finished getting the nose and tail structurally sound. now and just have to add some coats of minwax and durathane. stoked.
Im ready to hi-five anyone willing to help me lug this down the beach! it weighed in at 30lbs with only 3 coats of durathane on it. thanks for the encouragement!
I’m stoked for ye. Its great to see people push an original idea through to completion. If you ever taking that thing to sea anywhere near Santa Barbara, I’ll carry it for you, just to see it go.
Cameron
Thanks man, much appreciated. I don’t anticipate a voyage in those waters soon, but if fate lands me there, you’ll hear about it.
Update: Just finishing the coats of durathene/ minwax and the combination of the two (3 coats durathene, 2 minwax, then 1 coat durathene and all coats thick as hell) seems to be creating a great layer of water-resistant goodness on top of the board. I’ve used wood filler to fill the gaps in my design, and coated that wood filler with the aforementioned amount of durathene/ minwax. Only a matter of time until the maiden voyage.
fins?!!?? what fins?
RIDE REPORT*
She floats!!! She rides!!!
SUCCESS!
Now for the nit-picking given one day of extremely unexceptional surf:
Paddles like a rock, but I have to say, however is remarkably fun in really small peelers. No fins were ever attached so it has a really smooth loose feeling to it, and the convex surface of the deck really feels great on the feet. Unfortunately it is quite lumbering and slow, but I’ve had this problem with a friend’s longboard and may simply be more a problem in my head and not the equipment… I had the most luck on it when I was paddling it with my chin hanging over the nose (which was quite scary given the heftiness at over 30lbs of the surf box) but this was to be expected as my rides surfing the catch surf beater that is 6" shorter (which I do quite frequently now) have taught me that with boards this short, one must really paddle them on the nose in order to drop in. As far as hold goes, it seems to hold very well for not having any fins, but I’m not about to take it into anything above knee high for my own safety as well as that of others. This thing would really mow down a lineup so it’s a good thing that I live where the water is cold and seeing one other dude in the water is lucky. So, as expected, not a barrel rider but, it was never meant to be. There is a surf spot that is a little further away from me that is notorious for little tiny peelers, so I’m going to have to take this thing out there next, whenever I get the time to do so, and perhaps that may be an environment in which the surf box reigns supreme. I look forward to reactions to how it has turned out or any questions regarding ride characteristics that I didn’t address (of which I’m sure there are many)
In case I don’t get back to the thread after the month of traveling I’m about to do, I would like to thank everyone who has encouraged, suggested, or otherwise influenced me in this project. If nothing else, I’ve got a great story and a cool looking coffee table.
kick ass! cool to see you standing up on it.
I’ve got a great story and a cool looking coffee table. Why is this a good board ? Because you built it yourself and I am sure you learned a lot from building it. If you had just gone out and bought a board you would have learned nothing . Nice of you to post pictures of you surfing it, thanks.
