So I finally got to get some work done… two boards up for various stages of glassing.
I got the carbon down on the deck of the SciPhi. Stoked on that. Used 3M 77 to lightly tack the strip down (money). Worked out really well and then cut the points. Bottom I will very likely try to use the method in the video AndiHL posted.
Then Murphy showed up!!!
I was also working on a buddies EPS round tail puddle jumper style board. I WAS going to glass the bottom. Everything laid out and ready to start… Already has all of the fin plugs pre installed everything done.
THEN- The wind picked up in my outdoor shop and the feather weight 5’4" literally went air borne behind me and broke off a piece of the tail!!! Grrrrrr. I quickly mixed a slurry and used plastic and tape to put the tail piece back in. So stinkin mad! I almost cursed. Of course I didnt have a weight on the board as I was preparing to glass it… so stupid on my part! There are some serious draw back to working outside in a tent in the tropics. Ha ha.
So I have a few more steps to fix that board now before geting it back on track. Little sanding little filling… still pissed at myself for not leaving the weight on it
ha ha! Intense. I am lucky it only got the tail and I could glue it back together. I have so much money in plugs into that nice blank. Hard lesson though for sure.
I finally got the bottom of both boards laminated. Seems like it is taking forever (I have two other boards in the mix right now on top of these). Both came out ok. The tail fof my SciPhi pales in comparison to Yorkys quality glassing! I dont know how you did it so clean man. Channels to quad bat tail with wings… ugh. Legit glassers are insane! Ha ha. I will say this… I survived the SciPhi process but it kicked my butt. The 6’2" diamond tail came out nicely for sure and was about one million times easier. Both were done with good tight S-Glass. I sanded the laps and bumps today and it will be on to the decks soon.
Took me forever but I finally got the boards done.
They came out pretty fair and I learned a lot on the process. I could have reduced the width a touch for sure but it still worked out ok. Here are the final pics from both boards. This diamond tail may just end up in my quiver! Ha ha.
Boom, done! This one kicked my butt glassing/sanding. Wow, doubled my finishing time to get it right. But in the end it was all good. I could have made this one a bit narrower too. It has a ton of surface area and I didnt need the extra .25" width. But I am excited to hear a ride report when it gets out in the water.
Bro I dont know how you make those insanely deep channels look so silky smooth. You got mad skills man. Mine kicked my butt and they arent even close to how complex and deep yours are. Guess I gotta keep practicing! Not sure I will be doing many more bat tails though.
Clint,
How was the foam to shape? Someone was selling a bunch of these Bennett blanks over here in California, but I didn’t know anything about the foam.
The Bennett foam is good stuff. I was getting cheap arctic blanks that were not very good at all (terrible glue ups/lots of voids). The Bennett stuff, both EPS and PU are good to go (bennett has been around forever). IMHO I dont feel like their EPS is quite as good as the Marko blanks I used back in the states but great for over here in Japan (could just be the batch I got). I got a special deal on the double blue HD stringer EPS. Those were sick blanks. Dont think I will be seeing those again anytime soon! I just scored a few really versatile Bennett 6’7" stringerless sled cut EPS blanks. Cant wait to work on those.
I got a couple sled cut bennett EPS stringerless blanks and decided to take my Evo style design to the next step.
The issue is that I thought these blanks were 2Lbs EPS… NOPE!! Super light stuff, maybe 1.5Lb (or less). So I had to use more glass to reinforce. I will post more photos and explain it better soon. Boards almost done and coming out SUPER sick. This ones for me so I will be giving a ride report as well.
So I took a 6’7" stringerless sled and cut it down to a 5’11.5" x 20.8" x 2.75 x Nose 17" x Tail 16.2" with Nose Rocker at 3.8" and tail rocker 1.75" Volume 41 Liters (Yeah, Im a fat kid)
Glassing- becuase this is such light EPS I used 4oz S for the entire board. 2 layers bottom and 3 layers top (full deck patch inside cutlap and 2 layers over it). Still crazy light for how much board is there. I think I am still going to compress the deck but we will see.
Since I have made a stack of Evos now I wanted to head toward the Omni. I decided to kinda mix the two (maybe a good idea… maybe not. Will see) So this board is an Evo with some Omni vibe in it… but big for me! I kept the full quad channels of the Evo. Wider nose & pulled in tail a bit.
Couple more pics. I am finishing the sealer coat right now so almost done… just need some waves!
Hi Clint, it looks a though you trimmed the lap to create a dam for the resin hard edge in the tail. Is that the case? I’ve never thought of this before. Always used a tape dam in the past. Does this save work in the long run? With the channels it takes some detailing. Just wondering. Also, the dark color doesn’t cause problems in the sun? Nice job overall. Thanks for posting.
The pics I have posted dont do the board justice. The blue is super deep and the yellow is actually almost a flourescent lime color tint. Super stoked on how the colors came out. Yes the dark colors could cause problems if I left it out over time. So far I have been very lucky with darker colored boards holding up and not delaming on me from over heating.
PLUGS- I learned here on Sways a good way to do the plugs for channels. Of course this was after I tried to put quad plugs into a board with channels, pre-glass … with color… FAIL.
Now I put the plugs in AFTER I laminate the board (specifically when doing color work and/or channels). Once I install them I use my sander to take down the plug meterial that is in the channel (dont over do it), then I put my football patches over that. Hot coat, sand, seal and boom, done. You can get a good fin placement in the channel if the they arent too deep or set them off the channel deepending on what you need for your quad fins.
LAPS/Rail edge in the tail- When I laminate the deck of my performance boards I trim the glass to hang less than a 1/4 inch in the tail section. Once I glass the board I stop wraping the rails somewhere around the front fins(depends on the type of board) and then just let the glass hang straight down. This makes is super easy when sanding to get a good edge but also create that little dam for hot coating. Just a technique I use sometimes. Others might have better ways to do it!
Finally put the finishing touches (at least as far as I am willing to go) into the board. Came out pretty close to what I wanted and despite the lamination schedule it has remained fairly light for its overall size. Hopefully getting it into the water in the next day or two! Stoked.
Got my first surf in really small waves… wow the board picks up and goes FAST. Lots of lift. I rode it as a thruster with a set of PC-7 bamboo fins. Super stoked to get this into some better waves soon. Will try to get a video or pic or something in the water. Yew, stoked!
