Thought I’d share a few shots before the glass goes on. Used Lowes eps and doorskins. Feels a bit heavy and I’m guessing it will be right around 8lbs without fins. Without the glass I can barely dent it, so 2oz should do it. I ended up scoring the inside of the skins horizontally in hopes of allowing it to flex. We’ll see. The price was certainly right. I based this off of my second build which was a corky 6’ fish. I pulled and extended the nose, adding more nose rocker in hopes of making it work a bit better on steep takeoffs, and foiled it out.
The rails are cork and balsa. I was almost out of balsa and needed a filler. Built up and sanded well and I’m digging the contrast.
All in I’m guestimating it will come in right under $100 not counting fins. We’ll see how it surfs and how heavy it is to make sure I didn’t just make a $100 door stop.
Maybe a corecell deck, doorskin bottom, and blue dow foam rails would give a nice flex but keep the weight down and keep the build on the easier side. The doorskins sure do cut an entire step out of making balsa skins. Bamboo also looks attractive due to the ease, but I’m guessing it will cost a bit more than $9 for a 4x8 sheet.
I’m thinking of heading down to the HOme Depot now. That looks great.
I’ve used Poplar bender ply but my source now sells it with the grain going the width. Luan might be the call where light weight is not the main issue.
Yeah, I pulled 3 sheets from a stack of 50 after looking for the best grain. The back side is a nice even light redish color that would also look pretty good. We’ll see if the wax stays on this on the way from the car. It’s definitely darker than I initially thought I’d be.
I’ll hand if from the trusty baggage scale after I sand it…
That is the fill coat that I’ll be sanding. It would look better if it were a gloss, but I’m still a rookie and may not have the time or patience to figure it out using epoxy.
I only saw it in one thickness, but I’m sure you can get it as thicker plys.
While the $100 board sits there gleaming a box of balsa showed up, a sheet of corecell miraculously appeared, and a new harbor freight sander came out of the box. All the while my wife is admiring the shiny $100 creation…
Any ride updates? Beautiful board. I’m thinking about giving this a try. I don’t mind the extra weight. Would you envision any issues with the doorskin in a board with more rocker (i.e. introducing compound bends, as seen in the nose rocker of your board)? Thanks.
