I finished my balsa HANDBOARD. Check it out.

General Discussion
1

2004 OTF Handboards; leading the industry headfirst 18 x 12 x 1/2 #1 Year Built: 2004

Dimensions: 18 x 12 x 1/2

Shaper: Mike Fairbanks

Manufacturer: OTF Handboards; leading the industry headfirst

Submitted by: Michael Fairbanks ( Fairmont )

Resource ID: 942 | Added: Fri Aug 13 2004 |

This is a balsa handboard (handgun) made for, of course, bodysurfing. It helps the body plane better. I used to cut these out of pine in highschool, and then take them out without glassing them, and surf them until they were soaked and ruined. Then I’d do it again.

This piece isn’t very original, but it was fun.

It was inspired by Hawaiian Handboard Company (who will certainly not get any competition from me). So, as you can tell, the tail is a diamond tail, like theirs. The nose I designed myself.

I started with balsa strips that I got from Michael’s Arts and Crafts Store. They are four inches wide by three feet long by about 1/16 thick. Very flexible. I glued then together, staggering the pieces so that they would overlap (this took some trimming, of course) until I had a plank that was eighteen inches long, twelve inches wide, and a little over half an inch thick.

Then, as the glue was still wet, I taped it to the underside of one of my longboards to give the plank rocker. The tape wasn’t strong enough, so I clamped it down using two plastic tubs full of water.

I shaped the tail, shaped the nose, shaped the rails, sanded it, made little keel fins, glued those on, then glassed the puppy with four ounce cloth top and bottom. Added a sanding coat, sanded it, then added a second sanding coat and left it shiny so that I wouldn’t have to sand and buff.

The laminate is from a picture of a sign at Sandy Beach, Oahu (and just about every other beach in Hawaii) and using Photoshop, I drew a little handboard in his hand as he goes Over The Falls (Hence, the name, OTF Handboards; leading the industry headfirst).

It’s ready for the Wedge (or at least the Tamarack Shorepound

NOTE: The nose and tail may not look symmetrical in the photos (angle of camera and weird glass table illusion), but they are. I measured twice, cut once.

I’ll post pictures, in sets of three, in replies.

2

Deck, bottom, and laminate

3

laminate

4

  1. Balsa strips laid out. They are staggered to minimize butt joints. Strips are easy, like in building skateboards, because it makes it easy (yeah right) to make rocker, concave, etc.

  2. I glued it up and taped it to a longboard for rocker. The tape wasn’t strong enough, so…

  3. A plastic tub and an ice chest, both full of water to clamp that puppy down. It worked.

5

  1. The rocker worked!

  2. Tail outlined and shaped.

6

Nose outlined and shaped.

Ready for glassing, and glassed it was (pain in the arse).

Now it’s ready to ride.

NOTE: I looked at the Hawaiian Handboard Company’s website and thought to myself, “Gee, it seems like $129 for a handboard is kind of overpriced.”

HA! I should know better by now.

I spend 20 on the balsa, 23 on resin and glass, 10 on sandpaper, and used up my two good exacto knives. Plus, I must have put in ten hours on that thing (my wife will say more). I do have leftovers of glass, resin, sandpaper, but…

So, $129 for a handboard is CHEAP!!!

7

Well done Fairmont! Will the handboard you made receive a handle? I’m not sure how else you would hold on to it.

8

Actually, I’m not planning on putting a handle on it. Even though it’s small, you hold it by the nose and let it lift your forearms which, in turn, makes your whole upper body lift. You hold it like a boogie board, except that your body is still doing the planing, not the boogie board.

You wax it too. That’s the cool thing. Rubbing some wax on it.

If, after awhile, I feel it needs a handle, then I am going to use that industrial strength velcro tape and figure something out. I don’t want to alter the board itself by resining something on to it. I’ll use velcro and a strap of some kind (if it comes to that).

It’s basically modeled after the Hawaiian handboards. They don’t need no stinkin handles. :wink: