Fibreglass in hands from LF board

b_girl · Posted: Sep 07, 2006 10:12 am Post subject: Fibreglass in hands from LF board

I bought a new board a few months ago - LF Angel 134... When I first got it, I would get tons of small pieces of fibreglass stuck in my hands - you know the ones, so thin you can't see them, but they hurt like a b**ch.

I initially thought that after riding it once all the little pieces would be taken off by the force of the water. I ride every weekend and now it's not nearly as bad now as it was before. But still, if you run your hands up the edges of the board, you're bound to get at least one of those little suckers stuck in it.

Is this normal? What can I do to fix it?

My dad suggested using clear nailpolish on the edges, but I don't wanna mess anything up.

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

I've never heard of that. But I think if it happened to me I'd sand it lightly around the edges. That should smooth it out and remove all splinters.

Damon · Posted: Sep 07, 2006 11:02 am Post subject:

Nothing to be too worried about, just run some really fine sandpaper up and down the edges and it should be good to go. Someone at the factory forgot to do the final sanding.

And I'm not sure about the nailpolish, all you're doing is covering up the problem.

b_girl · Posted: Sep 07, 2006 11:13 am Post subject:

cool, thanks... I'll give the sandpaper thing a try this weekend.

C4Avalanchen · Outlaw Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 189 City: Reno

Yeah, my wifes O'brien Vixen did the same thing when we first bought it last year. We didn't do anything though, and now it seems okay.

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

gotta love fiberglass splinters!

Roos · Outlaw Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 192

Be sure to use like 1000 grit paper and not like 200 or you will destroy your grafics..

Don't you live in america, can't you just sue LF and get some $$$ out of it? =)

Mike

b_girl · Posted: Sep 08, 2006 6:27 am Post subject:

Roos, haha... no, I live in Canada Wink

I'll only be doing it on the edges, so don't need to worry about destroying my graphics, but I'll use the finest sand paper I can...

Commodore · Ladies Man Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 11636

b_girl, just use 1000 grit, if you use 2500 or something like that, it won't remove the splinters, just move them around. Go slow with moderate pressure. Do it a couple times. Then take whats left of the sandpaper and wet it, yes wet it down. Then do a final "wet sanding" that will really smooth it out so you don't have to worry.

AND IN CASE YOU GET FIBERGLASS SPLINTERS KIDS:

Pantyhose remove them. Yes I said it. If you get them anywhere on your body, either rub your body with panyhose, making sure you turn it frequently so as not to spread the fiberglass, or put them on. Yes, I have worn pantyhose before when redoing the cruiser. Laughing

Roos · Outlaw Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 192

well don't get SANDpaper... get wet-sanding-paper... and do wet-sanding all the way... it's much better and healthier... well sanding a wakeboard should do much, but when sanding a lot of glassfibre and other plastic you don't want to get too much dust down your throth..

Mike

b_girl · Posted: Sep 08, 2006 7:04 am Post subject:

haugy, cool... thanks..

Roos, I won't be doing extremely intense sanding, so doubt I have to worry about dust going down my throat.

Another good remedy for removing fibreglass splinters - duct tape! I usually just press it on where the splinters are, leave it for a couple seconds, then pull it off.

Commodore · Ladies Man Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 11636

Roos, true, but if she is sanding that hard or fast, there won't be much board left. Laughing

b_girl, duct tape is like a band-aid. Doesn't fix it, just covers it up. Fiberglass is in layers, so when you use the duct tape, it just pulls a layer off. The once the new exposed layer gets bumped or rubbed, it will form splinters just like before. Repeat pattern.

And 1000 grit can be used for wet sanding. Just make sure if you do a full wet sand, that you use a hose of some sort, no buckets! The splinters will float in the bucket, then when you dunk hand. BAM. Just remember anything that gets the water on it from sanding will have splinters in it, so be careful where you do it.

Anthony Csogor · Outlaw Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 214 City: keswick

Get Gloves.

b_girl · Posted: Sep 08, 2006 8:23 am Post subject:

haugy, sorry, in your post i thought you were referring to what you do when you remove the splinters from your skin, not the board itself... the duct tape is what I use to remove it from my skin.

My dad seems to think that this is caused because the edges of my board haven't been sealed at the manufacturer - ie. the edges do not have a gelcoat on them and are therefore a direct conduit (sp?) for water to get into the board.
he sent me the following links:
http://www.wessex-resins.com/westsystem/wsosmosis.html
http://www.ssmsales.com.au/buyingboatsadvice.php

Keep in mind my dad is the kind of person who believes he is right about absolutely everything under the sun (and beyond). I should never have asked him if he had any sandpaper.

dirtysparks · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 07 Jul 2004 Posts: 2428

Commodore · Ladies Man Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 11636

b_girl, oh. Oops. Man I am really not all here today. So is the duct tape like a home waxing kit? Laughing

dirtysparks, shut up you!!! Laughing

b_girl · Posted: Sep 08, 2006 11:49 am Post subject:

haugy, no worries, it's Friday! Very Happy

Wolf · Posted: Sep 08, 2006 4:07 pm Post subject:

Oh this one is hella mine Laughing

b_girl · Posted: Sep 11, 2006 5:54 am Post subject:

Thanks everyone - tried out the sandpaper thing this past weekend, 1000 grit, did it dry first, then wet... so far so good. Smile