well guys I finally bought the ply for my first board (hws or other!). hoping to make glueing jig and cut out stringer and ribs this weekend. just wondering how and where to join the stringer as the ply does not come in larger than 8ft and my board will be about 9’3. I’m thinking that the section of the board with the least stress will be at the nose so join it as close to there as possible? what method to join though? sandwiched and glued with one 8inch long piece each side or maybe a double thickness stringer with staggered joins (one fore one aft), what glue to use (normal PVA?) carbon fibre afterwards to be sure (I like this idea). also I would LOVE to have some nose blocks in the board too, has anyone done this on a hws before? any tips on frame configuration/methods etc for this would be great. thanking you for your input guys
I’ve staggered the stringer to make it double thickness using 5 pieces of ply.
Have a search under Glassing Hollow Wooden Surfboards, there’s about 10 pages of info and pictures from a few people who’ve made them.
Cut out your wood and join them together with epoxy, pvc will let go in moist conditions, then cut out your rocker from that once it’s set, (you could put some cloth in the sandwich)
The rocker then dictates what depth the ribs will be at certain points along the stringer.
build the stringer from solid wood, maybe a piece of pine or other light wood, planed down to a 3/8’’ thickness or something. That’s how I’m gonna make mine, a 9’4.
All our wood in Australia goes up to 8’ (only joking). I think a solid stringer is a good idea until you cut into it to put the ribs on. It works OK in a foam board because it’s in one piece. Once you cut into it you are virtually halving it’s depth making it weaker.
I prefer to use ply for stringers because it offers better omnidirectional strength and you can’t see it anyway. It is also possible to build the finbox support into the stringer by laminating ply.
hey hicksy, first of all congrats on becoming the first moderator from our great land down under (or GODS COUNTRY as we know it!!!). yeah I tend to agree with you there bout the solid stringer and the foreseeable problems, think I will lam two 3.8mm Lauans together with staggered joins to get the length as mentioned before. for the interior rails I got some 5mm bending ply (was going to use two layers of it) but I think what I will do is get some 3.8mm fijiian cedar ply and cut it accross the sheet to make 1200mm lengths which kinda turns it into a bending ply anyway! alot cheaper, thinner and therefore lighter!
any takers on the nose block/frame set-up ideas/info???
Don’t used bending ply for the ribs, you need something stronger than that. Just use the ply you are using for the stringer.
As for nose and tail blocks, I just chopped off the bits where I wanted to use blocks, glue a flat base plate onto the flat sections left behind, build it up layer by layer, gluing and screwing until you get the desired size and shape with the rest of the rails and board.
sorry mate, a bit of confusion there, when I said interior rails I was referring to the sub-rails that surround the stringer and cross-ribs, I was going to use something else other than the 5mm bending ply that I got for them but I think I’ll just stick to the 5mm afterall, just because I have it! Hoping to make a start this weekend, weather (and girlfriend!) permitting. making stands, glueing jig and some calipers.
thanks for the help mate, will post pics all throughout my progress
hey paul, do you think even if I glue two 5mm layers of bending ply together around the glueing jig that it will still be flimsy, planshape-wise? If so what do you think about cutting some Lauan across-ways to make 1200mm lenghts by 180mm which will bend alot easier than long grain, still two layers of this glued around the jig? one other thing mate! when you drill the vent in do you drill into the top of the stringer? or do you drill it slightly off-centre?