Desperately seeking 8lb pour foam to fix Tuttle box

[Windsurfish]

Hi,

I stupidly trashed a deep tuttle box on a board by discovering a reef was less covered with aqua than I thought....
I have lots of excellent advice on the repair from Fiberglass Supply in WA on the gorge, and I have a new Carbon fibre box for the board, but I need to get some 8 lb density pour foam. Does anyone out there have a small amount I can buy/have to fill in around the fin box cassette (or know of a supplier for the same on the island or lower mainland). The repair shouldn't need very much, but will take forever to have the stuff shipped and cost a mint - it is a hazardous good..... I am located in Nanaimo but can pick it up on Island or Vancouver....

Thanks for the help....

[asscrack]

Industrail Plastics and paints,on Scott Street and Government St.Victoria.In a pinch,use spray insulation foam,building supply. P.S. I have two Tuttle chinook fin conversion kits for sail,20.00 each.Cheers.

[Tactile]

Check out www.fiberglasssupply.ca for local distribution of the .com counterpart. Those guys are very helpful and will probably have the stuff in stock, but if not they will bring some in for you. They have many other board building supplies too.

IMHO the salesmen at Industrial Plastics and Paints are idiots and will try to sell you anything that they have, but will never get you what you WANT...just from my experience...but that being said, they will have the foam you're looking for too.

[Tactile]

After re-reading your post, I should add that there is an Industrial Plastics and Paints in Naniamo so that's probably your best bet... www.ippnet.com to check their store locations.

[Windsurfish]

Thanks for the replies: Industrial plastics can get the stuff, but in 40L kits, at $400 - smallest size! The Fiberglass Supply guy in Victoria is an OK option, and I can hopefully get him to bring some back on his next supply run to the US, sometime in March. It might be nice to find some before that time.... Maybe someone out there has the 8lb stuff in a shed? The 2 lb stuff used as flotation is (I'm told by the pros) not strong enough to hold a tuttle in place, especially with a >50cm fin....

[boatbuilderbob]

Why can't U use foam like the fill in marine bouyancy tanks. Would that work?

[Windsurfish]

Bob - The foam used as bouyancy is light and fluffy (so to speak). It would fill in the voids around the new fin box cassette, but would not likely have any long-term strength. One slight impact on a long fin, and I would have to do the fix over again. I haven't used it yet, but I suspect the 8lb foam is solid as a rock, similar to the foam core surrounding the replacement fin box I have. I am also going on the advice of Brian Hinde, builder of Open Ocean Windsurfers - he seems to know his stuff.... Is there anyone out there with some 8 lb pour foam....??

[KUS]

bummer about the reef.....I feel (and have felt) your pain, maybe not as strongly but still similarly with my brand new Jesus stick.

I'm pretty sure they had small quantities in the Vic downtown store ....they tried to sell me some for a smallish repair once. Also, why not drop it off at Rob Mulder's shop in Van or try them. http://www.robertssailboards.com/

[Windsurfish]

Hi Kus,

I actually checked into a repair with Rob Mulder, whom is likely the only professional with the skills to do the tuttle well. I am going to try the repair on my own first, as it will be $400 plus for the job and likely months in the shop as he will have to squeeze it in to his workload. Besides, I'm stupid enough still to think that I might do a decent job with enough time. I will call him to see if I can get the foam. Good idea. Did you mean the downtown Industrial Plastics store in Victoria migh have small quantities?

[grant]

Windsurfish, don't get hung up on the elusive high density pour foam. There are some extremely lightweight fillers out there that can be mixed into your epoxy to fill that void. You'll be surprised how much filler can go into warm(ish) epoxy, and how light and strong the result is. The void can't be that big, right? A few extra ounces is better than waiting months or paying $400. You just can't fill the whole thing at once or it'll build up too much heat and burn up. Build up in small batches. West System 410 microlight is pretty light, there's probably other stuff out there that's similar.

[Windsurfish]

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I "mined out" the broken box yesterday afternoon, and given the low density of the board foam in the thing (its a Starboard Go), I suspect that either the epoxy with filler or low density foam (at Industrial Plactics) should be plenty adequate. The book "Maui Boardbuilding" is a great resource as well - no home board repair freak should be without it....

[more force 4]

Windsurfish, did you look at the info on The Board Lady's site? She has pretty good info on materials, keeps it up-to-date.

[TomS]

Windfish

My opinion is that you bought the wrong Tuttle box. You should have bought a Northwest brand or Waterat(by Larry Tuttle and Curtis)brand Tuttle box or another Tuttle that is a pre-wrapped in carbonfibre and hi-density PVC foam (Divinicell) as a cassette.

These boxes are more expensive but the repair is much much easier to do. You will probably have to have someone pick up the 8 lb two part foam from Fibreglass Supply in Bingen, Washington. I don't think they can ship it into Canada because of hazardous labeling on the cans.

Another option is to pre-wrap your Chinook (Tuttle)Race box with Divinicell and install as a cassette.

Tom Sullivan