If so, what kind of blank, dimensions, designs etc?? Poly? Epoxy?
I haven’t but I just cut a blank for one out of an EPS off cut. Pretty standard size. Thought I’d glass it kind of light and use a flexible epoxy so it will still flex. Maybe vacuum a soft top on it.
A friend of mine who bodyboards regularly has made a few of them out of some of my off cuts. He’s used carbon fibre in various places and they are very stiff. He says they work great.
I only body board on the odd rare occasion but I thought I could try out some new construction techniques and not be out a lot of materials if it turns to s…t.
Have you done any? What cha got in mind? What happened to that guy who was going to post a series about this a while back. Did I miss it?
Neira , wasn’t that you ?
Hola,
Yes I was. In fact, I built near 50 bodyboards in 3 years. My website should be still running out there. Search for “neirabodyboards” at google.
Some weeks ago, I started here a thread for those interested about HomeDepot bodyboard building, but it took interest from very few of you. Try to find it and wake it up!!
First 2 BB for me where built from PU+glass+polyester. Very fun and easy to build. The problems were 2:
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When prone bodyboarding you can’t flex nothing to absorb water bumps, so your chest will became totally hurt after 2 sessions (don’t even imagine to “land” an aerial-reverse!!)
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Elbows and knees are quite harder points of contact with the glass than feet, so pressure dents appear inmedately.
So I decided to go to “flex” materials and found XPS+HIPS+EVA gave good results.
http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/detail_page.cgi?ID=523
http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/detail_page.cgi?ID=228
…EVA sucks too much water…
Here is one I did out of a Large broken Infinity.
I have since used larger fin’s and the deck is material from REI (used a belt sander to finish it off). It hard to tell but there are bottom channels that are aligned with the bat tail. The handle on the top makes use of two leash plugs about 7inches apart. I am 230lb and I can hang like a fly on the wall at Church’s shore break.
Design came from a Rusty sponge board. 46inches in length (just fits a large travel board bag).
Recycle is the name of the game.
JohnF
dale i hope that is a piapo. real bodyboards don’t use a concave in the bottom like the one you have depicted, at most it’s two concaves near the rails in the last foot of the board, and some people debate wether or not they even make a difference. those who endorse them, which i am one of say they improve you hold in steep/inverted sections of the wave. plusd bodyboards don’t need skegs, beacuase of the hard rails they have. to make your own bodyboard they sell kits at turbosurf.com also try to google BSD bodyboards. he used to also sell kits.
Dale, the drawing of the flex lines…I was wondering about flex down the middle (not shown.) Is there an internal stiffener? Or maybe hard layers on the conacave to strengthen the arch?
Also the fins. Besides being fins. Do they also serve to stiffen the back rail.
riderofwaves-
Not a paipo, and not a bodyboard by your definition.
My triplanes are prone craft… and they work very well. Their basic design was developed 25 years ago.
The oldest paipos were made of wood, short, thin, stiff, hard and finless. The original bodyboards were made of plastic foam, short, thicker, flexible, soft, and finless.
(many paipos and bodyboards have also had fins)
Unfortunately, most bodyboarders are unaware of their potential for design freedom: “real” bodyboards can be created with a number of different materials, methods of construction, and an almost infinite variety of shapes… with and without fins, or even keeled.
I began answering questions about concaves (and a multitude of other shapes) in my personal equipment well over 35 years ago. My first bodyboard (circa 1971- Tom Morey`s “Boogie”) was made from a $25.00 kit. Tom always encouraged me to try new bodyboard designs, different materials and ways of making them. He said personal experimentation was the key to surfing’s future.
So after all these years, it’s sort of sad to see debates about the same old questions, things which were explored and answered long ago.
I challenge you to look beyond bodyboarding’s mainstream mass-production and mass-marketing.
Build your own designs, carve your own tracks, and you’ll discover there’s another world out there, yours for the taking…
Poobah-
There is very little flex that runs down the centerline. This was mostly due to limitations in the composite materials. Some good, some bad… lot of limitations to be aware of and try to balance.
Internal stiffeners… I often used 2 hollow, flexible ABS tubes, sometimes PVC. On some designs I also built in fiberglass/epoxy plates, polycarbonate sheets, extruded fiberglass rods or hand-wound epoxy tubing, tapered and straight-walled, etc. Some also had removeable glass fins.
Triplanes designed for bigger waves were loaded with extra weight for added control, sometimes weighing 10 to 12 pounds.
I shaped the core (intentionally undersized), sliced lengthwise, inserted sealed tubing, and re-glued the core.
The core was wrapped with several layers/densities of closed-cell material. They helped determine response and proper buoyancy. The outer skin is a tough, slick (metalflake) vinyl, finished edges with PVC resin… sharp enough to cut skin.
Yes, the twin keels did inhibit flex through the back rail… but again, not always by my choice. Eventually the triplanes would get tired from all the bending, and the outer skin would begin developing small cracks along the most frequent lines of stress. The triplanes were expensive ($25.00 a yard for some of the stuff which couldn’t be purchased in small quantities) to build and time consuming, at least 40 hours labor each. And not all surfed the way I wanted them to, resulting in some very complicated modifications. The were such a sweet rush to fly across long, smooth faces, but sketchy and punishing bouncing over chop and ragged ledges.
Just a few of the reasons why I love to build surf mats!
Hello Neira ,
Didn’t know you were a BB pro shaper !
Are you still working on it? Maybe I order one for my nephew.
See you in Los Locos.
Dale,
I love your posts. I’ll never put the time and energy you have into this but I appreciate it nonetheless. I don’t bodyboard very much, usuallly on storm windswell, but my son and friends do. I totally agree that current bodyboard design, even more than curent surfboard design is far from the otimum. You always give me a lot to think about. Now a simple project has become a bit more complicated but the journey’s the thing isn’t it.
PS: Neira - I’m glad to hear you just thought there was lack of interest. I thought maybe you didn’t post the thread due to hate mail from stand up surfers. For such a free sport there is a lot of narrow mindedness in riding waves. I just like being out there.
Quote:
If so, what kind of blank, dimensions, designs etc?? Poly? Epoxy?
While flexible prone craft are a fascinating topic, we should consider that 220 Grit wanted to discuss fiberglass on foam bodyboards when he started this thread. I collect photos and measurements of these kinds of boards on a website at http://www.larryobrien.com/glassonfoam.htm and I’m always looking for more content there. Especially if the board is still ridden and sharable.
Here’s a rack that I’ve found useful for the occasional small board project.
It’s basically a 24" tall sawhorse with padded 1/2" copper pipes about 12" long and spaced 24" apart. I left one of the pads off in the photos.
I drilled an 1/8" hole all the way through, and then a 1/2" hole just in the top so the flat head screw would down into the pipe. I used 1/2" tall bushings to distance the pipe from the sawhorse. This allows the padding (pipe insulation) to wrap around the pipe. You could be less fancy…broomstick handles and old towels. The advantages of this handy little rack is that you can easily bungee a board to it, and you can easily carry it to the sun, shade or to the the middle of the lawn for wet sanding, etc. Very stable. Can go places where the post-in-bucket racks don’t easily go. The low work angle can be hard on your back, but you can also set the thing up on a banquet table or old desk. Sometimes I like to sand low…keeps the glass itch out of my Birdwells.
For thin bellyboards, like only 1.5" thick at the thick point, I work on a flat surface. Usually an old piece of carpeting turned upside down on a desk or table. That way you don’t have to worry about the blank bending under the weight of the planer or surform. I’ve also laid the belly blank on top of a skinned surfboard blank on top of regular racks.
Another method used by John Galera on Oahu, gets most of the shape from gluing together two thickness of “sheet” poly foam (under weights to get the curves) and then glassing with suncure resin.
220 Grit, if you don’t mind a project suggestion, then how about this…an old school template and twin fin set-up like the old Hansen bellies, but with modern advantages. Better rails, rocker,fins, lighter glassing, etc.
49 x 18 x 19 x 17.5 inches.
That Hansen old school is the ticket!
im from so cal and was wondering where i can get materials to shape my own boards like poly pro etc??
i have tools and what not already
dale whats up?i read your interview in that rot magazine not to long ago.good stuff.its cool to see people pushing the envelope of our sport.im from so cal manhatten beach to be exact and was wondering how i can shape my own boards.i know you have years of experience in this field.is this something thats possible in ones own garage or backyard or do you have to be a big company to afford materials now??(like polypro ) etc. next thing is where can i get materials from in so cal??? like home depot or ?? just go in and ask for a slab of poly pro ?? do you sell a kit or anything?? id like to know because im really interested in making my own creations any help would be greatly appreciated.thanks
Dale has loads of useful posts in the archives. Here’s a great old thread that aanswers your questions- and more!
I have a boogie board that delammed but the foam is still good. Been thinking about glassing both the deck and bottom but after breaking my ribs earlier this year, would rather glass the bottom and have something soft on the deck. Anyone know where to buy the softer “normal” boogie board deck material? Anyone know what kind of glue is used? Regular epoxy? I was thinking of glassing both the deck and bottom and then applying a pad on the deck but after doing some research, it seems like you want some more flex. Any idea? I’m located in South Orange County. Thanks for the help.