Lets talk chambered boards...

been wanting to do this for 4 or 5 years now.

 

live in a land of plentiful cedar… great uncle has a lumber mill run off an old one lunger… thing has the biggest flywheel I’ve ever seen… it runs at like 300 rpm… pu put, pu put, pu put… . at 82 he’s more spry then alot of 50 year olds I know. we got his mill running this last weekend.  he has a million pieces of  real old lumber to choose from. couple old barns, plus alot of really really clear stuff thats almost balsa light.

 

anyhow, I’ve went through the archives…

 

I can cut lumber to whatever size I want. whats Ideal width?  4 inches wide? or go less so I can use a router bit to chamber? which leads me to-

 

Love to go no glass if at all possible, so where can I find info on whats the best design for chambers ie: I beam, slanted triangular, rounded ovals or square, (dimensions) and how much thickness should I leave for deck and bottom for strength. I imagine that cedar is slightly different than balsa in that I’m going no glass.

 

regular epoxy to glue the pieces together?

 

if I’m coming from foam/glass board, you much you think I should increase volume?  its going to be a rider, hopefully for a lifetime… gonna take it nice and slow.

 

ok thats enough questions for now.

 

going to get some lumber this Saturday… Mahalo for any response.

 

 

Unless you have a dolly to wheel your board to the water, I wouldn't build a chambered cedar board.  Balsa is much lighter -- 7 to 12 pounds per cu. foot versus 24 to 28..  You should check out some of the various hollow wooden surfboard (HWS) building methods.  A lot of people use Paul Jensen's method.  He has a nice instructional CD that you can buy.    Grain surfboards uses another method for building up the rails called bead & feather.  Do a search for Wood_Ogre.  He has posted a few very detailed build threads.

Hey UP…YOU LUCKY SH#$!!! Sweid is right basically, but there is some white cedar I’ve found (not just spring growth) that is pretty light. Just past  Pawlonia (15-18). It comes out heavy but still not as heavy as the 50’s-60’s longboards. Maybe with fresh water you can get away with just a sealer instead of glassing. DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!

can’t get pics to work, but the mitzven wood fish is what I’m shooting for. lots of reasons why I want to go this route, but mostly want to go no glass… even if its heavy as shit, no glass.  don’t ask… LOL   plus this route seems more like art, and less engineering.

 

http://www.mitsvensurfboards.com/surfboards/files/images/PICT0379.preview.JPG

 

 

http://www.mitsvensurfboards.com/surfboards/files/images/PICT0431.preview.JPG

 

http://www.mitsvensurfboards.com/surfboards/files/images/PICT0453.preview.JPG

 

http://www.mitsvensurfboards.com/surfboards/files/images/38_0.jpg

 

http://www.mitsvensurfboards.com/surfboards/files/images/PICT0320.preview.JPG

 

http://www.mitsvensurfboards.com/surfboards/files/images/39.preview.jpg

 

 

Check out the "6' 5'' chambered paulownia potbelly'' build by Touchwood, at the old 'Tree to sea' site.

I got some pieces for foam board stringers and its really light… 

 

my old mans gonna help me with this project. he built an outside sauna from this same lumber pile, apparently its from our land,  it smells unreal good… only downside is thats its natural gas stove and not wood fired, but wood fired takes too long.  sauna then jump in da Big lake!

 

ha I’m getting stoked… at this point just going to mill and then plane down about 3 inch by 5 inch pieces… we got some birds eye maple that might work for a stringer.  

 

have that one on bookmark! lol