WOOD CORE REPAIR

Repair of 2009 Cabrinha Custom - DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

Branson's Cabrinha Custom 09 was assumed  to be a right-off and he asked
me to see if it could be repaired.The board had been used with bindings with
an 8" insert spacing and without fins for wakestyle moves on kickers & sliders.

Top is after repair and below is before repair.

The board had creased through the outer left insert placement causing separation and buckling of the top cover.
The wood core had split right across the width exposing the core to water.
The base was intact apart from a hole where an insert T-nut had been drilled.

The board was repaired using a tapered sanded repair with a new core filler reinforced with carbon skins.
After repair the board was taken to Antigua for testing  and as a bonus I got to taste Cavalier Rum again!

TESTING AFTER THE REPAIR

 
Unorthodox way to test a board

 
The board has survived and I got the Rum           Photos from Branson Belle - Antigua Christmas 2009

THE REPAIR

The original insert had pulled and the owner had drilled in a steel T-nut ( lower circled)
Unfortunately water had got to the core over time through this damage area and weakened the wooden core.

     
The top cover removed exposing the waterlogged damaged core.

The damaged wood was cut out and the edges tapered
back over a larger area than the damaged area.

The original SS M6 inserts were embedded in a
carbon block set into Herex Foam Core and Glassed over.

As the repaired area would be slightly thinner, a small shaped
carbon stiffener was added above the repair.
This was thought necessary to retain the original flex and
add strength over the binding area.
The GF & Carbon reinforcements were shaped to avoid
straight edges and stress risers across the axis of the board.
Layup was tapered in steps with several layers of light weight woven prepreg GF

Wrapped in peelply, perforated release film and
breather fabric the board was place  in a re-usable
vacuum bag clamped to an adjustable rocker table
that matched the original curve of the board

A thermostatic heater was applied to the top surface
and the area baked at 80 C for 16 hours under vacuum.

 
Following cure of the layup a stiff paste of Glass micro-bubble,
White Pigment & Epoxy was used to fill the top surface

The insert holes were protected by filling with melted candle wax

The top cover was sanded flat and flush with the rest of the board.
A white plastic primer was lightly sprayed to blend the colour match.

The logos were added by hand painting, using masking tape to protect the white surface.

Finally a coat of clear epoxy was applied to protect the artwork.
This was rubbed down and polished to blend into the original graphics.