Is this something I should get professionally repaired or could a common person engage in the fix?

I would remove all loose bits, sand about 5mm around the dent then tape one side of the wing and apply carbon and epoxy from the other side, then tape on top as well...once its dry might need a bit more putty, sanding and polishing. For a smooth finish use car spray putty and 600 wet and dry

Stuff like that i wouldn't get too pedantic on. Id just sand the area (as minimally as possible) apply some epoxy filler, then sand back to shape the next day.

note: if that was from an impact, double check theres no larger damage by flexing things around a bit and looking for cracks opening up. Carbon is very good at falling back into place and looking like nothing has happened.

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powersloshin said..
I would remove all loose bits, sand about 5mm around the dent then tape one side of the wing and apply carbon and epoxy from the other side, then tape on top as well...once its dry might need a bit more putty, sanding and polishing. For a smooth finish use car spray putty and 600 wet and dry

Any recommendations of what carbon and epoxy filler to use? The damaged area is very small so am wondering if it will be difficult to lay such a small amount of carbon?

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owain said..

powersloshin said..
I would remove all loose bits, sand about 5mm around the dent then tape one side of the wing and apply carbon and epoxy from the other side, then tape on top as well...once its dry might need a bit more putty, sanding and polishing. For a smooth finish use car spray putty and 600 wet and dry

Any recommendations of what carbon and epoxy filler to use? The damaged area is very small so am wondering if it will be difficult to lay such a small amount of carbon?

When I fixed mine I used Araldite = epoxy resin. The slow stuff not the 5-minute. I had some CFibre which i chopped up and mixed in to slurry. definitely make an oversized mould and sand back - I started with a dremel - it is tuff stuff!!.
You can also get WEST systems stuff - SIX10 mixer which is thicker than mixing the two standard components - is designed for repairs.
www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/six10-thickened-epoxy-adhesive/
cheers
AP

JB WELD $16.95.

I have repaired almost exactly that kind of damage. I did a temporary repair with epoxy paste that was still going strong after 500 hours use.

During lockdown I pulled the epoxy paste out and reconstructed the tip giving it a new carbon wrap. It was pretty easy. You can follow other repairs and see pictures of my repairs here

kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=196&t=2407240

That looks like a Slingshot foil, if so you definitely want to make sure it's not cracked through. They are well known for splitting along the leading edge. Some people have reinforced that by injecting thickened epoxy into the cracks.

Owain, don't be worried about carbon. That's so tiny that it just needs a fill. If its split (try and prise apart with a knife to see it is is?) then open slightly and fill with resin, then clamp lightly. If its just fill, as the other guys said any thickened epoxy like JB Weld or resin mixed with milled fibre. For ease, a fibre filled UV set epoxy like Suncure or Solarez.
If nothing else avail, a fibre filled car body bog would do in a pinch. Advantage is fast setting.....but don't use it on your boards.

Thanks for all of the input. Cannot find the WestSystem product which seems to tick a lot of boxes in arms reach so in the interest of attempting to get out on the weekend I am going to get some JB Weld from Whitworths.

I don't think there is any splitting but I will have a good look before I start.

I might see what Whitworths have in the way of spray paint, assuming they don't have "Slingshot orange"...

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owain said..
Thanks for all of the input. Cannot find the WestSystem product which seems to tick a lot of boxes in arms reach so in the interest of attempting to get out on the weekend I am going to get some JB Weld from Whitworths.

I don't think there is any splitting but I will have a good look before I start.

I might see what Whitworths have in the way of spray paint, assuming they don't have "Slingshot orange"...

Is that the stabilizer? If so, I haven't heard about slingshot stabs delaminating so you should be good in that aspect (but don't forget to check for cracks still!). that seems to be a small ding. I would not overthink it. Consider that as a performance more than a structural repair (similar to repairs in the edges of a fin).

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col5555 said..
JB WELD $16.95.

+1 for this stuff

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WillyWind said..

owain said..
Thanks for all of the input. Cannot find the WestSystem product which seems to tick a lot of boxes in arms reach so in the interest of attempting to get out on the weekend I am going to get some JB Weld from Whitworths.

I don't think there is any splitting but I will have a good look before I start.

I might see what Whitworths have in the way of spray paint, assuming they don't have "Slingshot orange"...

Is that the stabilizer? If so, I haven't heard about slingshot stabs delaminating so you should be good in that aspect (but don't forget to check for cracks still!). that seems to be a small ding. I would not overthink it. Consider that as a performance more than a structural repair (similar to repairs in the edges of a fin).

Yep, it's the stab. Cleaned it up with the Dremel and zero cracks or delaminating.

JB has been applied...

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owain said..
JB has been applied...

This is suggestion from my own experience
When it comes to removing that excess bog, I have found that using a good sharp bastard file is better than sand paper

You should have sandwiched the epoxy inside plastic sheet. I have used cling wrap and/or pieces of plastic cut from plastic milk bottles. You can clamp it and end up with a smooth shape that is easy to sand.

I like to hand wet sand with 80 grit paper. It gets stuff off fairly quickly and you don't get clogged paper or dust.

Depending on how much wet sanding you're doing you need to think about how you're going to clean up the waste that drops on the ground.

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tonyk said..

owain said..
JB has been applied...

This is suggestion from my own experience
When it comes to removing that excess bog, I have found that using a good sharp bastard file is better than sand paper

Even better than a bastard file is a thing known as a bog file which you use whilst the mix is just shy of hard, past green and no longer flexible it shaves quite well but there is a limited window before it get too hard..
www.stakesys.co.uk/dagger-tools-flexible-body-file-blade

Started with the bastard file then went to wet and dry with a sanding block. Finished with just wet and dry in the hands.
Happy with the shape but think it needs some finishing to sort out the imperfections. @powersloshin mentioned spray putty then hit it with the wet and dry. Might look into this...

Nice job man

not really enough holes there to worry about spray putty. Just a high build primer, or even a normal primer applied heavily then sand back very gently with about 360 wet.

Then if you want to be flash, squirt of black, squirt or orange then rub back really carefully and you'll achieve near enough that same finish.

Step 3, sell as 'new'

Paint is pretty good to tidy up micro flaws in the finish.

To an extent it's not worth getting too precious about foil tips. They tend to get scraped on a regular basis. A bit of a sand from time to time and going for the distressed carbon look gives it a bit of a mongrel look. It encourages you to ride with more power and slash around a bit more.

@Mark_australia - couldn't find any orange so someone might question the new condition.

@Gorgo - I got most of the imperfections out but not all. Need to keep the Mongrel looks etc...

I would say the interface between the repair and the factory finish would be imperceivable after the 600

After paint.

After 600 wet & dry. Trailing edge mark is from the bastard file...