I’m helping a friend build his second HWS… This one is a 9’0" LB…
The wood for the deck skins is old growth redwood, sourced from a dismantled steam railroad water tank in Raymond WA… The planks were 14’ long, 2.5" thick and 8" wide… Clear and straight… A real find… My friend Jeffro gave me a dozen of them…
The rails for the 9’0" are blue foam and bending ply… They were bonded to the frame with epoxy… The entire rails were applied, full depth, as a whole… Starting at the nose, with staggered joint overlaps… Epoxy was brushed on each layer, the layers were stacked then taped onto the frame… Next, the mid-board rails were installed, then finally the tail sections were applied… Masking tape provided a temporary hold, then stretch wrap was tensioned over the whole board… Total installation time, compared to building the rails layer by layer, was about half… An added benefit is not needing to buy contact cement or breathing those fumes…
that looks very cool! Is that some kind of carbon fiber roving I see reinforcing the underside of the deck? Post up some more pics and info as it progresses, please!
"50K Carbon Fiber Tow is a high strength, medium modulus carbon fiber tow, also referred to as a ribbon, loosely bonded together with an epoxy sizing to hold the fibers for handling and bonding purposes. It is formed from approximately 50,000 bundled carbon fiber filaments and offer approximately 410 feet per pound.
It is ideal for fabricating small, high strength, low weight structures and can be used to filament wind tubes or for compression molding applications. It is suitable for use in wet layup, vacuum bagging and resin infusion manufacturing and can easily be cut with composite shears.
Carbon Fiber Tow is compatible is compatible with polyester, vinyl-ester and epoxy resins and wets out easily."
