A SWOARD... reborn

[QuattroAnte]

i dont understand one thing.... did you repainted the board with the red coluour or just a transparent one? and if you used the red, what about the "swoard" label? how didn't you cover it with the red colour?

[starikashka]

Hey starikashka, turns out three hours total. Including packaging

It should be an easy job then )) Or this is only easy if you are experienced enough

My snowboard is so scratched and i think about such repair.

[benttech]

i dont understand one thing.... did you repainted the board with the red coluour or just a transparent one? and if you used the red, what about the "swoard" label? how didn't you cover it with the red colour?

As you see in the pictures, we didnt repaint the board at all. Thats why I consider this a "restoration". Only the gloss coat was sanded and smoothed and the only places where the board was painted red was where we had to "touch up" some dings and scratches. Then our magician added a few layers of new gloss on top and polished it smooth.

@starikashka

Trust me, find an experienced person who knows what they are doing. Like I said, I tried to "repair" the board myself and all I did was make it worse, and Im experienced in car detailing (wetsanding, polishing, renovating car paint)!! He also had the proper equipment, as well as knowledge what paint/gloss to use; he used a durable automotive lacquer that is flexible enough to be used on a snowboard as well as withstand the extreme temperatures our boards see.

I can give you the contact information for my furniture maker, but you'll have to see how much shipping would cost to him (he's in Poland).

[mirekd]

Hi,

i dont understand one thing.... did you repainted the board with the red coluour or just a transparent one? and if you used the red, what about the "swoard" label? how didn't you cover it with the red colour?

I understand this process as follows:

Painted with red paint only place puttied (where former holes).

P1120572.jpg (118.39 KiB) Viewed 9499 times

The main problem is to choose the right color. If company has a device for color analysis, a sample is the original color of the product, shall study and determine the color. If the color is badly chosen, will see the difference (for your convenience, you can ask the manufacturer to provide of the symbol used color).
All subtitles (logo, etc) located on board, is on the last color (here red).

P1120568.jpg (136.5 KiB) Viewed 9499 times

Then it is painted several times (here 10x) with clear varnish. Before the next layer of paint each previous is polished.
That is why, the final product shines.

P1120578.jpg (134.34 KiB) Viewed 9499 times

mirek

Ps. Please correct me if I'm wrong

[nils]

hot stuff!
Glad you finally made it!
WOuld you be kind enough to share the brands of varnish used!
thnx
Nils

[starikashka]

hot stuff!
Glad you finally made it!
WOuld you be kind enough to share the brands of varnish used!
thnx
Nils

Yes, please share the brand.

I also interested if this process require some special equipment or not.

[Abrax]

[benttech]

Then it is painted several times (here 10x) with clear varnish. Before the next layer of paint each previous is polished.
That is why, the final product shines.

Ps. Please correct me if I'm wrong

That's exactly it, thank you mirek for clearing it up. Just a quick clarification, only three coats were actually used I wrote 10 coats, but that was hyperbole.

hot stuff!
Glad you finally made it!
WOuld you be kind enough to share the brands of varnish used!
thnx
Nils

I dont know exactly what varnish was used, but Im sure its something very hard and flexible. I was told it was an acrylic lacquer, i.e., a high quality polyurethane clear coat.

Special equipment, well, I'm sure you could do it with only the most basic tools, sandpaper, spray paint, varnish and a brush. However, I wanted a professional look and done so it will last for many years I learned a long long time ago that to do the job right you need the right tools. I didnt have them or the experience, thats why I found a professional

From what I know, you need good quality tools like a good sander and real spray gun, a dust free room at the proper drying temperatures, and things like a buffer with different pads to bring out the shine.

[nils]

yep...got a good sander ( festool) but the issue lies in the spray gun and the right pressure settings.... I have sprayed many surfboards using paints when i was shaping, but varnishing is among the most difficult things....hummm..we'll see!

As for the filler: is it polyester filler? or polyurethane ?

Nils

[Abrax]

Polyester filler is not good for the board because it is polyester. It is not bend proof and it's adhesion is really poor. Special elastic fillers are needed. In this case I would use just a few layers of final clear, applied wet on wet instead of any kind of filler. You don't have to fill anything. There were some holes (dings) which in my opinion should have been filled with special bumper putty. Photos probably show this kind of filler just before the red color was applied.

It's better to use acrylic paint than polyurethane because any kind of squeeze or scratch on polyurethane means a white line. Acrylic in this case is just scratched without a white line. So scratches are way less visible.

Pressure settings should be enough to produce nice mist, without overspray (when a lot of paint goes everywhere but not on a surface.) Pressure with HVLP spray-gun should be somewhere between 1.8 and 2.2 bar. Depending on a paint used, usually a nozzle should be 1,5mm or 1,7mm. Less is more difficult because too less paint is applied and a shine composition is not smooth, more than 1,7 is tricky because too much paint is applied in one pass and a paint goes down like lava.

The most tricky thing is a proper solvent and a proper solvent amount. Nils: Did you try to make a mixture with a 4mm Ford Cup? Generally the paint should have 18secs with a 4mm ford cup and it will be perfectly sticky and easy to apply!

Temperature can be somewhere between +10 and +25. Note that it does not matter in which temperature you compose a mixture if you have a ford cup. If it is near 25 and a spray-painted area is big, a low vaporing solvent should be used.

When we talk about this kind of application, it's good to warm the paint to about 80 degr just after it is dust-proof (usually 15 minutes with a proper ventilation) to make a paint stronger. So in this case it would be 1st layer, 15-30 minutes , 2nd layer, 15-30 minutes, 3rd layer,15-30 minutes, 60 minutes in 60-80 degr, 12h in normal temperature and then polishing should be possible. Usually we make a mirror polish just after a paint is hard enough (it is still not 100%cured and still a bit elastic) or after at least a week (when it is 99,9% cured and hard as hell). The first method makes Gloss 96-98. The second makes just up to 95%gloss. Cars nowdays are not polished and the gloss is below 95. The same with a stock boards. That's why this mirror finish is so spectacular It is simply hard to spot anywhere else.

One more thing-> good sander means a sander with proper disc. Hard AND AS PLAIN as possible... Soft sanding disc will work against a mirror finish. Sanding discs should be glued to the disk, not sticked with a sticky cloth!
It does not matter what is a sander's brand name I prefer pneumatic automotive tools. Festool is simply way to expensive. I used to work with Festool but it was just in the beginning, when i've started my company.

OK, no more mystery; I've restored these 2 Swoards (Mike's and mine) and now I'm just working on my old Burton Factory Prime. I'll show you the effect after my work

This work is about 3h for a professional with a best possible tools and a proper knowledge about a lacquers! Take your time with a lecture and take a risk with a proper application or simply let it done . I think that a board restoration in my company will be possible just after the season (because whole operation usually means 1,5 month without a board) I'll keep you posted!

Cheers,
Abrax