Repair - twisted epoxy board in a hot car

[tungsten]

I've got my boards and kit always crammed in the car, winter or summer. No issue so far. Until yesterday, 25kn day, head high waves, beautiful... took my favorite board out and couldn't believe what I saw: it was twisted along the longitudinal axis by as much as 2". Weird. It's a rather flat epoxy board. Or it used to be rather flat

No signs of cracks or delam, it looked perfectly OK apart from being twisted like a potato chip. I guessed it was the heat in the car and the kites crammed putting pressure on the board. So, if the heat in the car is enough to twist it, I will use heat to twist it back. Clamped the board down, pulled a strong plastic sheet over it to make sort of a tent, heated it up with a hairdryer for an hour, and alas: the clamps pulled the board back straight. Let it cool down for half an hour, done.

Just wanted to share that trick with you. Easy enough and worth a try before you throw the board away.

[Lonny]

Hey Tugsten,

That must have been a bummer when you went to pull out your board to ride on the perfect day, only to see that. Amazing that you managed to fix it. Great information to share. It would still be warped at my house in the closet.

[tungsten]

Hi Lonny, yeah it was a bit of a surprise. I had never seen this before. But I rode the board anyway, just to see what happened. Was not that bad, but going down the line fast it kind of slipped sideways, so I gave it up after half an hour and borrowed a board. A TT, yikes.

The funny thing is, as this works so easy and effectively, it should be possible to change the rocker or concave of any epoxy board (let's say any board without a rigid inner structure). Have to give it a shot sometimes. You would need a rocker table and clamps or a vacuum bag, and off you go giving a somehow imperfectly shaped board a second life. All it takes is a certain disregard for your gear