Let’s see if the pictures come through then I’ll deal with the text.
Damn. I knew that was too easy. Lets try this.
So here we go. Sorry, apparently no “in line” pictures for you.
thanks mate !
…good for me, a polyurethane foam guy, to get to see a polystyrene blank being “formed” and shaped .
And I like how there are people posting photo threads more now at Sways .[They’re the main ones I look at , nowadays]
cheers ,
ben
looks pretty sweet, especially for #001. I would like to see an overall picture including the whole board, rocker also. You’re leash loop thing looks super pro, nice job. What kind of wood did you use for the stringer, looks wide too, maybe 1/2’', no?
The stats: 9’4" 18" x 22.75" x 14.5" 2.75" thick, nose rocker at 4.5", tail 3.5" Cut from a block of 1.5lb eps foam with a .75" blad cypress stringer. Lamination: 3x6oz deck and 2x6oz bottom with RR epoxy and fast hardner. It weighs about 17lbs. and seems quite sturdy. 2+1 fin set up with “Lokbox” boxes.
The only problems I ran into where thinking the 10.5" center box was .75" deep when it was actually 1" so my tail was foiled too thin. Consiquently I ended up with a 9’4" rather than the 9’6" I started with (per Benny1’s suggestion.Thankx man, it worked well). Everything you have ever read about RR epoxy exotherm drauma IS VERY TURE. Along that line polyurathane glue (gorilla glue) and a dreml tool cane fix about anything. Had to deal with laminating in cold, damp weather and it seems to have gone all right(see one of my old posts. There are only like…4) Had one out gasing hole that I could find and that was an easy fix. Did get some air bubbles in the rail laps, all five of them (laps not bubbles). But nothing I can’t live with. Used the “creeping evil” spakle to seal the blank and used Krylon H2O pre-glassing for the color.
The ride: have had it out twice in blown out surf. Seems to have good paddling speed and catches waves without too much effort. I’ve only had a single flexy 9" fin in it so far and the surf hasn’t been condusive to turning latley. so I’ll assess that later. Oh, ya rails are up in the first third, 50/50 mid and hard down in the tail. The bottom essentially flat with a very mild concave in the nose (was testing out the planer) and a little vee in the tail. I think thats it.
So, thanks sooooo much for all the help and inspiration. I have just had way too much fun with this. Not to mention that you have just helped elivate me WAY up in my local surfing status. Talk to ya’all later. Thanks again. Eric
Wow! I actually got a post from the legindary Chipfish61 and my status changed to a user all in the same day. How cool is that?!! Good to have you back Ben. It is really helpful to SEE how folks are doing things in addition to reading about it. Not to mention its just fun. Later. Eric
Nice one. Thanks for the details at the end. I’m contemplating a 10’ eps board after my HWS is finished. The housemates have been itching for a big board to take out this summer, so we can trade it around at cowells sessions. Any tips on shaping the eps from problems you might have had, or things that worked really well?
Pat
Thanks Big G. The shaping went smoother that I thought I would. My dad made custom furniture for a living. Maybe some of it rubbed off? Glassing is another story. RR epoxy is pretty easy to use and that helped out a lot though. Thanks for the positive comments. Eric
Alright! The best posts on Swaylocks are the first board posts… Nice one Spud!
thanks for the shots of the board , mate .
please , no legendary status , i’m just a 45yo bloke from perth who posts a bit too often at sways.
what is the krylon H20 please spud ?
is it a spray paint , brush paint , or what ?
looks like a fun shape …what is ‘cowells’ like …does it get hollow ? [you can “p.m” , if you don’t want lots of people there]
have fun with it mate !
ben ( a part time mal rider )
a mate made about a 6’2 thruster shaped like that once . [I only mention that because he called that model …his …‘spud’ ]
Hi! How did you get the rr to shine that nice?
Jimmy yoshio shibata
Thanks Pat and your welcome. I used the power planer for some of the heavy foam removal: crowing the deck, vee in the tail and initial rail banding. I’ve used that beast before but never on foam. It takes some getting use to especially with a Rockwell 653 (it weighs a ton). Most of the shaping was done with wooden concrete skreeds / trowels with handles and varing grits of sand paper (40, 80, 100) stuck to them with contact cement. Stringer was taken down with a medium 7" block plane and a 3.5" mini plane. These are great for truing up you templates too and keep’em sharp. Fine sanded with 220 gris with a old chunk of carpet for backing. Sand your rails last and tread lightly. You can change the whole outline of your board way too fast if your not careful. Take your time. I was using 1.5lb density eps and it will tear out if you catch the edge of your sand paper. I’ve heard the heavier densities are a dream to work with. I’ve got a 2’x4’x10’ block of 1.5 so its going to have to do for a while. I’m figuring about 9 boards total. The stuff cuts like butter with a hot wire though I broke about 8 guitar strings in the process. Too much tension. That was probably way more than you needed but I hope there is something in it you can use. Have fun. Eric
Thank CarveNalu. I’m pretty stoked on it too.
Chip, Krylon H2O is a water based latex paint in a spray can here in the U.S. It is safe to use on EPS. Apparently others contain solvents that dissolve EPS. From personal experience I have found that lacquer thinner is an impressive EPS solvent. Oddly enough so is strait “Additive F”. So don’t try to clean the Krylon H2O off your board with lacquer thinner. No good comes of this.
I have never been to “cowells” its in SantaCruz and thats around 8hrs south of me. I’m up near the Oregon border.
My brother has been calling me Spud for years. In the U.S. it referrs to either a potato or a tool used for stripping bark off a tree. Does the word have the same meaning down under? When women “glow” and men “chunder” is it the same thing? Eric
Thanks Eric. I can never get too much information. I’m going to try to get some 2# eps for my board, if it happens, so that should b a little easier. I know what you mean about tearing out chunks…I’m working on a boogie board now for practice and it’s 1lb or possibly less.
Pat
Hey Yoshio,
I tried to save weight by skipping the gloss coat. I used Additive F (2ml/oz of hardner) in the fill coat. Brushed on and let it cure for a week at 80deg. F. Hand sanded with wet/dry (320, 600, 1000, 1500). Rented a variable speed power sander/polisher and polished with “Turtle wax” rubbing compound then did the same with the polishing compound of the same brand. Took for ever but did get a good sun burn (we don’t get much sun here) and killed off a bit of my lawn in the process. The deck turned out better that I expected. I used half the amount of Additive F on the bottom (messed up on the mixing) and it didn’t polish nearly as well. Hope thats of some use. Eric
Looks good, what’s the final weight?
Thanks Kai,
17lbs per bathroom scale. Next time I’ll try 4oz glass for my final lam. Eric