I'm surprised one of the elder Swayfolk hasn't piped up yet and said something like: "Yeah, me and Barney Dingleberry made a bunch of these in the mid-50s' for Jimmy Witherballs Surfboards. They worked ok but . . ."
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Man, you need to cut us elder Swayfolk some slack! Anyway, Barney Dingleberry never worked for Jimmy Witherball Surfboards, he worked at the shop down the street Johnnie Numnutz Surf and Rescue Boards making paddleboards, and those fins didn't work out because the glass kept sagging!!
HAhaha! I though I was being funny! Thanks for getting the joke and having a sense of humor about it Huck. No disrespect towards anyone intended, just pulling the rope a little on that 'everything's been done before' boat.
Here they are LokBoxed and ready to go. Chandler tol' me ta lay da glass on extrah-ehvee. Why? - 'cause Nickyarnes breaks HW fins barney, like fo fun . . .27 oz of glass on each side laminated a single layer at a time to keep the bubbles out made for a lot of waiting, especially these last several days with temps here in FL in the 20's! In all, it was worth it.
We decided to go with full size lokbox tabs for strength in the face of the unknown. They feel rock solid in the boxes now, and the strength may not be compromised too much by trimming them shorter for adjustment.
Great project! Thanks again Nick for kicking that one my way. Definitely gained a few interesting tricks and ideas in the process.
Dur . . .I was so intent on getting some reflection in the first photo that I didn't even think about a backlit shot. Here's one indoors with an incandescent bulb. Makes it look yellowish when it's really a more blue/green iridescent kind of clear. I'll replace it with a natural light shot tomorrow.
Camplus - if I understand correctly, you layed up some flat glass/resin, let it dry, then epoxied it to the fin in a vacuum bag. Hence, no sags. This is probably a dumb question, but is there any way someone could glass the board that way too? Seems like glassing is the real hard part with the sheldrake boards.
Yep, you got it. It shouldn't be a problem glassing the deck and bottom skins of a tricky-to-glass board that way, but only up to a point. Same isssues as guys that are doing veneer would have with the skin conforming to the compound curvature near the nose, and wrapping around the rails. Solid or hollow wood rail designs however shouldn't be a problem glassing like this if the skins are cut small enough to make the curves, then feathered into the rails.
I believe Nick was working that angle by using the monokote base skin on the board. It seems like a piece of polycarbonate or pvc sheet could be used the same way. However, I went with the glass and epoxy beacause it was one less unknown (for me anyway) thrown into the mix. Oh, and don't think we can't sense some scheme going on here ;). I can see some clues as to what's going on with that new build of yours. . .
Oh, and don't think we can't sense some scheme going on here ;). I can see some clues as to what's going on with that new build of yours. . .
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heh, heh, heh. BTW, looks like Sheldrake lowered his prices. Kits are in the $250 range...didn't they used to be like $500? So maybe my fantasy may become reality yet!
The Boards finished for the time being. I ran into some issues while test driving. All in all, this board is incredible. Ive never ridden a fish, but it went down the line at the local spot no problems. Caught a reef break that seemed to last for days. Unfortunately I was in the water with no no camera crew or paparazzi to prove it. I paddled 10 mintues back to the line-up after the big ride. Best wave I’ve ever caught for that size at that spot. It turns great, and pumps up and down the line no problem. I’d say almost waste high, reef break sucking off the bottom. This was a fun project. I will continue to drop pictures off as more shots come in. Just click on the link to view pictures:
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Looks great Nick! Glad to finally see that board (and those fins) in the water. Thanks for the pics and the thorough and complete build thread. This one's a schemer's delight!
It came out to 10lbs 8oz. I suppose I could have made it lighter, used a lot of glass on this board. 4,6,4 on bottom, 4,6 on top…with lots of patching on the rails after burning through.
I took it out last weekend and hit a snag. Damned thing had a leak on the right rail, and soaked everything from center to tail. It would have been alright had I caught it in time; Unfortunately, when transitioning from the tropical heat to the cooler water; the board compressed causing it to cave-in. I assume that if my vent had been installed differently, more towards the nose this might have been avoided; However its a series of unfortunate events that caused this mess. Also, the glass delaminated from the monokote after pressurizing the board upon exiting the water. The glass sprang back to the natural shape, the core remained.
I have removed the bottom glassing job, and am allowing the board to completely dry out. I think its salvageable. When glassing this board, it was an experiment of my own with monokote. So, this is in no way any fault of the design of the board.Hindsight is 20/20 right? I hope people read the entire thread before deciding to use or experiment with monokote further. It is a great releasing agent, ive learned…and the rep probably misunderstood what my intentions were.; Im not upset at anyone, its a learning experience. I will get it right the next go round.
Here’s the pulled bottom, notice the compressed cardboard, still saturated 4 days after surf.
