Thanks to all of the Compsand comandos and Balsando big boys for inspiring me to think beyond traditional building techniques. Bert, Benny, DanB, Oneula, Speedneedle, MrJ, Silly, Kenz, Yoshio, and everyone on swaylocks for keeping the stoke alive and our wallets thin.
Here’s my first compsand which has taken me forever to setup and build but alas, she’s almost done.
Bottom: 2.3oz/ 1/16th balsa /2.3oz
Deck: 2.3oz under/ 1/8th balsa / 2x2.3oz top
Rails: 5/8 inch
6’3 x 19.5 x 2
Pics:
Just about to cut the block.
cut out the eps template and rocker. (notice the jagged lines on the nose, it was my first time cutting eps gimme a break)
started to glue up the sheets of balsa using CA glue.
OK so as I said I was planning on using proboxes so I put in 5/8 reinforcements thinking that that would be enough for the heat of the epoxy. I was wrong and I routered out the finboxes and put them in. I go in to wash my hands and come out to see three giant holes through my board! I was so panicked that I forgot to take pictures of the holes and the mess it created. I also f’ed up with the installation of proboxes. Not because they were difficult to install but because I was being dumb. I had accidentally recessed the boxes into the balsa instead of leaving the lip as a dam for epoxy. This resulted in epoxy getting into the screw holes and rendering them useless. I know “tape up the screw holes”. sigh. I tried to route out the boxes but the balsa reinforcements were doing their job and the boxes are there forever. I filled them with epoxy and decided to go glass ons.
the following pics show how I patched the holes on the eps. 'sorry I didn’t take some pics of the rail attachments as it was a struggle for me to do.
The balsa patches and tail block.
Nose rocker isn’t that huge, just the lens I used.
Here you can see the messed up proboxes with the epoxy filling.
One thing I learned for attaching the rails is to use a combination of GG and CA glue. I would do a zig-zag pattern with the GG on the balsa then “dot” the spaces with some CA glue and stick it on the rail that I was building up. It worked really well that I didn’t even have to use tape just hold it for a few seconds and the whole balsa plank was stuck. Amazing!
Here’s the cut out template before attaching to the eps
more bottom shots, nose looks kinda weird
some concave was put in. If you squint you can see it…
here’s a shot of the deck after being bagged and right before getting blended into the rail.
too bad I had to sand off that shiny surface in order to glass the rails!
After adding the Logo and another layer of fiberglass, she’s almost ready. Number two is waiting in the wings…
I just installed the leash cup & vent. I also weighed it and was shocked to see 4.4 lbs.! No fins though and sanded finish. So when I add the fins it’ll definitely get heavier. I think I’ll stick with the sanded finish to keep it light.
Well, that’s all for now but I’ll keep everyone updated and let you know how this baby rides…
bummer about the fin install daklaw but overall i reckon it looks awesome. i’m a compsand kook, totally clueless, so i’ve enjoyed your thread. thanks for sharing.
For a first compsand, you did very well for sure! What about gluing the top skin, was that easy for you? I know such skins are not very easy to bend, they do curve, but not that much, how did it go near the rails? Any problems cleaning that part after gluing?
Congratulations! Must feel good, yeah? And it’s addicting isn’t it?
I was wondering to what you attribute the foam melting? Was it a hot day? How much space was left between the blank and plugs? What resin were ou using? Did you use cabosil?
Hey Rio, looks great! Dimensions sound fun for your part of the state Oh yeah…your wallet is pretty much doomed for the foreseeable future.
I’ve used Proboxes too and they gon in really easy & at the right level if you do them last. Silly, Robin will ship a different router bit that cuts a tighter-tolerance hole if you’re mounting in EPS…I had no exotherm at all and didn’t even put in inserts or hd foam for the mounting.
Can’t wait to see final photos. I like the ‘roadkill’ too
I’d say you’ve been doing some homework on the compsand process. I am really stoked on how smooth and shiny the skins are right out of the bag. Nice recovery on the unfortunate box thing.
Overall for a first attempt? I am astonished! The photo of the prefabbed skin molded to the shaped blank really says it all. Compared to a standard open air laminated/hot coated surface… well, there really isn’t any comparison. Not structurally, not cosmetically.
I only hope my first compsand project turns out so nice. As you know, I am still working out my “bar top” vacuuming surface. When it is all buffed out, I think it will serve several purposes - prefabbed skin vacuuming being one of them.
It looks like you have enough foam left on that block to supply the foundation for several more projects. I can’t wait to see what else you pull out of your hat.
Thanks for all the comments. I just can’t wait to get this baby in the water and figure out what works and what doesn’t. I’m sure the first session out, I’ll find out some quirks of this whole compsand business. But I’m entirely stoked though.
Ben - I’m using just regular off the shelf thruster glass-ons (FU complites). I can totally imagine you shuddering at the thought of store bought fins but I’m at the point where I just want this thing in the water and its killing me.
Pierre - Attaching the deck to the board was fairly easy just a thin coat of GG on the skin then vacuum. The deck skin doesn’t wrap entirely over the rails you still have to sand it to match the rails. Sanding the deck down wasn’t that bad. I was counting the number of rails to know where to stop. I had a 5 x 1/8 balsa rail. So when sanding the deck I knew that I should stop when I could see 4 strips. I hope that made sense.
Llibel - The heat was just from the natural properties of the epoxy and having it pool up. It caused a hole through my eps because I used 5/8 balsa for a 3/4 deep box. I should have used a 1 inch block. I just routered the holes with jigs that came with the proboxes and I would say the space between box and plug was about 1/8.
Dan - Yes I lammed another layer of fiberglass over the deck but this time I wrapped it around the rails so I wouldn’t have to put in rail fiberglass from the deck. I also put rail fiberglass to cover the bottom. I still can’t think of a way to keep the shiny deck while being able to glass the rails.
So when sanding the deck I knew that I should stop when I could see 4 strips
One thing I learned for attaching the rails is to use a combination of GG and CA glue. I would do a zig-zag pattern with the GG on the balsa then “dot” the spaces with some CA glue and stick it on the rail that I was building up
Great tips. Bummer about the probox install.
You mentioned:
Yes I lammed another layer of fiberglass over the deck but this time I wrapped it around the rails so I wouldn’t have to put in rail fiberglass from the deck.
Do you mean you only had 1 layer of glass over the rails? 1 layer top and bottom for the bottom skin, 1 layer for top and bottom for the top skin, and 1 layer over top and rails?
When you put the top skin on you had already built the rails right. Then you GG’d the skin on and bagged it. Then you sanded it down to “4 strips” to make the transition from the skin to rails smooth right. Then you did the top+rails layer of glass? Did you bag it?
Well, I have two layers of fiberglass on the rails one from the deck and one from rail strips that I put in after the deck layer. Since I knew I was going to have 2 layers of fiberglass on the top deck, I decided to just lam the final deck layer all around the rail (it saves one step I guess).
When you put the top skin on you had already built the rails right. Then you GG’d the skin on and bagged it. Then you sanded it down to “4 strips” to make the transition from the skin to rails smooth right. Then you did the top+rails layer of glass? Did you bag it?
Exactly. The whole board was shaped prior to the deck being attached. You have to take into consideration the effect of adding 1/8 inch of balsa on the deck though.I bagged all layers of glass no hand lay ups. I was trying to keep sanding to a minimum. One thing I’m considering for next time is to not have any glass on the top of the deck. Having glass makes it difficult to blend the whole deck to the rails. When you blend in the rails you get an area of exposed balsa from sanding and an area in the middle of the deck that has fiberglass. This acts just like that area between stringer and foam (when you sand that area you’ll notice that the foam sands quicker than the stringer). Its actually not that bad, but I want to tweak my methods where I do the least amount of work and finish the board quicker.
Looks really good for being your first. I really liked those nice shiny surfaces of the skins out of the bag! Did you surf it yet? How is your 1/8" deck skin holding up? I am also using 1/8" balsa for the decks with extra balsa reinforcement under in high traffic areas, this method is working well IF you use higher density balsa for deck,but for my last one I had no more of the high density stuff left so I used what I had but the deck has dented slightly after the first time out.
to all balsasandguys: Do you get any dents on your deck?
Oh yeah…your wallet is pretty much doomed for the foreseeable future.