This is what happens when you don’t really plan it out:
Don’t draw too many lines, gets confusing. 
Ultimately it morphed into a double vee, triple concave quad…
Sweet looking board Allan! Tail looks a little familiar eh?
Let me know how it works for you. Hopefully we’ll get this one in the water in a week to test it out.
Great minds think alike. (Actually I stole it from a boogie board. so there! But I did like your tail)
(did I just say that?)
Did you notice that the center panel is raised, and the “wing” panels are the hollow-beveled? Since I’ve been using stringerless eps, the vee has broken free from the stringer and has been wandering around looking for a new orientation. Then it just split into two, altogether. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and it was a nightmare to get all those panels to mesh smoothly.
Its not done, yet, I’ve got a few other tricks up my sleeve for this little guy…
Interesting concept with the vee. How has it been working so far? I still like a stringer in my EPS because it’s so floppy without one. I noticed you shaped the entire bottom, contours and all, before you even thinned out the deck. Or are you planning on keeping that super thick tail?
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Interesting concept with the vee. How has it been working so far? I still like a stringer in my EPS because it’s so floppy without one. I noticed you shaped the entire bottom, contours and all, before you even thinned out the deck. Or are you planning on keeping that super thick tail?
I have no idea how it will work. Well, that’s not entirely true- I have an idea, and so I want to make one to see (I’ve never done one like this before).
If you look at the pics, the bottom went through a couple of transformations before it arrived at the double vee. Somehow it makes sense for a wide-tail quad. The last couple of stringerless boards have been wanting to go this way, so I just did it. If its a total dog, believe me, I’ll let ya know.
I usually rough the entire board with the planer, and then tune up the bottom and tie it all together with a hand plane and the sanding block. On this one I wanted to have some room to play around, so I started with a much thicker and longer blank. The beauty of eps is the consistent density- you can carve whatever you like out of a big slab of foam, no worries about soft spots. Ultimately the “wings” are going to be cut pretty far in, and they and the tail will be quite thin. You’ll see.
I use the fin set-up to help define the shape, (and vice-versa). Its always worked well, for me at least, to work out the fin set-up (especially on a ‘unique’ board) while shaping it. It takes longer to shape, but it saves a lot of headache later.
I’m very impressed that you made your own blank. That’s something I’ve only imagined doing, but its very cool. You’re totally free from the usual “surf supplier” outlets. Its probably a lot cheaper, too. Stringerless is easy to shape, though.
This is 1.7 lb US Blanks molded eps, its a very small bead and supposedly doesn’t need sealing and takes in very little water. Its also much more stable than the 1.5 lb that I’ve been using. As far as floppiness goes, while shaping, I use a 40-grit block and a hand plane on the bottom, and the power planer on the rails and deck, and don’t really have a problem. You just have to be conscious of the hard shaping stands pushing back through the foam, and consequently, creating a dip. I just do a lot of the rails and deck foil in the saddle, and there’s no problem.
Some people use a cradle to maintain rocker when glassing stringerless eps, but usually only for longboards. I don’t think its an issue on shorter boards.
Hope you get your board in the water this weekend. I paddled out yesterday in ankle-high waves just to take a new one on a maiden voyage…
id love to have a go on that
Allan I really like your input here at Sways, nice work!!!
Interesting setup! With the fins on there it really helps visualize what’s going on with the bottom contours and how they interact with the fins.
What’s your glass schedule gonna be for the stringerless EPS?
What’s your glass schedule gonna be for the stringerless EPS?
I’ll let you know after its done, part of the fun is making it up as I go.
Alan… no glass, right?
Hell, they say its totally waterproof… might as well test it, eh?
I like the way you think, cowboy. Fins set with 5200?
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Alan... no glass, right?Hell, they say its totally waterproof… might as well test it, eh?
I like the way you think, cowboy. Fins set with 5200?
Those molded eps blanks are exactly the same thing we had as kids- you know, the things that gave gnarly nipple-rash, and inevitably gored you when broke it and discovered the redwood stringers.
But I’m thinking, Yeah, why glass 'em?
What’s “5200”?
Did that even work? These wings kinda remind me of this thing:
Which I like!
That was gonna be a mild hull bottom and LokBoxes for keels and a finbox for a flex fin once in a while hull style
It didn’t work–but I couldn’t tell from behind the work firewall
64saucer attachment from here: http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=323314;search_string=drawrings;#323314
Does it work? I don’t know, its in the works right now. I expect that it could be turbulent as all get-out. But it may not be. I’ll take the empirical over the theoretical any day. In the long run its cheaper- a hundred bucks or so of materials and off you go. What’s the worst that can happen?
As to the planshape, like I said to Rachel- I cribbed the tail from a boogie board, though I may ultimately do the wings like the drawing. The planshape is different, less full forward, fuller through the waist.
Pics from less than 2 hours ago:
Why carbon? I had a piece left and it looks sexy, that’s why.
Yes, that’s a slightly negative rocker out the back.
Looking good…
5200 is 3M marine adhesive. Goes in like caulk but sets up very strong. I thought you’d just rout out slots for the fins and set the bases into the EPS with it - skipping the boxes altogether.
But the carbon is sexy
did you glass on that carbon then router out the the cavity for the future fin box?
hurry up and get some more posted, i love this board, really hope it works…Carbon ultra sexy…
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did you glass on that carbon then router out the the cavity for the future fin box?
Yes. In fact I routed it about 30 minutes after the epoxy kicked, so it got slightly gummy on the bit.
But no dust!