I’ve been reading the forums here for some time now and have been truly inspired by all the incredible projects.
I recently started on building a hollow wooden board and had a couple of questions.
I’ve got the frame done and the bottom skin on. At the moment the board seems to have a slight “twist” in it. (Not exactly sure how I pulled off this wonderful feature)
The left side of the nose and the right side of the tail seems to dip a bit. If I pull the nose back into line the tail will also come back in line. I haven’t fiberglassed the inside of the bottom skin yet. I read that it’s not necessary to fiberglass the inside of the bottom or the top.
Should I glass the inside of the bottom and the top?
Would glassing it be enough to hold it straight?
Would the top skin be able to hold it straight?
Should I just scrap this thing and start over?
I was planning on finishing the board regardless of the twist just for the experience.
I’ve learned quite a lot from the project so far and could only learn more.
I also was wondering about staining the board. I know oil base stain wouldn’t work.
Home Depot has a water base stain that can be mixed to just about any color.
Anyone have any idea if the water base stain would pose any problems?
I’ve got the frame done and the bottom skin on. At the moment the board seems to have a slight “twist” in it. (Not exactly sure how I pulled off this wonderful feature)
I’m thinking the frame wasn’t straight when you put on the bottom…
I use my inner rail gluing jig as an alignment tool when I put on the first skin…
I hot glue height appropriate blocks on top of the jig at the rib / rail junction…
Next I set the frame on those blocks, then glue on a skin…
Spring clamps help keep everything where it should be…
The left side of the nose and the right side of the tail seems to dip a bit. If I pull the nose back into line the tail will also come back in line. I haven’t fiberglassed the inside of the bottom skin yet. I read that it’s not necessary to fiberglass the inside of the bottom or the top.
Should I glass the inside of the bottom and the top?
Don’t need to…
Would glassing it be enough to hold it straight?
No, you need to get the other skin on…
Create what is know as a Torsion Box, a construction term…
Think of a hollow core door with cardboard webbing inside…
Glued togeter it all stays straight…
That’s basically the same thing as what you are trying to do with a hollow board…
hey noble, great to have another hollow builder on the site! post more pics please, we all like to see them!
are your skins a single sheet of ply or many strips of wood? and how thick? if they are at least 1/4" ply there is no need to glass the insides.
the deck skin will hold it straight but I would over correct the twist in the board slightly (ever so slightly!) before you glue the deck on to allow for a little springback when unclamped/unweighted.
mate you should definately NOT scrap this thing and start over! hey, the wave won’t know if it has a little twist in it!
No handmade thing is perfect, that’s the beauty of it!
regarding staining the board, I would talk to someone who knows about chemicals and what will go with what, get some different pots of stain and take them to a glasser or a resin company and see if they can tell you what is compatable, if all else fails do a couple of test pieces on some scrap and leave them in the sun for a week and see if any damage/delam/cracking occurs.
Paul - your stuff is just amazing. That frame pic is incredible, almost a shame to hide it on the inside of a board. I’m going to use the hight block like you sugested on the next one.
Robbo - I used your idea to get the twist out and it seemed to work like A charm. I’ve got the deck on and seems real straight now.
It’s really starting to look like a surfboard now. I’ll get some pics up later today (Had a friend come in from out of town and lent him my digi camera, he’ll be back this afternoon) The skins are 1/8’ birch plywood, I thought i’d do the first few with the ply to keep the price down. Kinda work out all the kinks before I go for the nice/expensive woods.
Thanks again for the help, I’m sure I’ll have some more q’s for you soon =)
thats great news mate, good to see the board is straight again!
if you are using 1/8th ply for the skins you will need to go heavier on the glass schedule for the outside, especially if they are NOT glassed on the inside.
keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing the pics!
