How to Fiberglass: Fixing a Cracked Kiteboard

Step 4 Apply a Heavy Coat of Epoxy with a Filler

Once the first brush on coat of resin was dry it was time to mix up a thicker batch of epoxy and apply it using a plastic scraper. The first thin coat of resin just sealed the foam a bit and gave this second layer a nice base coat to hold on to.

We mixed up the same base batch of epoxy resin as before, but this time added in West System's 410 Fairing Filler. The Fairing Filler is made from very fine grounds of silica. The grinds are so small that they float like bubbles, which means that it's perfect for getting into your lungs - so wear a respirator when working with this stuff.

Add enough filler so that your mixture becomes the consistency of peanut butter (it's really more the consistency of peanut butter on a hot day when you first open the jar and it hasn't been totally mixed and the oily stuff is still at the top, but that might be more detail then required...) The amount of fairing filler that you add in will be up to you and will vary depending on how big of a batch you are mixing. We mixed a couple of tablespoons of the stuff into an 8oz batch of resin.

With the resin thoroughly mixed, take a putty knife, or a simple spreading tool like the one pictured below and work the resin and filler onto the board covering any area that was ground or sanded down.

Take your time and make sure that you've filled in all of your holes. Spread the resin mixture around and get it to be as smooth as you can. It's not imperative to make the epoxy flat like glass in this step, but it will be good practice for the final coat that goes on.