Hey guys. I have a vanguard and I accidentally sanded the fiberglass from the top of the deck off when I was routing my wires. Now the deck is way too flexible, it’s dangerous. I was wondering if there’s any way to add more fiberglass or carbon fiber to the top of the deck under the grip tape?
If so, how would I do it and what would I need to buy?
Visit your local surfboard shaper. They do a wet layup with fiberglass cloth, pour epoxy over it, and squeegee the excess epoxy off. They sell patch kits for boards with the components in them.
Edit: I guess that is a bit coastal centric. I hope you have a local surfboard shaper.
This is the stuff you need except you don’t need the foam blank.
I just recently did my gtx deck top and bottom
Just used surfboard fibreglass cloth (200gsm plain weave), used about 300ml of resin (west system 105, good for flex) I skinned the top while I was at it with a bed sheet I found at the op shop!
I just brushed the resin on and let it dry, you can also vac bag it for a better finish.
Used a multi tool with the grout remover bit to cut off the excess and sanded back the edges.
I have read that it is best not to glass the rails of the deck.
Putting fiberglass or carbon fiber on the bottom of the deck will stiffen it a lot more than it will by putting it on the top.
Yeah, I just don’t want to ruin the bottom look of my board. I only need it the same stiffness it was before so hopefully the top helps a bit.
Awesome! Where did you buy the kit? How much stiffer did it make the deck?
The glass will dry completely clear and protect the look of the bottom even more. If you are looking to stiffen I would do top and bottom
I bought the stuff from a boat builder, but recently found a proper fibreglass supplier much cheaper. Where you located?
Utah. But I’ll also be in DC and then the outer banks in August so I could bring my board with me.
Just find a fibreglass supplier local to you you will need a meter of 200gsm cloth, and a 500ml bottle of resin with slow gardener. And a cheap brush or two. That should get you enough for 4 or 5 layers
Instructional video, just don’t add color. It is harder than these guys make it look but that is because of a surfboard size and shape. A skateboard should be much easier.
How many layers would you recommend on each side?
Depends how much you wanna stiffen. I would do one layer top and bottom, let it fully cure, test and decide if you need more or not.
Subsonic sent me these to select from when they were building my deck.
I am sure they wouldn’t mind me sharing them.
They picture a 177 lb rider on two decks of the Century 40 I was purchasing. The one on blocks is 8 plies maple with no fiberglass. The one on wheels is 7 plies maple with two plies glass. The glass plies are one ply in from the outside (m, FG, m, m, m, m, m, FG, m).
I am sorry but no conclusions can come out of these videos.
Different points of contact and the addition of a fiberglass enclosure that significantly changes the system’s stiffness in only once case.
Helped me decide.
I have the same @eBoosted enclosure. I will try a little experiment today to see if there is a big stiffness difference from bolting it to the deck. I considered making a segmented enclosure so it is an interesting question. The slightly wider contact point and the addition of the enclosure have opposite effects on the stiffness so they will cancel each other to some extent.
Would these work? Which one should I get of each? (Resin and fiberglass)
Your best bet would be to let those guys know your intention and ask them to recommend the products
What hardener did you use with the west system 105 epoxy resin?
