I’m just about to start attach the rails on my hollow wooden surfboard and have some concerns about getting the plywood to bend and stick in the more curvy areas. Getting the inner rails to bend in those areas was hard enough, but at that point there was atleast a few places where a clamp could hold it in place. I do not have bending ply available so I’m pretty worried about the rails not sticking with contact cement. Any advice much appreciated.
regards,
Håvard
as you may need to steam the wood contact cement may not be the call…bending Plywood? maybe just single Ply’s in umiform directional orientation should be considered…dont give up… find someone milling clear lumber to get the rippings you will be in business…ambrose…tacker stapler and alaphatic glue could be cool Titebond two waterproof glue
What thickness are you using…???..
Even 1/8" plywood will have spring back…
The face veneer holds the tension…
1/4" plywood will bend super easy if you plane off one face veneer…
You need to use a stationary planer, or maybe a belt sander with gnarly course grit…
No problem…
I planned on using 1/8" plywood, but as you said the springback is pretty strong. The availability of material here is lame I might add.
What about screwing the ends to the frame temporarily and using epoxy to hold it in place until it sets? It would be ver y slow though…
regards,
Håvard
Hey man,
Ya, solid wood would be hard to hold down. I’ve done canoes out of cedar, and when doing the ‘gunnels’ I’d take a strip of mahogany(about 1/8" thivk by 1" wide), glue it up With Titebond, and then staple it with a heavy duty stapler. Wait for it to dry, then pull the staples and lay up the next. Worked for that, but like you said, Takes FOREVER… Screws would work too, but like would likely cause a lot more marks. Hope you find your own way… Joel
Have you considered cork instead, heaps of flex, bought at hardware stores in convenient square packs. I used 4 packs of 10 for my board. You could alternate cork and wood. If you are having trouble bending the ply try cutting it into smaller sections and work to bend it slightly with your hands. The template to get the correct size is the rail supports of your board.
have fun, I am…
Hicksy
How do there Haaaarvaaaaard.
you could try hot-glueing triangle blocks to the ply and clamp straight across the board if you have clamps long enough. I’ll try to attach a diagramme. I’m at exactly the same stage with my board now and this is the idea I’ve come up with, it has worked on other projects (not surfboards). The bocks will knock right off when no longer required (tried and tested).
Alternatively if you are thinking of building more than one board (which I am sure you are as it is totally adictive) you could build a glueing jig consisting of the excess wood from your glue form (if you used one) held together by 4" pieces of 1/2" ply to form a “female” mould. one would be made for either end of the board and attached together with ratchet straps. Once the rails are glued and ready for attaching the jig is put over the board and rails and pulled tight. This would have the benefit of enabling you to glue all the component rail pieces at the same time and just clamping once and allowing to dry, rather than glueing,waiting, glueing, waiting, etc. I’ve not tried this yet but may do on my next board.
All the best
MMM (Jase)
Thanks all, I’ll see if I can find a way that works for me.
regards,
Håvard
