# Fixing a delam, what epoxy should I use? And how?



## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

Like the title says I am fixing a pretty large delamanation and trying to find some epoxy in my town. I searched and googled and came up with that hysol epoxy from lock-tite, but unfortunately I cant find that stuff anywhere around here. Damnit I cant remember the name of the stuff I did find here, it is for marine use and it remains flexible, is water proof, and can set underwater, and it's white which happens to be the color of my top sheet and base. Anyway it is like $25 for a syringe when everything else is like $11, so that kind of leads me to believe it is good quality. The hysol epoxy is around the same price ($21 online).

I hit a tree buried under snow and now I have a gaping boardgina from the end of the edge up about two inches in the curve of the nose. I picked out as much tree as I could while trying not to pull out too much board guts. Now my p-tex still looks lumpy like there is still debris in it but that should go back down once glued and clamped no? I'm sure I got all of the foreign material out. But was wondering if it is ok to pry it apart more to make sure. I am worried because I had to pry it a bit to clean the stuff out and I dident like seeing the p-tex lifting beside the edge like that...so I stopped prying.

And the edge itself took a little damage too. It looks like I split it so the last 1/16" is just kind of a chunk kinked out to the side. I don't know if I should bang it back in, file it down, or remove it and fill it with epoxy, or do something else...I suppose I pic might help if I am unclear explaining this, I can take one tomorow if it helps. 

Oh yeah the board is a Lib dark series.


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## Reede (Feb 16, 2009)

While we're on this topic, does anyone know wether fibreglass resin/matting is ever a good fix for topsheet damage? Epoxy is a standard fix but I cant help but think fibreglass would do a pretty good job as well.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Worst case scenario epoxy it then drill a hole and put some pop rivets in the end of it to make sure it's not going anywhere. What you need to do is get good 24 hour 2 part epoxy, mix it up with more resin than hardner this will let it flex more. Still you might have some issues with it not taking the way you want, just ran into that with a guys Capita I had to fix, had to go to the extreme and put rivets in it to get the edge to fully bend back and stay down.


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## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

How do the rivets work? I'm imagining a rivet right thru the board from base to top sheet and feel like that cant be right.


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## walove (May 1, 2009)

thas right just put them through a board. But don't mix less hardener in to the resin to make is flexable. Less hardener will make the epoxy feel softer but that is because it never fully cures and the strength of it is heavily effected. Flexible epoxies have silicon or rubber molecules in the mix to add flex while keeping the strength. (im working some epoxy and glass research lab at school)

i've used west systems brand g flex epoxy with great results. 

G/flex Epoxy

when using any adhesive surface prep and cure time are the two key issues. Make sure the surface is roughed up as well as you can 80 grit paper, and then clean with acetone. Let the acetone fully evaporate, then put your epoxy on and clamp it down. Let it cure for 24 hours min and try to let i cure at the suggested temperature, around 80F.


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## mOnky (Feb 8, 2009)

Get some 2 part marine grade epoxy.. the loctite brand makes one but i'm sure there are other epoxy brands that do too
Get a C clamp they're like 3 bucks for a medium sized one
Clean & dry the damaged area
Mix up the epoxy on a piece of cardboard
Use a Q tip to spread the epoxy into your area
Use 2 pieces of cardboard (for the top & bottom of your board)
C clamp & leave it for a few days


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## xn7 (Dec 28, 2010)

mOnky said:


> Get some 2 part marine grade epoxy.. the loctite brand makes one but i'm sure there are other epoxy brands that do too


not sure if you are referring to a commercial type marine grade epoxy, but don't use the consumer loctite "marine epoxy" that is available at lowes/home depot for $5 to $6. i tried that and it is starting to crack already, after 1 day or riding, and i was meticulous at prep and repair of the delam on my board. still didn't hold up.

i'll be getting some g/flex.

my delam is right under the binding though, so it gets flexed a lot.


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