The great thing about experimenting is you'll for sure come up with new methods that work and move HWS forward a step for all of us wood board kooks. The bad news is you'll break a lot of boards and find some ideas that don't work. I'm and experimenter too and usually an "under builder" because I'm going for a HWS that is as light and strong and a modern foam board.
We're not there yet but we're close. I've broken a lot of boards that I spent a lot of time on. I don't really care it just gives me the excuse to start the next and every now and then I come across something that is light and holds together. Really glad to see someone else thats not afraid to think outside the box. I think most wood board guys especially those that come from construction tend to overbuild a wood surfboard like a house. haha Keep up the great work!
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Yeah, if you want to innovate, you can't be too invested in the board - its gotta be the learning that you're focused on for sure. I realize I could play it safe and go with proven methods, but my goal is to find new methods, and like you say, you have to accept that you might lose a few boards in the process! My boards seem plenty strong - by "lose", I mean when I start out I know I may end up with a dog, since I'm heading into unchartered waters.
My boards are not light (the fish weighs in at 12 lbs. right now), but I do want to minimize any excess weight not crucial to the structure - hence, the lack of spine or full ribs in the fish. I am by nature an over-builder, yup, just like you said. One guy on the old tree-to-sea board built a balsa longboard that weighs 8 lbs. before glass, and I'm thinking that puppy's gonna snap in half!
But hey, maybe my assumptions will be proven wrong. Lighter is better up to a point, I agree, although I don't see the need to get as light as a foam board, myself. Because these boards are made to last much longer than foam boards, and I don't think a little extra weight is any detriment to performance - of course, I'm not doing aerial 360's either LOL!
For true lightness in a wood board, compsand seems to be the way to go. Its amazing what those guys are accomplishing! I'm just not ready to head down that road yet, until I explore the hws possibilities some more.
I glassed the bottom of both boards and the top of the hybrid, so far. I made a classic beginner's mistake on the bottom of the hybrid, and put the resin on too thick, and its kinda "rippled". So now I have a ton of sanding - and I can only go so far before I begin to sand though the glass in places, so I'll put another coat of resin on, and sand some more.
Its even worse, because the bonzer channels make sanding a little trickier than a flat bottom would be. And I know its gonna increase the weight, something I'm always fighting with these wood boards, as they tend to be heavy anyway.
I learned from my mistake, and the top, and the bottom of the fish, came out fine. I ordered more glass, so I can do the top of the fish. Meanwhile I have fins to work on and install.
I've had some issues with the fins, too. On the fish fins, the resin was too thick when I glassed the first layer. So the glass looks kinda milky. I'm thinking I'll just live with it. All my fins get at least two layers of glass each side. The bonzer fins came out good so far, I'm using some pe resin i had on them, but I bought some SB112 epoxy resin for everything else.
Hi, Just found your post and would like to know if you drew the plans (shapes) of the cross-sections, plan shape and stringer or did you use a CAD software program like AKU Shaper? I'm planning to build a hollow wooden 7'6" (approx) fish this year and am trying to get as much info on the shaping and planning side of it as possible. The actual building won't be a problem as I've already built one, a 9ft mal that turned out well. Problem for me is that I don't have any templates to build a fish. Any help would be appreciated. BTW, I'm in Queensland Australia.
Hi, Just found your post and would like to know if you drew the plans (shapes) of the cross-sections, plan shape and stringer or did you use a CAD software program like AKU Shaper? I'm planning to build a hollow wooden 7'6" (approx) fish this year and am trying to get as much info on the shaping and planning side of it as possible. The actual building won't be a problem as I've already built one, a 9ft mal that turned out well. Problem for me is that I don't have any templates to build a fish. Any help would be appreciated. BTW, I'm in Queensland Australia.
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My first fish I copied an exisiting board, with a few modifications. My next one I just drew a sketch on grid paper, and used a larger grid on plywood to enlarge to full size, using a bent strip of wood to keep the curves smooth. There are probably people here and on tree-to-sea http://www.grainsurf.com/forum/search.php?search_id=active_topics and http://www.treetosea.org/ who will email you a file if you need one. Best wishes, hws are a fun challenge!
finally starting to close in on these, gave up on epoxy gloss coat, and like my other board, I'm going with a polyurethane gloss coat. I can do that with the system 3 sb112 epoxy I used. Had some issues with my vent plugs also, lesson learned: for the type of vent I'm using (a screw-in threaded insert) its best to install before glassing. I tried same with leash plug, and prefer to install that also before glassing. I think its stronger. Still needing work, but getting closer to finished product - yay!
BTW, had a great time in the surf today - sometimes it just clicks, and man it do feel good!
