Happy Holidays from Foam E-Z!

Dingy Thingy - Fixing Your Stick the Right Way by Adam Wright www.socalsurf.com

If you are like me then you probably have at least attempted to repair your board at some point during your surfing lifetime. It seems so easy...just mix a little of this, a little of that, a little sanding and viola you are ready to get back in the water. Riiiiiight, things are never that easy...I don't know about you but when I was first starting to fix dings I would generally turn my board into a total cluster-f*@k of a sticky, itchy mess that has very little to do with being watertight and is more about making your board more ugly than it was before, as well as ruining your clothes at the same time.

I am not sure where the breakdown usually occurs in the process...maybe it is the sudden time crunch you feel when you drop the catalyst into the resin and everything starts to heat up...maybe it is just the fact that none of the materials seem to work well together until they bond up in the final product...maybe it is just the pure stickiness of the resin that seems to get on everything. All I know is that if there is a way for something to go wrong it probably will.

Anyway enough about my incompetency (actually I am not too bad at ding-repairs now that I have been doing them for 15 or so years)...I figured that there a lot of you out there interested trying it for yourself or at least learning what is the proper way to make a repair. I probably could have walked you through some sort of retarded fix myself but I figured that it we should probably talk to an expert who has done this for a living. So I went to Brad Nadell over at Foamez.com to see if he could help walk us through a ding-repair.

There are a lot of different places you can accidently munch your board, some of which are pretty difficult to fix...so in the interest of everyone's sanity (and our outer layer of skin that we can potentially lose) we thought it would be best if we start with a relatively simple repair.

So here is the scenario...you have been out surfing at Lowers, ripping (like you usually do), and after a long session you head to the beach to hang out with your hot swimsuit model girlfriend (or boyfriend...if you swing that way). As you belly across the inside cobbles at low tide you feel that gut-wrenching crunch as your board bottoms out on a particularly sharp rock. After doing the ankle-snap dance to the beach you see a nice big hole in your bottom deck. You being the handi-capable person that you are decide to fix the board yourself.

I actually let Brad smack a hole in the bottom deck of my board so that we could walk through the repair...though I think he got a bit of evil satisfaction taking the hammer to my thruster.

Stage 1 - Prep

1. Set up your workplace - Having a large enough area to work is important since you may need to walk around the board to get at it from different angles. Ideally your workspace will have some shade and will be well ventilated. Also remember that the resin can make a horrible mess so make sure you are either doing the repair over some sort of floor covering or an area that you don't mind trashing. (like next to your beat up Camaro that you have on blocks in the dead grass of your front yard).
2. Plan out the repair in your head - It is good to have a battle plan thought out before you actually put the tools on the board or activate the resin. Think about the steps you need for the repair...will you need to fill the hole with q-cell? Will you need to have a couple of sheets of glass? What sort of finish do you want the board to have when you are done? Do you need pigment for the resin? These are the sorts of questions that you need to address before starting.
3. Lay out your tools and materials - Get out everything that you will need for your repair. Make sure you have enough.
   
   For this repair we actually were doing the repair in a glassing/painting/shaping bay at Tim Stamps factory. Below is a list of the materials that we used...(if you click the links you can actually order these products from the Foamez.com online store...see isn't that handy!)...actually I hope this doesn't come off like an advertorial, Brad and the gang were super cool to donate their time, expertise, and materials for this storyÉand since I am a big fan of supporting surfer-labor I thought that linking up their products would be a nice way to thank them. Show 'em some love if you need a board fixed.
   1. Q-Cell (hollow microspheres, you mix it with the resin to create filler)
   2. Squeegee
   3. Laminating Resin
   4. Surfacing Agent (turns lam-resin into sanding resin)
   5. UV Catalyst
   6. Mixing Buckets
   7. FlexPad sanding pad (not pictured)
   8. Tacky Glue (for sticking sanding pads on the sander)
   9. Resin Brushes
   10. White Pigment
   11. Sandpaper (80-100 grit for prep/repair...then 220-300+ for the final sanding)
   12. Mixing Sticks
   13. Rubber Gloves (please turn your head and cough)
   14. Fiberglass cloth (not pictured)
   15. Mask/Respirator (not pictured)

Click here to read more

My SACRED CRAFT Expo 2008 by RadRob

The Guys

Rusty

In one bay they had pro surfers like Rob Machado, Brad Gerlach, and Pat O'Connell giving it a try, while the other bay had pro shapers showing us how it's really done. The pro shapers competed in a tribute to Bill Caster, a legend in the shaping world and the San Diego surf scene. Shapers Timmy Patterson, Chris Christenson, Matt Calvani, Ned McMahon, Ward Coffey and Ricky Carroll all attempted to reproduce the 1979 Caster board - a winged pintail single fin with a channel bottom, in hopes of winning $1,000 and a full page ad in Surfing Magazine.

Bing Copeland

Greg Noll

Having admired these legends, and pioneers of the surf industry from a far for so long through movies, magazines, and books it was pretty awesome to actually shake hands and talk about surfing and surfboards with the men we have all looked up to for so long.

Gerry Lopez

In today's surfing world, where everyone is riding everything from thrusters, to hulls, quads, Alaia's, and longboards this show creates a great forum for shapers and surfers to get together and compare ideas to see what we can come up with next.

THE LATEST at Foam E-Z!

We are now offering a full selection of US Blank "Seconds". We have the full range from 5-9 on up - shortboard, fish, and longboard blanks. Of course the selection will vary based on availability. The prices range from $35.00 for shorties to $85.00 for ten footers. Great deals and rock bottom prices to get you through the winter!!

These blanks are downgraded to "Second" quality for one or more of the following reasons:

• slant rails (from paper pinch in the mold)
• buckshot air
• inconsistent cell structure
• damage
• crooked stringer
• pukas - anything too large we through out.
• soft spot near rails or nose and tail from improper distribution

Anything US Blanks thinks might be off ratio / shrinker, large pukas, etc they trash and won't sell.

*** BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK!

*** SECOND BLANKS CANNOT BE RETURNED OR EXCHANGED.

Call or come on down to check them out.

GLASSING WITH TINTED RESIN PICTORIAL by Daniel Hennessey www.danielhennessyphotography.com

Layup

Moving the Resin

Wetting the rails

Clean up

Evening it out

Lapping the rails

Customer Name:
Brandon Davis

Brand name:
Roots

How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z?
Smooth ordering on-line, was able to adjust my order when I needed to add some things last minute.

Why did you want to build your own board?
Wanted a quad fish with a retro vibe and just couldn't swing the money for what I wanted. Also I've always been a DIY kinda guy and thought that it would deepen my connection with surfing in the grand scheme of things

Shape of finished board?
Retro Skinny Fish

Size of finished board:
Length 5'11" Nose 17.5" Width 21" Tail 16.5" Thickness 2 7/8"

What blank did you use?
61HTM Bennett Foam blank.

How was your board building experience?
Intense it was a lot like sculpture design or pottery where it's a multistep process that takes shape and becomes your vision as you go.

Did you use videos, books, web, other?
DVD's; You Tube; Local Shop; Foam E-Z

What videos, books, web, other did you use?
Shaping 101, Futures Install DVD, art of Design book.

Do you recommend these resources?
Absolutely, the more info and ideas/viewpoints you can get the better.

What do you wish you knew going into this project?
More trick tips on cleaner lap lines, resin tinting, fabric inlay, methods for perfecting concave design.

What would you recommend to someone else for their first time?
DON'T RUSH!

What tools did you find most useful?
Microblades replacement blades saved time on the blank and finish sanding, good sharp trim plane, power sander, Futures Install Jig/Kit.

Where did you run into trouble?
Cutting in my concave for evenness was a battle. I finally got it but there's gotta be a methodical approach rather than "eyeing it".

What kind of fin system?
FUTURES, the install kit I got from Foam E-Z was badass!!! Simplified things immensely and was easy to use right outta the box.

Did you glass the board and what was that experience like?
Yes I did glass the board it was my second board I've ever done and it was better than the first. For your first I was told to not mess with resin tints and pigments which was great advice because it allowed me to focus more on laps and clean lines. For this board I jumped up to the plate and did a Paisley fabric inlay on the deck and green resin tint to put some pop in the overall look. I tried to lay the tint uneven to give the appearance of water color paintings- came out awesome still need to work on perfecting concaves and lap lines. The biggest thing I can say to first time shaper/glasser is; TAKE YOUR TIME AND IT WILL SHINE THRU IN THE END!!!!!