Hi Folks, it's time to get that elastoplast off my boom. Anyone know who can regrip my carbon boom for me?
Cheers, Jens
I asked about this yesterday, apparently Hydrodynamix no longer do boom regripping.
U can buy a new grip from Surf/Sail for $29.95. Mark will give you the lowdown on how to do it. I have done 6 now - too easy. Carbon is a bit tougher as u can't use acetone to remove old glue remnants, still easy.
AB...
spare fin covers are the same material so if its a small repair its much quicker, cheaper and easier to to use them..
acetone might not effect the cured epoxy in a carbon boom but its better not to risk it unless your know an industrial chemist who could guarantee its safe..
I'm a boat builder who has built many carbon and epoxy boats, this is why i was asking. If it is epoxy resin then there is no reason to not use acetone. Only thing to worry about would be any plastic fittings
Fair call Fletchk, I was not 100% if there was a reaction between acetone and the resin top coat that some carbon booms have. As I am unaware what resin is used I have steered clear just in case. Thanks for the nfo.
AB....
Is it really that easy ?? How do you get the grip on really tight without bubbles ?
Yes NR, it is really that easy. 90% of the effort is removing the old stuff. If it's salt enriched then it's annoying. A good box cutter with breakable blades is the go.
I use Kwik Grip in a can - yellow contact glue. Applied evenly on both the boom and the new grip (with a pait brush) and left for 5 mins to tack dry there will be no air bubbles as it evens itself out nicely. Trick is to paint glue onto one of the eddges of the boom grip so once u roll it the edge connects with the underside of the new grip. Too hard to explain typing though. Remember painting the glue is Swiftly - swiftly. Rolling grip on is nice and slow so it can mould to the boom shape. Ask the shop where u get the grip from.
AB...
Lovely art work Barn! A picture's worth a 1000 words-I'll have a go at it on the weekend.
Cheers, jens
Dont use standard Kwik Grip though - as no matter how hard you try you will get yellow crap at the join or on the outside of the boom covering and it doesn't come off.
Get Kwik Grip Advanced as it dries clear.
Or Roberto's 3M stuff if that is clear ? I dunno as I've never seen it.
I regripped my carbon boom last year following the instructions here:http://www.calema.com/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=944
I didn't use the carpet square to spread the glue though, just the tube. The regripping worked really well and is still in place after much use.
The hardest part is getting all the old grip off - it probably took me three hours of careful scraping and cutting then cleaning all the old glue off the boom. B..stard of a job actually. Applying the glue and new grip was the easy part and no bubbles or failures to stick.
I used some eucalyptus oil to get rid of the old glue, then some metho to get rid of any traces of euca oil before applying the new glue. Worked fine.
Just buy a kit from your local windsurf shop.
Also, previous discussions here:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/Boom-Regripping/?whichpage=-1&REPLY_ID=291442
Or you could just use an old teak boom like in my avatar - no special grip needed on those! 
You get a yellow line if the angle of the join is too flat.
If you get a kit the edge will come pre-cut at 45 degrees. If you cut it by hand just use a craft knife and hold it about 45 degrees. It doesn't have to be super precise or even that straight.
I used some fairly coarse sand paper both by hand and on an orbital sander for cleaning off the boom and for trimming the finished result. It worked fine.
I have only done aluminium booms so you should probably be a little more careful with carbon.
I have built a carbon kite bar but that was done from scratch so I didn't have to clean anything off.
