here’s my build #6. This board was build for the eisbach, a riverwave in munich, bavaria. As there’s no paddeling required, the volume of the board is not important. It is crucial that the board turns on a dime and has not too much rocker.
The rails have to be solid as they hit the walls of the riverbed quite frequently. The board has a lightweight EPS core that was hotwired. Top and bottom skins are made from 3mm poplar. Rails are made of pine wood, see drawing of crosssection. The rails are tapered towards the nose and tail as well, something i havent seen on other boards yet. This saves some weight i guess. I used a spokeshave to taper the strips of pinewood before gluing them on.
I used the 4wfs plugs for the board to discover the effects of different toe angles and fin positions.I didn’t glass the board, I just painted it with several layers of epoxy. The epoxy soaks into the wood, hopefully this makes it strong enough to withstand someeisbach abuse. The build is really strong, I’m shure the it doesn’t snap and doesn’t heel dent. But I’m not shure about the ding resistance.
For the artwork i used some pigmented resin. I also want to try a cork traction pad for the front foot instead of waxing the board. The board is not quite finished yet, some finishing work to do and also some 4wfs fin foiling and glassing.
I’m thinking of doing a similar construction using poplar ply. (I’m building fins with it for the moment)
But my concern is bending the ply in two directions (deck dome and rocker). Your board has a flatter rocker, so that makes this a lesser issue, but what is you experience with the bending?
Should I use planks instead of a full width piece?
How is the weigth? I assume you used low density eps ± 10kg/m3?
Hi Hans, thanks for your reply. Bending the poplar in two directions is no issue at all, because it is only 3mm thick. I also did a single to double concave on another board, no problem. As long as you don’t try to bend it around the rails, you’ll be fine. Final weight will be around 3kg. I used waterproof wood glue (no PU glue) for the skins, easy going:
I always wanted to try a self made cork traction pad. I read here in some posts that easiest way is to use a vacuum bag and epoxy to glue it on. But I’m not shure if I like the cork and want to be able to put it off without much sanding and stuff. So i decided to go with adhesive tape. First I work some epoxy mixed with cotton fibres into the cork to make it more durable. This is important to close all the small holes in the cork and avoid that it tears apart while standing on it. Its like spreading butter on a bread, if you keep on working with the squeechy all the epoxy fills the small holes. After the resin sets i’ll sand the top to fully expose the cork and maximise traction. Then I’ll use some double sided adhesive tape to apply it to the deck.
[img_assist|nid=1067559|title=diy cork traction pad for front foot part1|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1067560|title=spreading epoxy over cork pad|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
hey hans, i didn’t use glass on this board, i just painted it with epoxy. you definitly need no glass on the inside, the board is strong enough. the poplar is a sandwich by itself, as its three layers of wood. on the outside i used 80g/m² glass on another board, that’s ok. But think of the outer layer of glass only as an protection against dings and water, not as a structural requirement. keep us posted if you build one!
