Resinhead says to go out and get some stir sticks and redwood bender board…Well , I did … I went out and got wood. I went to Lowes and Home Depot.
I also went to the local paint store. I got lots of sticks. Stir sticks are free. Big ones for 5 gallon buckets and small ones for one gallon buckets. I also got some 2" Redwood lathe. Some really red and some sort of yellow. I started glueing up blocks using wood glue. Tried different patterns. Searched the Discussion and the Archives for photos. Got lots of ideas and then finally did a wood tail block on a board. Then a nose block. Then some trick angled stuff. Then I did more searches for photos and information about installing tail blocks…Gotta love all the wood workers on Swaylock"s… Hollow ,solid ,compsand ,chambered…
Chipfish always told me to “Share the Stoke”
Here’s some stoke…
Please post photos ,ask questions, and answer questions!!!
The photos show two surfboards using two completly different glue up and glassing methods. Both boards are EPS foam and Resein Research Epoxy. The board on top was done first. The nose block was made with a jig and the angle was set before gluing to the foam. It took two attempts because I broke the nose block the first time. After gluing the nose/tail blocks to the foam using Gorilla glue I shaped the wood. No matter what tool I used lots of Redwood dust settled into the foam. I vacuumed and cleaned and blew with compressed air but could never get all the dust out. I painted it white and moved on. The board was glassed with 6 oz glass ,sanded finish. I did not seal the wood before glassing… Board was hot coated but not gloss coated…
Second board is on the bottom…You can see how much beter this one came out.
Glassed board all the way to hoat coat and then did nose/tail blocks as a repair. Guled on blocks using Five minute Epoxy. Powersanded most of the block shape and hand sanded with 60 grit. Left in the stringer on the nose and shaped the nose block pieces to fit. Took extra time to make sure all the grain matched up. Gently brushed a coat of epoxy resin to the raw wood. Added more resin as the wood soaked up the resin. Sanded the wood resin before glassing. Glassed the “repair” with 4 oz cloth. One layer on top and one layer on bottom overlaping so that each side has two layers. Hot coated and sanded smooth. From ther I power sanded the whole board and gloss coated with one more light layer of epoxy resin.
Second board is on the bottom…You can see how much beter this one came out.
Glassed board all the way to hoat coat and then did nose/tail blocks as a repair.
ouch! must have been disconcerting, ray, to pull out a saw (what did you use by the way? circular saw? grinder? steak knife?) & cut off the nose & tail of your glassed board. but by the looks of the photo it was worth it. what a beautiful finish.
i understand your methodology. it’s hard to avoid getting fine sawdust on the foam. one thing i’ve done is mask off the last foot or so of nose & tail when shaping the blocks. it helps, but you still need to brush/vacuum/blow it off a lot.
i love the look of nose & tailblocks. but i always wince when it comes to cutting off the nose & tail of a perfectly finished shape.
anyways, what a good idea for a thread. i’ll post a photo of mine if i can find it.
here’s one, from a log i made about 5 or 6 years ago, from a gorgeous midget farrelly blank with a nice 3/4 inch stringer. i sold it for more than i made it for after a fews years of riding it, but i wish i hadn’t. i loved that board.
the dark timber is recycled western red cedar & the light timber is cedar. you can see the layup isn’t perfect, but i had good times with my dad over a couple of beers making that block.
Great looking blocks Ray. Putting them on after glassing is the only way if the board is pigment colored. Many shops do it this way even for clear boards. I do it both ways. I first mark off the cuts, remove the pieces with a back saw, and then cut and fit the blocks using a power compound miter saw. I try to rough shape the blocks before bonding to minimize later sanding. I bond using poly resin and a cabosil mix. If you get the correct consistency/catalyst mix (and the block isn’t too big) it doesn’t even need to be clamped. I tried Gorilla glue, but it must be clamped because of the foaming expansion, and it leaves a yellow line. I mask the blank about 12" back from the joint on both sides if not glassed. Another nice effect is to add some clear layers into your blocks using leftover fin stock layups. All-glass laminated blocks are very functional for the pins on swallow tails.
Please post photos ,ask questions, and answer questions!!!
Aloha StingRay -
I've always been on the lookout for that really good old growth Redwood to RE-use. The wood that has unbelievable tight grain and purple tint to it. It's a little harder to find these days, but years and years ago was common in use. Garage door companies and fence contracters throw that stuff away to the dump all the time. The good wood is really special and makes your fine workmanship shine all the more.
I have been watching this thread and will post some wooden parts as soon as my computer is fixed.
First one shifted a little on me, didn’t like the fit. Second is d-cell skinned board (weren’t we just talking about snapping chalklines?) with xps blocks. Third is a pair of old ones - balsa & redwood egg tailblock with a 3/4" redwood stringer and balsa & mahogany on a compsand…
I’d like to thank everyone who has replied so far. I’m hoping for more photos and ideas…
John Mellor…Hi John, did you get my check for the camp out?
Oldy…Nice board ,I used a Jig saw to cut off the nose and then hand sanded the edges smooth
Hicksy… I like the plywood idea. You could do wood fins and wood tail block with the same material. We could combine your idea with some paint sticks…!!!
Balsa…Love that tail
Paul Jensen…Never thought to run wood strips in that direction for a tail block. Looks great! What do you call it ? Reverse diamond
PeteC…Yes to every thing you said. Thanks for all your help over the last few years!
Shipman…ready for pin lines…Contact me
Eastern Pacific…I like the recycle idea. Hope you find some of that Redwood…
Benny…Like those noses , interesting what you can do by changing the angle of the nose block. I was thinking that maybe we should plan a Swaylocks longboard event at San Onofre. Can you make it down this way some time in the next few months…Send me a pm…
