The inner ply rotted…turned to cardboard…
What’s there is all 1/4" balsa and cork/ply rails…
Inside on top the original build is some 5 oz. CF and a full overlay of 5oz. Kevlar…
What would you do…???..
I’m thinking of doing a CF / Kevalar “flex” bottom…???..No other internal structure…???..
It’s a 5’6" with balsa Lis’ish keels…
Suggestions appreciated…
Go for it! But I would add some structure. I would make two stringers, one for each side under the edge of the opening. Then ribs to fit between the stringers. From stringer to rail I wouldn't worry about.
Maybe concave…???..
…or flat and see where that get’s it…
I made a HWS with some end grain balsa in the stomp areas and in lesser amounts in the rest of the internals. I did not seal the balsa properly. 1 coat does not do it.
After a lot of mileage on it, It eventually got wet inside, the balsa turned into worthless,structureless sponge. The cedar was fine. Knowing I would spend way too much time and effort in and attempt to rebuild it, compounded with other frustrations…
I grabbed it by the tail and swung it into a standing 8x8 and didn’t stop until it was in small pieces.
Then I cried. Would have made a nice wall hanger.
RIP my friend
If I recall correctly dont you normally use 1/8th planks for your skins and rely on the frame to support them? You’ve apparently removed the frame altogether. It seems to me that you still need a frame to support the entire interior.
Wouldn’t it just be easier to finish the job you started with the cutout and put a whole new bottom on? That way you can put in a whole new frame from rail to rail. It’s only a couple more slats. You can grind the fins off and resuse them.
Funny how balsa wood comes back to bight you in the ass over the long haul. I am trying hard not to use it as much anymore because I don’t like to go back and re build things. When the water damage balsa shows up I dry the board out and then retire it to some dark corner of the shop or hang it on some ones wall . I don’t learn much from re building something I already built once. I prefer to move on to something knew and different. I think Huck is right about building some structure into the board then re skining it but if I were to do that I would retire the board to some ones wall.
I’m considering all options with the board except one, it’s not going to be retired and wall hung… I will re-built the board with the sole objective of it being a better board, that will be ridden hard…
The balsa is fine…It’s glassed in and out…The cork and ply rails are just fine too…The 1/4" ply that was available in 2006 fell apart…It didn’t leak, the ply just dissinigrated…Maybe heat did it…???..
With the inside of the deck now having CF and Kevlar, I’ll wait a day or two to see how firm the deck will be…If it’s not stiff enough, I’ll put in a couple of stringers in like Huck illustrated…
Putting the bottom panel back in is the simplest option, but I’m open to trying something that hasn’t been done yet…
(above) Committed to going without an inner frame…Filled in the CF grid with more CF and another overlay of Kevlar…Epoxied a pair of 1/8" ply x 1" wide bottom panel support strips to the inside…
(above) Bottom panel epoxied to board…There was an 1/8"saw cut on both sides of the panel, so I introduced concave to the bottom by strap clamping the girth of the board, to pull the board tight with the bottom cutout…With a hollow board you can do that…As you can see the bottom panel was weighted…Combined with strap clamping it resulted in a vey significant flat concave through the center of the board…Look at the straight web straps as a reference…It also pulled the fins into a tipped-in position…
Lovely board and its resurrection.
Did it all come out flat and true ?
(above) Unclamped…The flat panel is about 5/8" deep at the wide point…
Brilliant way of recycling, and stepping out of the box.
A longterm idle thought of mine has been a lightweight hollow board with a ‘free’ bottom skin. Will be interested to see how it turns out. Are you going to reglass the fins on with a more standard cant?
Paul, is that gorilla glue? If so, hope it works out…the only failures I’ve had have come from structural gluing with GG. I’m only using thickened epoxy now and haven’t had any issues yet.
Did you put any internal support on the joint?
mike
To glue the bottom panel on- I got a strip of 1/8" poplar ply and glassed it three times on one side and twice on the other…Then it was cut to 1" wide strips…Those were epoxied to the inner bottom panel with System 3 epoxy out of a caulking gun…Two part, thickened, dries clear within an hour or two…My lumber yard had a close out for $5 a tube…I cleared them out…
Those two strips are the only internal add ons…The bottom panel was epoxied on the outside edge, with the push rod tube stuff, and clamped and weighed overnight…It held fast…I’ll glass on some fabric to the bottom seams…
The fins will stay as they are, not because I’m lazy, but because I think I’ll need those slabs back there to control the speed…
I think it’s going to surf even better now WITHOUT the internal ribs. Much livelier I think.but what do I know?I’d love to hear some riding reports. Used to do many composite sandwiches and has repaired broken in half ones, delams and other scary things but in the end they have all turned out great again. I think thats the beauty when lots of wood is involved.