Another #1 thread.

General Discussion
1

I’ve decided it is board #1, not #001. It almost seems to me like making a statement putting 3 digits in right off the bat - I might suck at it, I might give up, I might stop at 99 (or 9) - those extra digits seem to be making a big claim I’m not sure I want to make! Haha.

Anyway - as some of you will have guessed from other threads I’ve been posting - boards #1 and #2 are imminent. Both are in the works right now.

#1 Is about half of the way to having the rocker sanded in to match the stringer I glued in, but needs the stringer re-gluing (full scratch build) as I didn’t do it right.

#2 Is currently in the other room buried under 19 of Accrington’s best bricks while the glue dries (I’ve done a better job with this one than with #1’s stringer) to fix the stringer into the foam.

Searching through my Dad’s tool cupboard I found a power planer I never knew he had - which is saving me a ton of time.

I then found a block plane I never knew was there (and is even better than the one I bought a couple of days ago) which is going to come in very handy too.

Things are going well so far despite the setbacks with the stringer gluing mishap (basically I didn’t true up the foam properly and the low spots haven’t bonded to the stringer).

Anyway - I’ll be posting a blog here…

http://bigshotsurf.blogspot.com/

…and will update this thread both with notices that the blog has been updated, and (when I start posting them) pictures as the builds progress.

If anyone has any pointers to give at any point through the build please feel free.

1 week

2 boards

…followed immediately by 2 weeks surfing in France.

Outline:

I’ve never owned a board before so these are being made using a combination of elements from templates and suggestions a few people have sent me - you all know who you are - thanks a million for your input.

I’ll be learning on #1.

My friend will be learning on #2.

I’m fitting the shaping in around a very busy work schedule so will be updating at some odd intervals but intend to keep the shaping going at as close to flat-out speed as I can manage so I can get them finished as far in advance of going away as I possibly can.

Let the games begin!

2

Blog updated here…

Stands made and blank #2 all glued up - pics to follow soon.

Pics of stands now added to blog - tried to post them here but having no joy at all… :slight_smile:

3

Pictures of the stands are now up on the blog and posted here just because I can now.

I’m pretty pleased with them. Shaping continues tomorrow once I get some dust sheets - I’m temporarily converting a room in my house into a shaping room. It should be much easier to keep it clean then where I’ve been doing it so far. I’m pulling back the carpets so I can keep them cleaner and no risk of getting resin on them. It will be easier to control the temperature in here too - better for the resin setting - which reminds me, I must dig out my thermometer so I can actually get the temperature right.

Glass, resin, 10.5" box and a few other bits and pieces are due when Mr Postman arrives tomorrow. It’s all go now!

I’ll post more pictures once I’ve got the big square foam “blanks” I have made down to something resembling an actual board. That should be tomorrow evening.

4

OH MY GOD !

your gonna glass in your house

You will impregnate the walls with fumes

Stinky house… LOL!

5

Epoxy. :smiley:

Plus I’ll have the windows and doors open to air the place after I’m done.

(I’m told Epoxy doesn’t stink - I followed a build of someone who glassed in his living room with dust sheets down - I’ve not been led wrong have I?)

6

Okay - blog updated again at http://bigshotsurf.blogspot.com/

Round the clock shaping is now in effect. Soon there will be a trip to the supermarket for caffeine drinks (there’s a rather punchy one called Relentless I used to get through a marathon work session to fulfill a tight deadline about a year ago - tastes much better than that red Bull muck too) and when the sun makes an appearance so will the power tools which should speed things along nicely compared to the current block sanding of the rough shape.

Muhleder deserves a special mention after all the help he gave today - he almost got the extra glass to me - and he would have succeeded if it wasn’t for those pesky postal workers being on strike. Cheers buddy.

He went way above and beyond the call of duty in helping me work some things out, taking time out of his day to help, and even figured a way for me to get a full 5 layer glassing schedule out of the glass I already have - well done that man.

I look forward to buying you that beer and I’m pretty sure I’ll be holding back off a couple of nice looking waves when we share the lineup next time I’m down your neck of the woods.

The soon to be owner of board #2 has joined me in the shaping marathon - see more about this on the blog.

If anyone can comment further on the stinkyness of Resin Research 2000 and the likelihood of a noticeable smell hanging around in the house please do so.

I’ve been talking to Royal, who glossed a board in the house and he said it’s pretty low odour but I’m still not sure just how low. Would someone who didn’t know shaping and glassing had gone on notice something was up by the smell or is it as good as odour free?

7

Epoxy has little or no odor

but the sanding dust goes everywhere like talcom powder

8

Good to know that Ken - cheers.

No way I’d be using Poly resin indoors.

I think I’ll either sand on the glass outside, or keep my room encased in dust sheets (see the pic in the blog for a hint at how extensive it is) which should make the cleanup more managable.

Thanks for mentioning the talc thing too - will help me avoid potential huge cleanup jobs.

9

Blog updated again.

Newly improved stands are now in service too. Much sturdier, much more secure, much easier to level, the works. It’s gone from a precarious thing to shape on (entirely down to the feet I had on there) to something really sturdy, and work is actually progressing more quickly as a result.

I’ve got a bit of an issue with the stringer. I glued it up with Gorilla Glue last night, and despite the 10 or so Accrington (good and heavy) house bricks I had piled on top, the foam has shifted during the cure time, the stringer has a small gap between it and the foam all along the deck side, while the base is a really nice and tight seal.

I don’t have the time now to take it apart, clean everything up and go again (I’d be looking at about 4 to 5 hours to turn that around) so I think I’ll leave it as is, finishing shaping the board and make sure to work plenty of the resin and microballoons into the gap when I’m doing the sealer coat. I imagine it won’t be as strong as a properly glued stringer, but would have thought that the resin might provide some kind of structural bond between them.

It is that or try to find a way to work some gorilla glue down into the gap and leave it to harden (which would mean a slightly quicker turn around), though I’m due to start glassing some time this afternoon so the extra time might be an issue.

Suggestions?

10

Resin/microballoon mix in the gaps will be fine, or resin foam dust mix if you think you might be short of microballoons. Either way the stringer-slurry bond and the slurry-foam bond will be stronger than the foam itself, so if it is going to come apart it will be the foam that fails, not the glue join. Clark foam used to glue their stringers in with a resin-microballoon mix. It’s the stringer-glass bond that you want to make sure is good, that’s where the strength comes from.

11

Yea, better saving the balloons I imagine - I’ve not exactly got tons of the stuff.

How about chopping up some glass into really small bits? I think there’s going to be bits of sawdust in most of the foam dust from planing the stringer and the alterations I made to the stands. I’m not sure that would be the best way to get a strong bond that also looks nice.

How about using finely chopped up glass? I thought there might be some mileage in hacking up a corner of cloth instead. I’m not sure how well that would form the paste I’m looking for, but if it is worth doing rather than using foam dust I’ll give it a shot - or would foam dust/resin likely be just as strong?

12

The glass mix will be stronger, but the foam-resin mix will be lighter and easily strong enough. Will match the foam better too in terms of colour. Chopped up glass mix will be transparent. Bit of a pain chopping the glass up too, takes quite a lot of time but works ok. You can get chopped or milled fibre ready to use which saves a bit of mucking about.

13

Well what to say?

Things went well, and not so well.

One of the boards (#2 as it happens) turned out really quite nice. The shaping went off without a hitch, likewise the glassing. One of the pens I used on the rice paper for a picture ran when I wetted it out but not so much it ruined the look.

The other board however was acting like Christine (Stephen King book/movie) and everything was going wrong. The stringer didn’t glue up properly in 2 attempts (one with PVA, the other with Gorilla Glue) Then I took out too much foam foiling the deck. Then The board took a suicide leap off the stands during the rescue attempt. Then it took another in final shaping. Then the glassing went about 3 different kinds of wrong - but at the end of it all, I have 2 boards that WORK!!!

Under any other circumstances I would have scrapped Christine part way into the shaping and started again, but in this really quite silly time frame I just thought to hell with it and carried right on. No regrets at all - it’s been a blast.

In the end she got the number #A and a single 7’5" rainbow TK Flex fin. She’s been wet and (to this beginner) she feels great.

So - pictures right?

I’d like to show you the shots taken on launch day, the satisfied smiles worn by “head shaper” and myself at the fruit of our labour.

I’d LOVE to show you the pictures of my “glassing room” which consisted of a tent on a campsite in a pine forest on Cap Feret, a couple of stands hammered into the sand and a couple of folding stools. In fact I think some of you would get a real kick out of it.

However, I’m afraid I can’t. It appears my camera has gone walkies.

It seems to me that someone swiped the camera from the back of the car immediately after I took the launch day post-surf pictures while I got out of my wetsuit with my back turned - or from the car while we were in and out of the tent while breaking camp before the 34 hour journey back home.

All the pictures of the fin installation, the Truc Vert glassing workshop and the launch are wherever my lovely camera is.

If it turns up in a sleeping bag or one of the tents I’ll post right away, but as things stand it seems like all (except, thankfully, the surfboards themselves) has been lost.

Some quick thanks…

1> Muhleder

Your advice and input were invaluable. Thanks for your patience and your offer of someone to call at any time in case of a crisis (though I never needed to take you up on it)

2> Jeffrey

That brief use of your workshop for routing those centre boxes was a huge help. I’d still be routing the things now if I was stuck with that Dremel!

Cool guy willing to take time out of a busy day to help a complete stranger complete a totally unreasonable (but enjoyable) build - refusing even to be payed with a 6-pack. Good on you.

Oh, and you’ve inspired me to have a crack at a balsa board too (that one in your garage was just too nice) I’m not sure about the next one, but soon for sure.

I’ll be giving you a shout about sourcing some wood soon.

3> Balsa

You completely disappeared after I arrived in Guéthary so I never actually got to meet up with you, despite me asking around to see if I could track you down, but the fact I even went to Guéthary is down to you - I absolutely love that town. I will be back for sure. I saw my first game of Basque Pelota after reading about the game in high school about 15 years ago - that was pretty much worth the trip down on its own.

I saw a kids game and then the Anciens on Saturday, then the Anciens Finals on Sunday too. Had a blast.

4> Jim @ LokBox

Tons of helpful advice in the other thread I posted about box installation, by PM and by E-Mail.

5> Mick @ ClassicSurf

Cheers for the bag - the gear you sold to me, for putting me on the right track for fins, for running around the houses to try and help me avoid the chaos on the M25.

6> Swaylocks

A source of inspiration and more good advice than you could shake a stick (of any size) at.

Built with stoke? You bet! So will the next ones, however, they’ll be built with much more time and preparation too!

Now I just want my camera back…

Well, that and some surf to be had this weekend, but I won’t be holding my breath on either of them.

Mahalo all.