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Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 9:52 pm
by shred_da_gorge
Sanity check... I have an older custom Haut 8'0" surfboard gifted to me by my friend's widow. I had revered this gorgeous board in memory of my good friend but it has sunk in that he'd rather me ride it. Problem is there's a ding near the nose and it appears that under the wood veneer I can see what looks like closed-cell foam - maybe Clark Foam given this board's age. Does anyone know Doug Haut well enough to confirm he used Clark or similar closed-cell blanks? My understanding is that closed-cell repairs need to be done with polyester resin and not two-part epoxies - is that true?

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 12:49 pm
by jjm
I am not an expert, but you can't use polyester resin on an EPS foam, the solvents dissolve the foam (learned that the hard way).

I think you can use epoxy on a PU foam though.

If you're DIY'ing a repair, make sure to get another opinion. If you're taking it somewhere to get repaired, they should be able to choose what is best for the repair.

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 11:53 am
by shred_da_gorge
Ah, thanks. I prefer to use epoxy, so I'll double-check with some gorge shapers, Like Brian Hinde of Open Ocean who I know have used closed-cell foam in the past. You are correct in that polyester will melt open-cell foam (EPS, aka styrofoam). I've used both types of resin in the past and found polyester to be a PITA over two-part epoxies like West System.

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:22 pm
by sewerrat
I think your use of the word "custom" may be incorrect if the board is painted a solid color and has, as you said, a wood veneer laminate. If those conditions exist, the board is most likely a Surftech production board which would have an eps core, some spackle type white filler, then an epoxied wood veneer and fiberglass laminate. Buy a Ding All epoxy repair kit or mix up some epoxy with cabosil etc. If it's clear, has a wood stringer, the foam is smooth and slightly yellow (Clark,) and smells like polyester resin when you sand it.... Regardless of construction, a great board from a legend shaper, enjoy!

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:14 pm
by shred_da_gorge
https://www.windluvr.com/HautBottom.jpg

https://www.windluvr.com/HautTop.jpg

https://www.windluvr.com/HautOuch.jpg

The exposed foam is yellow, not white, and looks like a closed-cell (Clark) blank and not EPS. I can't tell what's stringer and what's veneer.

The board was shaped for my neighbor Steve as a Christmas present from his wife Diane. Steve used to run a commercial crabbing operation out of HMB. About that same year Mark Foo died ('94?) was when he bought his boat, dragged me out of bed one Sunday morning at 5 AM to go out of the harbor and watch Mavericks, back when it wasn't so much of a zoo. Amazing experience!! I had awesome pictures on a hard drive that crashed before I learned to back shit up.

I haven't paddle-surfed in nearly two decades, and I sucked even back when I did it regularly. Steve shot himself a few years ago while dying of the painful complications of Hep C, ironically as he was in clinical trials for the cure (he was technically cured, but not before his kidneys were failing). His wife gave it to me to remember our friendship by, and I mounted it in my home office - quite the conversation piece on video-conference calls, actually.

Might sound crazy but not long ago he showed up in a dream and told me he was pissed I was worshiping the damned thing instead of riding it... like I could even pop up on it these days (without a kite).

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 3:38 pm
by shred_da_gorge
Weird, I tried img and url and clicking on these pic links here gives me an error, but I can cut and paste them ok.

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 7:19 pm
by jjm
Weird, it doesn't like the https URLs. http works.

Code: Select all

[img]http://www.windluvr.com/HautBottom.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.windluvr.com/HautTop.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.windluvr.com/HautOuch.jpg[/img]
Image
Image
Image

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 5:47 pm
by sewerrat
If you look on the bottom, at the tail, there is a white oval with a logo... I bet it says "Surftech." I'm not a 100% sure, but I think the yellow foam you see is Divinycell foam or some type of lasting foam that is sandwiched over EPS foam. Probably just mix up some cabosil with epoxy as filler and sand out. Then you could layer some wood veneer under a fiberglass batch to match the rest of the board, and use clear surfboard epoxy for the laminate. Sorry about your friend. Lots of ways to appreciate a beautiful surfboard, but best to go surf it!

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 6:59 pm
by sewerrat

Re: Haut board repair / polyester?

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 9:24 pm
by shred_da_gorge
Super helpful, thank you! I'll drop a line to Haut with a photo of the damage to see if anyone responds with a quote to restore it to glory, otherwise take a stab at glassing it myself (do have some experience, just no time). These days I'm seeing 30 mph readings at SFO and really trying to be a good boy and stay home. We toured the coast Friday and people were slaying it at Scotts and Waddell!