@GlitterSpitter realistically, you will either need griptape or glass frit, both of which will hide any imperfections
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This has always been an interesting topic for me- just how much human error will people put up with in a finished product- and it just spans the entire gamut from anything, to nothing.
I think a lot of board builders expect us to essentially tear our boards apart over the long term, and as a result it’s easier to rationalize dings, dents, and scratches. If it was just a show piece for your mantel, it would be different.
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Hey leadBreather, thanks for your reply. I understand what you mean, ideally and with respect to process and procedure, I would hope that a fabrication system would be in place that minimizes possible variances and deficiencies of the final product. Sure does not look like the case regarding my 2 board iterations. Seems like Subsonic needs to re visit some of their process and procedures, as to avoid future occurrences like I have experienced. To be clear, my background is in Architecture and Interior Design, I have also designed and hand fabricated furniture, so I am very familiar with how sufficient processes and procedures can positively effect products when they are adhered to.
Sure, that is a possibility I suppose. So if we take that as excess glue, then I do not understand why there would be multiple recessed indentions in the carbon fiber, unless there were excess glue on every part of the top surface of the top maple ply, except on those 9 or so recessed indentions. Alternatively, rather than excess, there could be insufficient glue or no glue at all on those recessed dimples, so that the carbon fiber weave laid perfectly down in those non glue cavities during skinning. Either way that is something I believe that should have been noticed immediately and possibly rectified. Could the carbon fiber skin have been immediately pulled up and the glue application corrected? Could a needle have injected more glue through the carbon fiber weave to fill those insufficient glue areas? I do not know the answers to those questions because I have not worked with carbon fiber like this, but more importantly Subsonic could have corrected these very obvious manufacturing defects at build time and taken corrective action. As concerned about the (lack of) quality of the deck as I am, I am equally concerned about the customer service and quality controls Subsonic has implemented in their manufacturing process. You can easily see other carbon fiber skinned Century’ 40’s on this forum (I have even messaged a few of them with questions), none appear as poorly made or poorly repaired as mine. The body of work that Subsonic has created is what made me feel comfortable in purchasing from them, the quality of my 2 board iterations negates that comfortable feeling.
Sorry about your experience. The first one was not great, especially the scratches
I’d say the small dings in the second one could be overlooked but if the clear coat is truly hazy you’ve got a problem you shouldn’t settle with. If they repaired the deck by just adding a layer of clear without prepping properly that’s not gonna come out
TBH, I recently built a sub century for a local friend and there were a few finish issues with the top coat over the CF and the top of the deck. There’s definitely some QC improvement needed there at the price point.
We didn’t bulk at the few small imperfections, mostly because it’s a skateboard. But they weren’t as significant
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I’m sorry your board wasn’t perfect, Glitter, as you obviously care quite a bit, and I’m doing my best to explain to you why I believe it’s only aesthetic. The carbon fiber layer gets wrapped around the board long after it has been pressed and cut out- they are two different processes that happen at different times. So, whatever the top layer looks like, is no indication of what the other laminates look like. Not even close.
One process literally uses a mold and in excess of 40,000 lb’s of pressure, where as the other is just a simple hand layup. There’s absolutely no chance that there is no epoxy under those dimples- they would be at least partially dry if so. The hand layup portion of the process is the most dynamic part of the entire thing, and it’s where you’re most likely to see any minor defects.
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Her standards.
Thanks for you feedback, although I am not so sure about the accuracy of your claim:
Please let me know if I have missed very visible scratches, series and patterns of dust and dirt particles, and many obvious recessed indentions in this carbon fiber Century 40" here and here. Please also consider these 2 photos of pretty carbon fiber skinning and clean clear-coat are on the bottom of that deck, covered by an enclosure, where mine are on the top of the deck, fully visible to all.
Also, please see post here of additional Century 40 builds with carbon fiber skinning:
Personally, I think you should learn more about composites.
You’re overthinking it.
There’s plenty of people here who will buy that deck.
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Thank you, and good question. As advised in my original post above:
“I would have rather kept my 1st deck and fixed the scratches myself rather than sending the deck back for repair only to receive a second more defected deck that I cannot easily repair myself”
A possible repair is an option indeed, however I do not have the workspace or materials to attempt that type of repair. Ultimately I believe $415.00 is sufficient to not have to repair my own brand new board. $415.00 should have been enough to receive a well crafted and cared for creation, in my opinion. My experience via friends and other members of this forum lead me to believe I would be receiving a quality board from Subsonic, I had no intention of spending good money and then personally tearing down the board to attempt to fix it myself. Personal accountability is something that is frequent in my life and multiple professions I chose to do, I really expected better from Subsonic.
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How many things came with that $415?
Isn’t performance more important to you than aesthetics?
They are only repairs to the aesthetics- 100% psychological.
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Maybe you should learn how to skin and finish your own decks in CF if you need a guaranteed flawless finish.
The dent looks like it might be from the pressing of the deck? Maybe it was stacked below another deck and got dented very slightly?
The recent hummie and TB decks have some debts from pressing but they aren’t noticeable underfoot.
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For sure, I have seen a number of beautiful Kaly’s, and I have also seen some beautiful @Sender carbon fiber skinned decks. I have seen no Kaly or @Sender carbon fiber skinned decks that have the quality, fit, and finish as my 2 iterations of Subsonic decks.
That would be a great topic to explore, however I am not concerned about a “machine made” product, I am concerned about my hand made deck that is clearly not up to spec or even equals the other carbon fiber skinned Subsonic boards posted on this forum. Also not that it will visibly help me here and now, but I have contacted other people who have carbon fiber skinned Subsonic boards (they have no posts of these boards on this form at this time, word of mouth travelled about my board issues and I was able to personally communicate with them) that were carefully made, and that I was advised had none of the issues I have faced with my 2 board iterations.
Best of luck, Glitter.
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@GlitterSpitter has every right to expect better from Subsonic, and Subsonic should have done better for themselves.
If someone sends back an imperfect deck, they should have made sure that the second one sent was a far better example of what they can do. Whether you agree with her expectations or not, it’s not the standard that anyone has every right to expect.
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I agree with that. The second one should have been better than the first.
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Yup. Should be better service.
Expectations do seem very, very high - but whatever (I’m sure there’s plenty of demanding customers in the world)
Subsonic should have sorted it the second time, and by the sounds of it we will hear a fair bit about it if they don’t rectify it on their third and presumably final attempt.
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Hey rosco, thank you for your reply. The aesthetic and poor craftsmanship of my deck’s build to me are a different matter than “the base cost for the deck” and “the actual cost for the customisation”. If I am reading your reply inaccurately, please do advise, however I did not negotiate the cost of the deck or the carbon fiber skinning, I only purchased this specific board setup at hte cost Subsonic requested for payment. If there was an option to purchase a $415.00 “substandard deck” and a >$414.00 “carefully fabricated deck”, depending on the additional cost difference I see much opportunity for potential Subsonic customers to choose to pay for the better quality deck. For reasoning’s sake; I have not heard of a skateboard manufacturer that offers potential customers a “substandard deck” vs a"carefully fabricated deck". Imagine Porsche offering the brand new custom Easy anaology, with an obvious cost difference; the all new Porsche Taycan in either “substandard Porsche” quality or “carefully fabricated Porsche quality”. See how that does not work 
Thank you for your nice comment about my “perfectionist photos”, I am glad you noticed! However your comment “novel drama are a bit misleading and don’t come off well.” Oof, well, thank you for your opinion. I am not sure how my expectations and careful communication come off as “novel drama”, and I certainly do not understand how my attempt at communicating my experiences with Subsonic “don’t come off well”. I’m just a disappointed girl who expected the quality of my Century 40 to be similar to other Century 40 decks. Is that so novel, or dramatic?
That is how I feel, thank you for confirming. 
Thank you for that, those are both options I will consider.
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My only concern is- what if they are going out of business behind the scenes. These are the kinds of things you might see in a product if a company was about to go.
Trying to determine a halfway point between the vendor and the purchaser is nigh impossible.
I’m a pragmatist at heart. If it works, it works.
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What the mannequin said…
If you are not paying for sending it back for fixing you should just send it back and ask that they take extra care this time. If you run a custom, made to order business, your only options are to fix this kind of issues or have the deck returned and refunded.
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So don’t bring up cost, because as you say - it isn’t about that. It is about poor finish on a custom finish product and then poor customer service in recifyting that.
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Right, but we cannot see the 2 sided lamination on the other 5 plies in between the top ply and bottom ply. Who knows if the proper amount of glue was applied, cant really tell. 