So I like build threads, I’m sure others do as well, so here is my latest. Board number 3 finished the end of august and tested in New England for 2 weeks. I had a tight deadline to finish it by so this is a condensed build thread since I didn’t document many of the steps.
Had my first go with a hotwire. I will never use anything else again! It saves so much time and gives a nice close tolerance blank! I should have used it from the beginning. Now if only I could skip the hotwire and just buy a blank in my area!
Always good to see young guys getting their hands dirty, nice work! Outline and rocker look very functional.
Couple of tips, next time take more foam out of the tail. Foil out those swallow tips and take the stringer down more in the crack (you have to do both so it matches up). Also, you could leave out the stringer if you want to save a couple hundred grams. At that length/thickness ratio you're OK even with a hand-lam.
Not from California...made his own blank....glued in stringer...shaped and glassed using color....installed a fin system....posted photos......This Kid Is A Swaylock's Hero !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was my pleasure to share. I love it when others do build threads!
The stringer is 3/8" pine.
As for the color, my fiberglass supplier has 1 oz. pigments I buy. They’re specifically for epoxy, but I’ve got to use quite a bit to make 12 oz. of resin opaque.
Actually, I glassed the bottom of this board twice. The first time I attempted to do the exact same pattern with 3 layers of glass. That day it must have been 35 celcius or 90 F outside and around 40 celsius inside the garage. I mixed all my colors in 5 minutes. I laid down the black puzzle boxes and went to pour the pink out only to find it was a solid mass of hardened resin in the cup! In only 5 minutes! Stupidly I poured out the rest of the colors and they went off in about a minute. So I ripped the glass off in order to save the blank. Man, 10 minutes and $80 wasted! Oh well. The second time I did it at 2 in the morning when it was cooler.
And the top is slightly splotchy since I ran out of my first batch of pink and had to mix another. You can never match the original color!
Thanks guys. It's such a great feeling riding your own board and knowing what you want to change the next time.
A couple of questions. How can I take more foam out of the tail / foil the tips? Also what type of file do you use for the crack. I used this massive wood rasp that destroyed everthing within a half mile; I had to fix it with glass. And lastly the foam was 1.5 eps with 3x 6oz. top and 4oz. + 2x6oz. bottom (along with a tail patch) and under my back foot the deck is now concave on both sides of the stringer. I don't know what it would have been like without the stringer. How much more glass would I have needed?
Man so many questions! Last one; when you say functional do you mean it will work but could be better? How could I improve it. Feedback is very helpful!
Use the round microplane that surfding posted for the stringer in the crack. You can tape the sides of the crack to protect them while taking the stringer down. Killer board. Looks like fun. Mike
Round surform (the microplane IS best) going uphill on the stringer. Take out a bunch, then some more. That stringer curve is your rail template for the inside of crack. For DIY, use a coarse block to cut in a primary rail band that tapers from stringer to tips. Blend that with a secondary band above and below, then paper to blend and finish.
Coping is good as well. I learned how to do swallows from a Production Shaper from CI and Lost. Micro Planes were the toosl all the production guy's were using plus they are fast. Coping? Why not I did all the crown moulding in my house with a coping saw. Just another tool!
