I’ve built a few EPS boards out of legitimate blanks before I got turned onto XPS mainly from reading this forum. I’m not sure about the global market, but in my area, the only XPS I can get my hands on is from Home Depot or Lowes. I tried the “glue 2 or 3 sheets together with rocker bent in” method with moderate success. It shapes like a very soft wood, I find. The only problem I had with it is that there really isn’t a way to “foil” the board. I believe I am using the correct term when I say “foil”, but just to be clear I am saying that it is impossible to accurately taper off the thickness of the blank toward the nose or tail. What I ended up with is a decent blank with decent outline and decent rails, but all one thickness.
So, being a backyard builder, I am wondering if there is any realistic way to get around this. I am aware that hotwiring is an option, but I don’t know if it is feasible seeing as how I don’t plan on making a huge number of boards.
Also, if any of you readers are East Coaster’s, where would you get your XPS?
How far north are you on the east coast? The further north you go, the easier it is to find.
A little more density (2.2-2.3 lb XPS) than Lowes foam should be easier for you to shape.
Somebody in the “XPS” thread put a high density corecell/divinycell skin over their Home Depot low density foam. Seemed to work fine.
Otherwise, look for Dow “High Load” 40 or 60 (40 & 60 psi compressive strength). It is used for large walk-in commercial frreezer/refrigerator projects, other commercial scale insulation needs and insulation for high load bearing construction. I got mine from a construction contractor who has occasional refrigeration insulation projects…
that question has nothing to do with the material. You can use any number of tools and it is far from impossible. How did you end up with decent rails? Anyway you have to make a blank, so if the numbers arent in your head you can download a pdf of us blank catalogue or clark foam or whatever, look at the thickness numbers for reference, and figure that people skin those blanks, so what you want in the end is probably thinner than the specs of a given blank. I have rationalized my use of xps in some threads because i am a relatively new and casual board builder, and it was either xps or one pound eps from the depot. But it really is ‘special needs’ foam, and im gonna throw it under the bus for now…on my way to visit one of my brothers he had me pick up some two pound eps on the way, so naturally got some for myself. cellofoam in fredericksburg va, 22 bucks each for 8’ by 24" by 6" slabs. I know there are branches in the north,too. But you gotta do the work to make something that resembles a blank in the first place, or it wont matter what kind of foam it is!
Tomorrow I will start the XPS build. I will use a billet and Hotwire a decent blank. Making an assessment on XPS using glued sheets is extremely unscientific. As far as foil goes I have never had a problem obtaining desired nose and tail thickness. I hope this build will shed some light.
NOTE: I build XPS once in a while and get good feed back from the surfers however it is a bit of a trick to work with. By sharing a few pointers I hope people can build one without failure.
curious to see how you do it. Maybe it is something I can build, and drag a wire along a rocker template. Can’t have my next board be all one thickness.
Divebomb, sorry for saying you need to make a foiled blank before. Takes me a long time to make a board. I just reread the bill barnfield rail band thread to try to gain some more insight on that and i think i understand that if you were to keep bringing your bands around from the bottom to the top, you could essentially foil the blank all at once just by doing bands on top of previous bands until you reach your destination at the top of the deck…the example in part of his explanation is a foilless three inch thick blank, and the last thing he said he did was to remove excess material off the deck. But it seems like youd be knee deep in static fluff if you actually did that. So yeah, like their saying, hotwire out of a billet gets you much closer in one step, less dust. Whatever you glued up is totally useable, just tear into it with a planer, but the glue lines will bite you in the ass every step of the way, or negate the glue line hassle with rails built out with wood or foam. Im just repeating things ive learned on here. I make these water toys at a snails pace with kindergarten delight and third grade results, to the dismay of older people who point out that i have more important things to do.
how did you made the rocker with glued-on XPS sheets? i mean, there’s a few EPS foam block manufacturers here (i’m in the Philippines, btw) but these XPS sheets are way more easier to find, so i’m really interested with this method.
its quite easy to do the jig, with most boards these days the rocker changes between style of boards (fish flatter rocker, short board more curve)
So I actually made the jig to fit most deck curves and then mow the foam bottom rocker in, less stress on the bend of the sheets so you dont have as much chance of the blank failing…
Easier to shape the bottom curve as its a flatter surface than the deck and less sheets to shape through on the deck.
I've built a couple XPS I have really liked and working on two right now. best bet is to go to wherever you buy your sheets and ask for dock billets. They come 10" thick by 8' length. downside is they are between 18-19" wide so if you want a wider board you must glue on rails like a compsand. hotwire out your blank from the dock billet. I found plans for wire cutter and power source here on sways and it maybe cost 50 bucks for everything.
If you cant find billets and must use sheets I got better results from cutting the profile shape from the sheet and glueing 9 or 10 of those together, (depending on the width of board you want and thickness of sheet) you get a pinstrip look but it is easier to get the foil you want and less gluelines to sand through.
I still can't understand how to shape the foil from flat foam, sheets or block. I can't imagine shaping it with a planer. That would take forever and be really inaccurate. I am picturing the hotwire work though. maybe glue in a stringer and drag the hotwire along it? As long as the stringer won't melt, it would be pretty easy.
