board is snapped right along the front of the futures fin boxes (thruster, front fins). also, a good portion of the glass was ripped off the bottom during the snap. the rail wrap to the bottom is all good at least an inch around the bottom pereimiter., but a good 60-70% of the glass on the bottom is gone.including some glass missing on the fin boxes (fin boxes still in the foam), i was planning on glassing the bottom, and overlapping the new glass just slightly on the outline of the old glass. the shape of the foam is still great.. on the deck, almost all the glass save around the snap line is totally intact. i have all the supplies, and it was a brand new board. good idea? bad idea? ditch the board? go for it? tips? thanks sam

[@dingdrx]

Sam, I didn't mean to take this long to get back to you. I had no idea I was getting questions on this. I guess I need to pay closer attention on here... Your repair job is a complicated one for sure. It can definitely be repaired and I have some awesome techniques to deal with the glass delimitation. I know exactly what you're talking about concerning the position of the break near the fin box and I've got some techniques on that as well. These are much more technical issues to deal with and you've inspired me to make some new videos to address these types of repairs. Thank you for the question

[@paultaylor8416]

I have an old sup I’d like to put a new lamination on the entire top of the board wrapped round to the bottom for extra strength before I repaint. is this possible if the board is sanded for a key?

[@dingdrx]

Yes, it is possible

[@rodlakvadl]

How do you prevent fisheyes on the two last coats? Ive been trying to repair a epoxy ding on my surfboard here in Norway and all of the coated surface was covered in fisheyes. I sanded down the highspots after laminating, and then waited until the next day before I put on the next coat. Did the repair in the garage, where its a bit cold. Great video btw, thanks!

[@dingdrx]

Eirik Roalkvam You have to keep the surface very clean

[@Cuisinenomade1]

Hey my friend! I got a Broken board, it is almost new yet it is really light but at the same time it feels really weak, I mean almost feels like it will break by looking at it. So here is my question is there a way to reinforce the whole board after fixing the broken part? I mean can I just sand the whole thing and add an extra layer of fiber glass, top and bottom, with epoxy resin? The board is a PU board by the way. Or should I just take all the glass off and do it again with epoxy to make it stronger? Or is there another method to reinforce a weak board? Thanks before hand!

[@dingdrx]

Dude… Just get a new board… If you bought a lightweight, fragile board, then when you fix it, it should be a lightweight fragile board. If you don’t want a lightweight fragile board, you need to buy one that isn’t lightweight and fragile.

[@Cuisinenomade1]

@@dingdrx haha ok. I didn't buy it i recovered it from some one else thinking it was possible to repair. It's hard for me to enter that "disposable mentality " where surfers SAY they take care and worry about the ocean and then make and buy disposable boards, buy a new board, break it, throw it away and repat. First i am not a "first world rich emperialist" and second why would surfers, or anyone for that matter, love the ocean PROFIT FROM IT! and then build or buy a bunch of disposable boards full of toxic materials that will end up in the ocean? That MAKES NO SENSE IN MY WORLD! so i wanna give second life to the boards rich eurpean kids dispose in their disposable, consumerist mad worlds... but thanks anyway. I'll keep asking! Cheers!

[@dingdrx]

@@Cuisinenomade1 It is possible to repair… If you know what you’re doing, you can repair every type of ding, and break imaginable. However you’re going to have to buy those toxic chemicals that are destroying the planet. Keep in mind, unless you have a fully ventilated and filtered room and a professional company coming to pick up your waste, then the amount of toxic crap you’ll be releasing into the atmosphere will be far greater then what the pros are releasing when they build those brand new boards for the rich kids. Trust me, I’ve been in both the manufacturing and also the repair business for a long time, and there is nobody on this planet that can answer the question you asked me, better than me. You can always keep asking around until you finally get the answer you want, but if that’s what you’re gonna do then why waste your time, just do whatever you wanna do and learn the hard way. That’s how I learned… Anyways, good luck in your quest to save the planet 👍🏽

[@OUTDOORSWITHDOMINGO]

Thanks for posting this method ,def going to try it ( on got a couple of Sharp Eyes that I broke .ha,ha )

[@brodymclean5349]

and how much total epoxy did you use?

[@ryantolhurst9925]

If I have portions of delam, should I cut those away exposing the foam? Or try to glue them back down?

[@dingdrx]

Ryan Tolhurst Great question! I'm assuming the delam is on the deck... The best way to fix this is by sticking it back down with epoxy resin. Make a cut down the side of the stringer slightly longer than the length of the delam. Put the board on its side and pour the resin into the cut making sure to completely fill the bubble. Then put the board flat and press the area down as tight as possible. If you have to, put the board on the ground and walk on the delaminated area, pressing out all the excess epoxy as the epoxy cures. I recommend adding some microballoons to the epoxy until it is white. Not too much though because you want it to stay runny. Once the resin has cured enough to stick than you can go ahead and scrape off all the excess resin. When it has fully cured you can then go ahead and fix the cut you made in the beginning. This is the number one best method. It is easier, stronger and looks way better than any other method. I'll work on that for my next video. Thanks for the great question. Let me know how it comes out.

[@cuonawv]

Great Video.. Are you using 4oz cloth??

[@dingdrx]

3:40 seconds in...

[@brodymclean5349]

what exactly is the cloth/string you put in the board to reinforce the stringer? Like what would I look up to get what I need

[@dingdrx]

What’s up Chako! Thanks for checking out my vid! You wanna use fin rope. You can find it at surfer supply, here is a link to the stuff you need for the stringer reinforcement shapersupply.com/collections/other-reinforcements/products/fin-rope you can get the rest of the materials you need from them as well. Remember, you want the board to be as strong as it was before it broke, not stronger... So don’t over do it...

[@dingdrx]

If your board is epoxy then you’ll need about 16oz of epoxy resin to 8oz of hardener, maybe more to be safe if it’s your first time. If it’s a polly board then you can get less because you’ll be laminating the board with regular resin. If that part sounds confusing let me know and I’ll help walk you through it 🤙🏼

[@Chaseracer]

DinDrx have a question for you, i buckled one of the wings on my swallowtail Round Nose Fish. Its just barely hanging on by the top glass layer. one of the futures fin boxes is also caved in from the buckle. Just wondering if you think its worth the $ to try and repair it...Im in Dana Point, close by. I'm on the fence whether to have Cole shape a new one or try and salvage this thing. It still fresh, maybe 10 surfs on it. Thanks for any input!

[@dingdrx]

Definitely worth fixing! On a scale of 1 to 5 with a five being the worst, the ding you described is maybe a 3. Rout out the finbox and fix the buckle, then deal with resetting the finbox after the buckle is repaired. No problem

[@arielp1207]

what if the board is stringer less. parabolic rail that snaps in 2 two? is glassing enough to support the compression on the broken line?

[@dingdrx]

Apologies for the late response... The repair you need is definitely going to be a little different. The board you are talking about is epoxy (I'm assuming) which is actually pretty strong. The pattern you cut out of the glass will need to be different, opposite of this type in the video. The middle should be shorter and the sides wider. The glass on the rails needs to be built up to maybe three layers... I'll need to make a video to address this type of repair. Anyways, thank you for the question and I will consider you when I get this type of repair again.

[@dudeleboski2692]

Does polyester stick to epoxy?

[@dingdrx]

Yes it does. just avoid any contact with the foam.

[@MrAmackean]

Where do buy all the supplies?

[@dingdrx]

Hey Andy, I know you probably already figured this out and to be honest, I'm not really sure where you can go unless you are either in Orange county or San Diego... If you want to make an online purchase I would recommend checking out Shapers Supply on IG, they have everything you would possibly need. Thanks for the question and I hope this helps you in the future.

[@EZkauai]

I thought laminating resin was used when glassing the board, not for the finish coat. Nice video though

[@dingdrx]

Well you thought wrong... First off this board is epoxy so laminating it with laminating resin would melt any exposed foam and turn it into goo. Secondly if you pay closer attention and watch the video again, you'll notice that I combined surfacing agent with the laminating resin for the final coat (Check 5min 50sec in)... This is how sanding resin is made. Sanding resin is the same as laminating resin, except it has surfacing agent also known as waxing agent added to it. You do this as a finish coat on epoxy boards because adding more epoxy as a finish coating causes fish eyes that are a nightmare to sand out. Gotta pay attention to the details there dude. Anyways, thanks for watchin

[@EZkauai]

​@@dingdrx Wasn't sure if the board was epoxy or not. I'm planning to do this with a PU board. Can I get away with just using sanding resin for the glassing and finishing? I usually just use sanding resin for my glassing and finishing on normal sized dings. But I'm curious because this is a way more critical project.

[@dingdrx]

@@EZkauai Yes this board is epoxy. I'll try and make that more clear so people know. The answer to your question is yes. However, the quality of the repair will be much worse. The reason is because the sanding resin used to saturate the cloth will not have good adhesion with the sanding resin used to hotcoat the lamination. You can sand the lamination but you will cut into the cloth and compromise its strength. You are much better off just getting laminating resin and then later adding the surfacing agent to turn it into sanding resin when you need it.

[@EZkauai]

@@dingdrx Right on thanks for the help

[@camiologytv7149]

Ny befock 🤙🏽

[@robquinn2133]

This is fifty year old technique. Works but destroys the ride and the balance of the board. Adds a ton of weight and changes the bottom rocker.

[@dingdrx]

How could it be a fifty year old technique when epoxy resin wasn't even being used until maybe about 20 years ago??? My rocker comes out perfect every time, the difference in weight and flex is not even noticeable. Sounds like you need a new repair guy dude

[@bombsqaud558]

Considering a new lost mayhem cost 1200 bucks in West Australia. It's money we'll spent. I'll be using this 50 year old technique! Thanks for the video!