How to fix a surfboard splited in two

• Sebas R


• 3 Mar 2016

Yes, a surfboard split in two can be fixed, and in this article we will explain how. It isn’t easy and is a delicate task, but if you follow the steps of this tutorial, are meticulous, and have the right materials, it is possible.

1/ Align the two pieces of the surfboard

The first step is to align the two pieces of the board with the surfboard’s rocker in mind. First remove the fiberglass from each side of the crack, about 20-25 cm from the crack. Use a cutter for this to mark the limit of where you want to remove the fiberglass, and then remove it by hand.

From each side of the stringer, remove a foam layer the thickness of your wood strip, so that you can insert the new stringer into this slot. Using a mixture of resin and glass microballs, stick the two pieces of the board together, and the two strips of wood on each side of the board’s central stringer. With the leftover resin, fill all holes that are left, on both sides of the stringer and where the two parts of foam come together.

With a rotaflex, remove the pieces of wood strips that go past the board. Align it with the surfoam, so that the two new stringers are level with the foam.

2/ Apply the reinforcements for fiberglass

Once the fiberglass cloth is coated with resin, it will give the board strength and resistance. A surfboard normally has a 4oz layer of fiberglass on the bottom, and two 4oz layers on the deck. To be sure that this repair can withstand impact, we will put two layers of 4oz below, plus a reinforcement at the crack, as well as the same on the deck side.

We place fiberglass cloths on the board and, with scissors, cut them so that they are 2cm over the edge.

Now we prepare the resin. If you are using UV polyester resin, you don’t need to add a catalyst, but if you are using Silmar polyester resin, you should add between 1 and 3% PMEK catalyst. At 25 degrees, 1% catalyst is enough.

Now we will coat the fiberglass with resin. For this, we apply the resin using a squeegee. As the squeegee is made of soft latex, it will let you move the resin around easily, without damaging the fiberglass.

Our goal is that the fiberglass remain completely transparent, without excess resin. This means that you should be able to see the fiber cubes. This coating process is delicate, but we explain it in more depth in our article on coating a surfboard.

3/ Glazing the board

You can see that once the resin has catalyzed, the fiberglass is sticky. It is completely normal, this is the gel coat that will give the board a good finish that can be sanded.

The gel coat is prepared by mixing polyester resin with 5% paraffin styrene, applied with a brush. This step isn’t difficult, but there are more details in our article on how to apply a gel coat to a surfboard.

If you use Hegardt H61-UV polyester resin, wait 5 minutes before exposing the board to sunlight.

Thanks to the gel coat, we have reduced the small surface discrepancies. Now let’s sand the board for a perfect finish.

4/ Final sanding

Start by sanding with 80 grit sandpaper, to even out the board and for a smooth and regular finish.

Once this has been achieved, continue sanding with more and more fine grit paper: 120, 180, 240, 320, 500 and 500 with water. This is how you will achieve the same finish as the rest of your board.

Sanding is also a very delicate step. You should make sure you do not sand the fiberglass, just the resin layer, the gel coat. For best results, we recommend using Mirka professional sanding discs. We explain this process in detail in our article on how to sand a surfboard.

Now you have given your surfboard a second life! Although of course, the repair will be visible. But you can paint your surfboard where it has been repaired, so that you cannot see it.

We hope this article was useful, if anything is unclear leave your questions in the comments. And since a good video is worth more than 1000 words, here is a tutorial video that explains the whole procedure step by step. If you like the video, please show it by liking it on YouTube, and don’t forget to follow our YouTube channel MundosurfTV to stay up to date on our newest videos.

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