How to best fill in scratches and gouges on my ski

[PatM]

Looking to do a little off season maintenance on my 9900. I want to fill in some of the minor gouges from docks or coming down on the occasional rock under the surface at tournaments. I'm thinking JB Weld, but looking for ideas from anyone who is more experienced at this. Thanks

[BraceMaker]

If nonstructural I think I would use nail polish till the gouge is filled, few coats and the buff.

 

Goode's have almost a textured finish, and JB weld is pretty hard once it cures, hard to reshape/buff with out risking the surrounding areas.

[MattP]

@Pat How deep/long/wide are these gouges?

[PatM]

@MattP They are at most 1/8 of an inch deep and at most 1/2 an inch long.

 

[Horton]

Time for a new ski?

[PatM]

@BraceMaker It is just surface gouges. Definitely not structual.

[Horton]

Not sure the carbon skin of your ski is 1/8 thick. Sounds very structural

[6balls]

New stick.

[PatM]

@Horton It is definitely not that deep, but if it means a new stick maybe time for a Nano.

[Horton]

Nano Nano One

[PatM]

Nano One

 

[BraceMaker]

Or you know... Some nail polish and a Nano One.

[Stevie Boy]

I may have a cheap Nano One up for grabs, very little use, as new, does not suit my style of skiing, just got to wait and see how the demo on the Mapple goes, unless Andy can do something to make the N1 work for me.

[DW]

I would look at the Jamestown Distributors website and there are several instructional video's on composite construction. I would also call Goode and get thier repair methodology.

[swc5150]

Does Goode still have their cosmetic repair thing? It was a long time ago when I bought my last Goode, but at the time you could send your ski back to them for a refinish. I think it was $50 or $100?

[eleeski]

Spot putty (also called glazing putty) available at auto parts stores is designed for exactly that. There are two types. One is very thin smooth Bondo which works best on bigger deeper damage. The other is air dry and good for very light damage and pinholes. I apply them with a razor blade on edge so a minimum of extra material needs to be sanded. Paint with a sandable primer and sand smooth after that.

 

JB weld is a great product but this is not the best application. It is too hard to sand smooth. Also I have a problem with the whole repair peeling up as I try to finish it. If I just apply JB weld and leave it at that, OK. Otherwise JB weld is more of an emergency cosmetic repair (for serious handle dings or travel rash).

 

Who am I kidding? Life is too short for fine sandpaper! I never use any of that real finishing stuff. Cosmetic issues do not translate to buoy count. Unless of course you get the perfect wallboard texture on the bottom of the ski...

 

Eric

[ToddL]

@Pat M - I think there is an opportunity for you... Contact Mapple and ask his to make @Stevie Boy's N1 go wacky on him. Then, you can make an offer on it! (just kidding of course)

[PatM]

@eleeski Do you paint with the primer after sanding down the Bondo or Paint sand and paint again?

[PatM]

@Stevie Boy and @ToddL You guys are the reason I don't let my wife read this forum. But I like your ideas.

[Waternut]

You'll rarely ever convince me that you can't repair a composite structure... I've personally repaired some pretty gnarly damage to boats and jetski's. However, in this case, a repair will almost certainly change the way the ski rides unless it's way up near the tip of the ski. You'll either alter it by changing the friction coefficiant on the bottom of the ski, changing its shape, or be spot increasing the stiffness.

 

You NEED to figure out exactly how deep these scratches really are and go from there. If they are superficial scratches, who cares. If they are actually gouges, that's a whole new ballgame.

[PatM]

@jfw432 I think they are in the who cares category, we're not talking big deal here.

[eleeski]

@jfw432 I play with the surface texture a lot. My favorite texture (freshly scratched with 20 grit) vs as smooth as I can make it (120 grit machine sanded with a gloss finish) is barely noticeable in feel but not in buoy count. Fixing a ski will just make it pretty - not change the way it rides.

 

@Pat_M Are you kidding? Sand, paint, sand, paint??? I repaired a Goode once - finding black primer was the hardest part. I usually quit with the primer. Unless I am adding the 20 grit scratches. But don't take cosmetic advice from me.

 

Eric

[PatM]

@eleeski Cosmetics I don't care about. If the majority thinks that it won't affect the performance than I won't do anything to it. It has had these "scratches" for over a year now and I don't find any difference in the performance. I just felt that maybe I should do something about them.