A wise man once said “don’t put the pussy on a pedestal”, you just have to go after it. Welp, I put this board on a pedestal, and have been putting off building it for about six months, because a really good shaper, and solid person, gave me a template, and I didn’t think I could do the board justice. So here goes my venture into building a well proven shape.
Here is the story. I normally surf shortboards around 6’ ish. Certain spots I surf, in the distance there can be some really nice waves, and they are a pain to chase on a smaller board. I can catch them, but they are shifty and sometimes you have to wait 30-45 minutes between sets, with a bit of current, so it is hard to stay lined up. I wanted a design that would allow me to go after these, and cover a lot of ground quickly. They are no more then 10-12 foot faces, and are very slopey.
It is supposed to be a single fin 7’10ish x 22" x 3 1/8".
I picked up some redwood to make the stringer, and was able to get a beat up 1.5# eps 8’2 SUP blank form FH for a good price.
All cut out and ready to glue. I have a love hate relationship with gorilla glue. Last time I glued a blank together, I colored it red, and my hands got covered, looked pretty bad for a week.
The goal for this board is the keep it simple principle, no fancy bottom, just a little vee, and slight double in the tail. Hard rails.
Last time I got gorilla glue on my hands, I actually used a shaving razor. If you’re careful you can take a lot of it off without peeling your skin with it. It was driving me crazy because of the way everyhting felt in my hands, so after chemical means I went for this and it worked.
I have an 8’ board with hard rails. Big boards with hard rails are fun.
Alright, alright. I want this board to be indestructible. So far I have two layers of 6oz S on top and one 6oz S on bottom. It was still a little light, so I went for extra 4oz S on top and bottom. Added some yellow to make it faster.
Disclaimer: This board is a complete trainwreck. I have had a palm sized moth land on the stringer in the middle of glassing and stare me down. wtf. Nice and sunny out, and then 30mph winds appear. This morning got a leak in the roof and a couple drops of rain on the board. It was sunny when I started… Luckily the FH epoxy isn’t very sensitive, and things still manage to not look that bad.
Anyways I post this, because I want to see more build threads, not mine, but someone else’s that is way better then me.
Looking good until the foam stain. Finish it and if it looks like it will ride well, then take it to an auto paint shop and have them shoot it in battle ship grey. Then ride the heck out of it. You probably should have checked in here before adding the extra glass.
Good on you for posting. You are right about Sways needing more build threads.
Finished hotcoat, and leashplug. Gotta say pictures may not be looking great, but I can’t wait to get it wet. It is a really amazing design, and would love to surf one from the original shaper.
I shaped the board, and the tail, and then glassed it. I had planned on doing alot of glass since it is 1.5# eps. Then I cut off the tail, and attached the wood block with epoxy+strengthener and a layer of glass between the block and the board. Then I shaped the block. BB30 showed me how to do it a couple boards ago. For the few blocks I have done, I find it alot easier to shape it after some glass is on the board. Then I coated it with epoxy to seal it. Then I wrapped it with 4oz.
Also it is wiliwili wood, and super easy to shape, just like balsa.
By the way, thanks to Bud and Petec on the leash plug thread. I put a nice gap around the plug, and had my first bubbleless plug installation.
Thanks Huck! This sideways thread has got to be my SBC 2015 submission. I thought I was going to get to another board, but this looks like it is going to be it for a couple months.
Finished the hotcoat, and reaching that point in my builds where I care less about how nice it looks and just want to surf it. There is north and south swell coming this weekend, so regardless of the looks she will be done.
I haven’t been able to find any 2pac to spray on island, so I have been trying to use epifanes brush on high gloss varnish. I have done it on two boards so far, and it holds up and looks nice. Right now this is coat #2. Not perfect, but good enough.
