How to repair your surfboard
Traditional hand shaped surf boards (made from PE/PU) are notoriously easy to damage and even the slightest of cracks can cause severe damage if left untreated.
Fixing up your own “dings” (cracks, holes etc) is an important part of being a surfer & will ultimately save you the hassle of taking it into your local shaper as well as paying substantially more than if you we’re to do it yourself. It's also very important to fix all your dings if you have any surfboards for sale.
Although messy, the process of fixing a ding certainly gets easier the more you practice. Below you will find a basic guide to get you going & as well as some of YouTube’s best videos and some direct links of where to buy your ding kits. Happy ding fixin
Purchase a Ding Kit
Before you attempt your first repair its good to get an idea of what you’ll need. You can easily pick up a ding repair kit from a surf shop or online (see below). But here is a typical list of what to you’d need.
Be sure to check what your ding repair kit contains before purchasing it. For those looking to get a more substantial inventory we’d suggest the following:
* Sandpaper
* Fibreglass
* Masking Tape
* Q-Cell
* Mixing Cup
* Sanding Resin & Catalyst
* Acetone
* Wax Comb
* Knife / Blade
* Paint Brush
* Safety Goggles & Mask
Ding Kits
A quick guide to fixing small dings
Although each ding can vary massively (from a small crack all the way to a clean snap) for general small to mid size dings, following these instructions will put you in good stead...
1. Cut away damaged area (make sure its dry)
2. Clean & sand (use low grit sand paper)
3. Tape the area
4. Prepare the Q-Cell (for foam dings)
5. Pour the Q-Cell
6. Sand smooth
7. Cut fibreglass
8. Mix resin
9. Apply the resin & fibreglass
10. Sand again
11. Apply another coat of resin (hot coat) for a finish
12. Wet sand (for a gloss finish)
13. Let it cure (for 1-2 days)
14. Go surfing
Where to buy a ding kit.
There's no shortage of options when you're looking to buy a ding repair kit, especially online.
We've picked out 4 ding kits (below) to get you started - 2 for traditional PU boards and 2 for epoxy.
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Solarez UV Cure Epoxy Ding Repair - Surf Repair Kit
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Solarez Polyester Ding Repair
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Solarez Polyester Pro Travel Kit
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Solarez Epoxy Pro Travel Kit
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Videos
Once you've got a good understanding of the basics, you've cleaned up your board and you've bought your ding repair kit, the next step is to find a good video on youtube.
Below you'll find 5 videos which will cover the majority of repairs.
Fixing a small sized hole
Fixing a large hole, tail or nose
Delamitation
Repairing a fin
Stringer repair
Happy Ding fixing!
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