I don´t remember who showed his long stringer cutting bow over here. He laid the string on the blank, the bow hanging underneath and let gravity pull it through.
Whoever you are: Thank you for the idea !
I´ve just set up my lowtec stringer cutting mechanism and did a first testrun. Works like a charm.
The double stringer cutting (1inch apart) took little more than 2 Minutes. The cuts are very clean and super straight.
Nicely done! Greg Loehr showed a similar device but not sure which one you saw. ChrisP and I did one by hand that was a bit more warbly. Using a circular saw gets the foam too hot and it starts doing the ‘cotton candy’ thing if you don’t have a way to slow the saw down. Your double cut looks perfect!
Grasshopper has a thread too with gravity assist for hotwire rocker, https://www.swaylocks.com/forums/backyard-hotwire-trick
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PS MiWie, nice cuts!
PPS: JM- I was told never to use a Skilsaw on EPS by Stingray. I did not heed the warning and had a bind and kickback happen on two occasions. No damage to me but the blanks suffered. Now I use a deep hotwire with two long guide boards. If I had the space I would like to try a long single wire.
What is the stringer for?
At that point you already have a nice foil - just curious…
The stringers will bei 3/16 plywood. Setting them 1" apart will give a nice support for the finbox.
I want a strong blank, because this will be a 8´4 for bigger surf. Hence the two stringers.
The first 16" of the blanks are missing in the pictures, my EPS block is only 7´ (the height of my basement ceiling, have to store the block upright).
The nose will be glued to the rest of the blank lateron. (the hotwire doesn´t work well in the PU glue)
I have used my hotwire bow with two guides for stringer cutting before.
And I have routed the cuts for perimeter stringers with a 4" long router along masonite templates.
This setup is faster, easier to set up, more precise and less mess and noise.
(doesn´t work for perimeter stringers though)
I found the thread I had in mind:
It was Greg Tate.
I have used my hotwire bow with two guides for stringer cutting before.
Ach ha!
I too used to do it that way, and I’d buy my foam @ half the width of the board, so I was cutting out two. Other than an 11’ gun, I stuck with one stringer, and I also used marks I put in for concave depth.
For what it’s worth, I feel like I learned here that the stringer does not really add to strength, some things depending - I’ve got a recent 8’er, stringerless xps w/@ 16oz glass, top and bottom, + 4oz 45/45 degree, deck belly and tail patch, and bottom tail patch. I’ve had it out in plenty of semi-heavy conditions and no buckles or worse…
Anyway - Making boards is fun, and riding 'em can be funner…
I did choose the double stringer not mainly or not solely for overall strength.
I like the look and never tried it before.
It was fun using the new stringer cutting setup. 2 stringers = double fun
It´s not more labour than reinforcing the finbox on my single stringer boards or my stringerless boards (I do that on all of my boards)
Weight won´t do no harm on this board
I did mostly stringerless boards before. The get strong glassing/laps and the longer ones got deckchannels and were just fine (not a single one broke and stiffness felt good to me)
So the main reason is:
I just wanted to make a double stringer. And that´s always a very valid point for me. I don´t “need” new boards, I don´t surf any better on them, I just want to built them. Simple as that.
I sometimes order my blanks with two Basswood stringers 1 1/8” apart. The 1/8” gives me a little wiggle room for milled fiber fill or setting the box in cloth. I also am able to not come in contact with the stringerwhen using the router. Painting the foam at center is a nice look as well.
I’ve cut the middle part a bit thicker than a FU box for the reasons you mentioned.
I’m thinking about coloring the middle part, indeed. I really like the look of those red HD foam stringers/infills. But not decided on the colour of the glas job yet. Maybe a light vintage green (lot of white, little green). In that case I’d colour the middle part dark brown or black.
“I just wanted to…”
That’s my favorite reason too!
And, since I don’t use center fins, I don’t work with any of those issues.
Have fun!
I used to be brilliant.
all the best to ya. Nice build.
put a masonry blade in the skill saw and hook it up to a speed controller and you can cut EPS with it. thats how i cut the blanks for stringers… tooth blade at full speed on eps can be scary!
