HI, Noticed the original post is glyched...not sure if the attachment will work, but here is the text for now.
Cheers.
6’1” PARALLEL PROFILE POWER SURFBOARD PLANS
By Austin Williams
In Association With Roy Stewart, OloSurfer.com,
& The Whole Swaylocks.com Community.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW…
When you select your woods, choose the lightest and the straightest stock. Buoyancy of a given volume of material has to do with its' density, so the lighter the balsa, the more buoyant. The good pieces tend to have a pinkish hue; the heavy ones tend to have a grayish color and lots of little birds-eyes. You will need to mill your balsa into half inch thick strips because the board will be made of four half inch panels. You need to make two of these panels (Deck and bottom-Panels 1 & 4) with the planks running fore and aft. The other two (which will be the internal Panels, 2 & 3) laying at 45 degrees. The internal 45 degree panels will use shorter, thinner pieces of balsa called frames and blockings. All four layers will be glued up on a rocker jig, cut out and shaped to become…Surfboard.
Part I
Planshape Template
- The first step is to get a piece of butcher paper and cut it a little over length (about 75”).
- Next, measure 29” down from where the nose starts, from that point draw a 90 degree line 11” up.
- For the nose and tail shape draw an elliptical arch that tapers as it moves towards the tail.
- After you are happy with the plane shape, cut very carefully along the line you have made.
- Now cut a ½ “strip out from the center. This will help to create a subtle point at the nose and tail.
- The next step is to take a heavy piece of cardboard or a piece of ply board and trace the paper template on to the wooden one. (Taping the paper down helps a great deal.)
- Cut the template out as close as you can get it, without going into your line.
- You will now want to file away all of the uneven parts to make one streamlined edge.
- The measurements given below will only work with my template, so unless you are going to use the fallowing method to create your own board (with your own measurements) send an email to TheAustinWilliams@Yahoo.com , and you can purchase a template from me for the cost of shipping. In the fallowing pictures I created a full template V.S. the common ½ template, which is much more convenient.
(The brown board is my finished template.)
Part II
Panels 2 & 3
Blockings and Frames
First off, you will need to square up your stock. The six steps of squaring up a board are 1.) Plane one surface. 2.) Plane opposite surface. 3.) Join one edge 4.) Crosscut one end 5.) Cross cut opposite end 6.) Rip opposite end. The order of steps can be arranged to fit ones preferences; but this is the way I like to do it.
The frames and the blockings should have the grain running in the same direction. The easiest way to do this with balsa is to get a convenient width of planking in the 1.5” range (If for example, the stock you are buying is 3.25 inches wide, just rip it down the middle.) Use these planks for frames and blockings. (The only difference between frames and blocking is that the blockings are shorter.)
For a 73” board your blockings will project 1.5 inches to 2 inches into the board and can hang outside the planshape line an inch or more; so make the blockings a minimum of 5” long or even longer if you have the stock; it’s easy to take wood off…much, much harder to replace it. Also, you can cut the internal end of the blockings to fallow the boards’ planshape, which regretfully, I did not do.
I had to buy two 8’x7”x3.25” (Roughly 30 board feet.) blocks of balsa to get the wood I needed (with some to spare). The kerf of the saw blade is going to eat a lot of your wood, about an 1/8” for every cut, which adds up to a good loss of stock, so find something good to do with your super expensive sawdust…waste not. If the balsa can be precision milled and sanded it will mean much less work as you will hardly have to sand your stock as you assemble your panels.
There are two ways used to glue up the panels- 1. You are going to need to purchase about a gallon of EPOXY RESIN- that is “no blush” or UV resistant to glue up and assemble all four panels; the leftover will be used to glass your board. Epoxy resin comes in 1 quart or 1 gallon amounts. A gallon should be more than enough to do two complete six footers using this method, but a quart isn't enough for one. Buying a gallon you get a cheaper price per unit of volume. You will also need to purchase a Marine Glue powder additive and a light weight faring compound; Glue additives are bought separately, and then mixed in with the resin and applied where need be (A lot of work compared to wood glue, but it is arguably the best bond.) The second method is using common yellow wood glue, or a glue such as Gorilla glue, which will glue the panels up fine, just be sure that the glue is not brittle, most glues are pretty good though. This is the method I used.
To glue the panels up, you can wedge the pieces in between heavy bricks or by use of bar clamps. The best way to do this is to number your frames and other specialized pieces as you cut them (Basically everything except for your 52 identical internal blockings.) For the internal panels, do a dry run by assembling all of your pieces on a full drawn out template on top of your workbench (Having a centerline drawn down the template and extending a few inches out so you have a guide to make all the frames and blockings lay at a 45 degree angle.) Now put TAIL BLOCK B down first- With a centerline drawn at 45 degrees on TBB, line it up with the centerline drawn on the template. Now every piece you place next to it will be at a 45. Start to put your pieces one by one on top of the paper and measure the blockings so they are at least 2” deep into the outline, what ever amount hangs over doesn’t matter, just as long as you have at least an inch. The frames should be lined up so that on one side of the board you have 2” hanging outside the template line and what ever amount is left hanging on the other side of the board dose not mater as long as it is not too short, if it is, make some adjustments. Continue this until the panel is fully laid out.
Make sure your frames and blockings are running at a 45 and now trace your template on top of the panel, then match up the lines when you glue the panel up. You will need to glue the panels up in segments and then you must glue those segments together because the angle of the frames and blockings makes a single glue-up nearly impossible (See pictures.) It is very important to glue the
pieces up on a flat surface and to glue them up as flush as possible- (Less planing and sanding will be required if you do a good job here.) Remember to use a piece of sheet plastic/paper or scrap wood in-between the clamps and the wood to protect both the stock and the clamps from being damaged by the glue. If you are using the brick method, a piece of sheet plastic should be used beneath your project as well to prevent your surfboard from becoming part of your workbench. Remember that balsa is NOT a dense wood and therefore, not much pressure is needed to do the job, especially when using the epoxy method of gluing, as you will squeeze out the epoxy from the joint.
Measurements for Panels 2 and 3
Frame Measurements
(Numbered From Nose to Tail)
All of the stock are measured at ½” thick and 1 ½” wide, Lengths as fallows.
- 25”
- 28”
- 30”
- 31”
- 31”
- 32”
- 32”
- 33”
- 32”
- 31”
- 30”
- 28”
- 28”
- 24”
- 20”
(You will need one set for each internal panel.)
Blockings Will be ½” x 5” x 1 ½”
You will need 26 of these for panels 2 and 3 (52 in all.), spaced in between the frames as drawing and pictures show.
Nose Blocking Measurements
Nose Block A- ½”x 3”x 8”
Nose Block B- ½” x 3”x 19”
Nose Block C- ½” x 3”x 4”
Nose Block D- ½”x1 ½”x25”
BA2- ½”x1 ½”x 10”
(You will need one set for each panel.)
Tail Blocking Measurements
Tail Block A- ½”x2 ¼”x 8”
Tail Block B- ½”x 3”x16”
Tail Block C- ½”x2 ½”x 8”
BA1- ½”x1 ½”x 10”
BA3-½”x1 ½”x 10”
(You will need one set for each panel.)
(Panel 2) –Laid out on a full size template- not glued yet.
(Panel 2 gluing)
Tail of panel 2.
(Pins are used to temporally hold balsa in place after placing the glue, an extra pair of hands if you will.) – Use wax paper or sheet plastic in between all clamps and wood.
(Left bar clamp should have been about 2 inches to the left. Place additional clamps where needed as shown.)
Scrap wood can be used to distribute pressure as shown on the far left bar clamp.
Gluing 2 sections up.
(Panel 2) Note centerline…
Arial view of panels 2 and 3
Panels 2 and 3- Frames cross at 90 degrees
PART III
Panels 1 and 4 (Decking and Hull Construction)
You will need to get your stock, which is ripped at ½” thickness, and cut it at various lengths as listed below. Draw a centerline down the middle plank (Or rip it in half and place a stringer in- when cutting your stringer make it 4” or so longer than its surrounding stock to make a future gluing process easier.) and place the rest of the planks moving outward from that point. Now lay the template over the planks and adjust the pieces so that there is no less than 1” of wood showing on all sides of the template. (Remember to measure from the inward corners to the edge of the template while measuring your layout to keep that 1” boarder.) Now trace the template onto the stock. Lining up the outline, glue and clamp the planks together as level as possible. You will get better results if you glue the panels together in segments rather than in one. It doesn’t matter how wide your planks are for panels 1&4, but it is quicker to use wider ones. This is a very quick and easy method.
Panel 1 and 4 Measurements
(All my planks are ½”x 3” and lengths as listed below.)
- 58”
- 70”
- 75”
- 76”- CENTER
- 75”
- 70”
- 58”
(You will need one set for each panel)
(Panel 1 layout.-not glued-no stringer)
Gluing panel 1-Wieght can be used on top to prevent bowing (Unnecessary?...Most likely.)- Glue in segments, not all at once. – Use wax paper in between all clamps.
Panel 1 after gluing.
Panel 1 with template.
Part IV Planing and Sanding Panels 1-4.
You will need to use an Electric hand plane to even out the surfaces, or a giant panel sander if you can find one. Panels 1 and 4 are easy enough, but the internal panels are a bit more complicated. Your first instinct will be to plane with the grain, but it works better to fallow the blockings around the circumference of the surfboard to level them off and then to get equal width in the frames, pane the frames down with the grain. When using your hand plane do a few runs on 0” cut and then slowly increase the depth. Why risk cutting 1/16” when you can cut 1/1000”? You’ve gone too far to screw up now. Play it safe! After the rough work is done, go over the panels with a 2” finishing hand plane. Now that all of your planing is done, sand all of the panels with 60 grit sandpaper to get them ready for gluing. (If you want to make your board a little lighter, an optional step is to drill ¾” holes every 1” or so into the internal frames- not shown.)
Part V Rocker Table
The rocker table is what you will use to warp the arch or “Rocker” into your surfboard. Most surfboards have the rocker shaped in, but that takes much more timber. You will first draw your rocker template on a piece of paper. Make the bottom of the template a 3 1/2” rectangle and then draw your rocker out on top of that. (The 3.5” is for the 2x4 support.) Now cut 2 identical panels out of sheet wood to provide as the walls of the jig. If it is thin wood, then run 2x4s along the internal sides for support. Now cut four 2x4s at 30” and place them at the ends and towards the center of the table. Then cut however many strips you need to make the battens. 2” wide will do fine for the majority of the battens, but the ones near the nose may need to be thinner due to the rocker. Nail all of the battens flush with the internal wall of the rocker jig and nail a piece of 3/8” sheet wood to cover the battens to prevent pressure dings from forming on your stock and you are set.
Rocker jig- Needs to have batons every 6”- not shown
Also 3/8 ply wood is used over jig to protect your stick from getting pressure dings- not shown-
Rocker jig profile
Part VI Gluing all 4 Panels Together.
You will be gluing the panels in 3 segments. First day of gluing- panel 1 is placed DECK DOWN on the jig with panel 2 on top of it. Second day of gluing- place panel 3 FACE DOWN and glue panel 4 on top of it. Third day of gluing- Second days work glued on top of first days work DECK DOWN. It is important to be sure that on the third glue to have the internal panels cross at 90 degrees. To glue the panels on top of the rocker jig first lay them on and get the internal panels to be dead center- or where ever you need it to be in relation to the top/bottom panel. Too far forward and you will be missing a chunk of your internal tail, too far back and you will be missing a chunk of your internal nose. Too far to either side, and you will have chunks missing from your sides and your board will not be balanced because the internal panels won’t be symmetrical. Also be sure that your board is running perfectly parallel on the jig, if it is off to an angle your rocker will be tweaked to one side and your surfboard will pretty much be unsurfable. To glue the 4 panels up I used Gorilla Glue- best stuff to use next to an epoxy based glue- paint it on making sure to get an even coat and do it quick because this stuff changes consistency quickly, get multiple people to apply glue if possible. Now place a few layers of cardboard on top of you panels to protect tem from the 4 layers of cinderblocks your about to pile on them. That’s right cinderblocks, bricks, sandbags, what ever you got. Start putting them on towards the center and work your way out, keep them coming until the boards rocker takes form. It’s hard to believe it, but your stiff planks will bend with relative ease. Up towards the nose and tail you may need a little more weight to get them to press up against the jig, just be sure that you made your jig strong enough to handle the pressure; If you didn’t then pile it on anyways because there’s no turning back now. After you did this twice with both sets of panels, you put your two products together to make them one, use your extended stringer to line up the two half surfboards together with a little more ease. Pile the bricks one last time and now you have a surfboard…well…kind of…at least it finally looks something like a surfboard.(Sorry, no pictures of the gluing process.)
The 4 panels all glued up
Building your shaping stand…
Part VII Shaping
First things first, cut out your board! Don’t cut on the line, but 1/8” to ¼” away from it. Now take your electric Handplane on 0” cut first and level out your saw cuts and work your way down to your line. Now that you have your clean surfboard cut out, its time to round your rails. Remember: this is a Parallel Profile surfboard, you will only be shaping the rails, nothing else. You should be aiming for a perfect 50/50 rail all the way around. Start by taking off the corners with your electric hand plane and then take the corners off the new corners you just made and so on and so forth until you have a good rail shape (which will be symmetrical throughout). Now take your 12 degree low angle hand plane and fine tune it. Try only to cut down corners if possible. Now go over the board again with a small 2” finish plane. After all of your planing is done, start sanding with 60 grit and work your way up to 150 or 220 grit if you feel the need like I did, but many say it is unnecessary to do so. NOTE: it is very important to keep your planes razor sharp to prevent the blade from catching and ruining your wood. Consider getting a 500-800 grit wet/dry sharpening stone to keep your blades razor sharp. If you do not wish to use an electric hand plane, you can shape the board with a combination of files and manual hand planes. You are also going to have to install a vent in your board to prevent pressure build up which can eventually delaminate the glass and can also blow the board apart(Debatable). You also must have a small hole in the deck for the vent prior to glassing or what can happen is that the heat of the resin reaction can create internal pressure, lifting the cloth and resin clear off the board in a big bubble or lots of small ones (This ruins your day.) I went without a vent, but your local climate may force you to install one.
Surfboard starting to take form-note the cut lines along the rails and only along the rails…
Surfboard and Myself after all shaping.
Same…
Le Fin…
I made my fin out of Maple, but you may use whatever type of wood you like. The fin is 5.5” wide at the base, has a rake of 4”, a depth of 7.5” and is 8” at its tallest point. To make the fin, take your stock and plane it down to about ½” thick, trace the template on the wood, cut it out with a scroll saw (Leaving excess at the base to provide some wood to place into the clamp which you will use to hold the fin blank as you are foiling it.) Now file/grind/sand the edges smooth. To foil the fin, I used a combination of hand planes, spoke shaves, files, and electric sanders. When all foiling is done, sand the fin smooth and cut the excess off of the base. The fin should taper down towards the end and outwards as well.
NOW GLASS YOUR BOARD AND GO SURFING!
Bill of Materials…
A Lot of Wood-
Balsa- 2 sticks about 8’x7.5x 3.25 (Roughly 30 square feet)- . Milled down into ½”x 3 ½” x 8’
If calculating your timber needs on your own- remember to factor the width of the blade into your equations. I paid $150.00 at about $4.75 a board foot (Many lumber yards will give a student discount.)
Wood for shaping stand-
I just grabbed some scraps from a construction site.
Any type of wood can be used for the fin.
Tools I Used
Table saw
Chop saw
Skill saw
Hand saw
Saber saw
Planer
Joiner
Clamps- Bar/Pipe/Hand screw/ Bricks.
Electric Handplane 45$ - $200
12 degree Low Angle Hand plane $50
2” Stanly Finish plane $10
Spoke shave
Various files
Additional Resources…
Web Sites
www.WoodenSurfBoardBuilder.com
http://jfmill.home.comcast.net/swaylocks/Surfboard_Design_and_Construction_1977.pdf
*Thanks to Roy Stewart, Jim Phillips, and every one else on Sways who helped me get to where I am today.
Cheers.