So Ive been toying with different materials for a while… As have young kids around the home and I don’t want to expose them to fibreglass and all the hazards around sanding it at home.
Finally found a few products that I feel could be good enough, strong enough and stiff enough to make a full nylon board.
I know Everysurfer will say that I’m on the wrong path… but if the Coil boys or any other guys want to give me feedback as I go along that would be great!
I’m just a backyard hack… so I’m sure there will be guys that think my shaping isn’t good enough… but they work for me!
Here goes - my skin lay up in a test piece:
in order from the core/blank 1x 0.7 oz Orion Nylon 1x 1 oz hex deck 2x 0.25 Nylextra fibre
Im going to do 2 blanks at once… same shape just to see the difference in performance 1 x a 4 piece multi density blank which will be nylon 1 x a 6 piece multi density blank which will be my normal layup (left over pieces ) which will be a bamboo cloth lay up… Just as I know how this rides It will take me a few weeks… to do as have a bit on at work… but cant wait to try this out!
that’s really cool! can’t wait to see the finished product.
noob question - would there be any benefit to non-right-angle cuts in the foam? w/ glass patches everyone cuts them angled or curved to avoid stresses or board breakage, right? would that apply here too? since you’ve done these before, i’m sure you know what works. i’m just curious if you’ve tried different shapes in the foam.
Hi foamhack, I’m just glad to see others trying to make progress beyond the off-the-shelf PU blank and 4oz e-glass work that is the “standard”. Interesting approach you have with the blank, and you’re to be commended for exploring the world of fiber options that are available.
We try to minimize the “parts”, because (in our opinion) it’s not the path to highest strength/weight. We like to make what parts we have serve multiple functions.
From what I found… the strength doesnt really get affected as the glue points are like a stringer (stronger than the foam) and once you wrap the rails with the skin there is now way (in my opinion) they can lose their strength.
When I first started doing these I did a test just with some off cuts glued together (1 inch thickness)… each time I tried to break it… the foam broke before the glue point.
When you put in a stringer in a blank you cut it and then put a glue line in with a material inbetween right ? Similar process except its a different foam density instead of wood, pvc etc… and there is no straight lines across the blank so for the board to break it has to go accross 2-3 foam densities… maybe im on the wrong track but havent had any issues in the last 2-3 years of doing.
Heres a few that I did in the past… I used to paint the boards as I was freaking out about his threat to sue… all still rideable no creases, no cracks
Hey stoneburner as you can see above in the pic i posted… the ones I tested… the top one was machine shaped and the other 2 were hot wired and finished off with hand tools (you can see from the dodgey tail shapes…lol) As I was wondering if it would be too hard to shape as well… so tried one in a machine as well.
I use a glue made by selleys in Australia similar to gorilla glue in the US but I use a smidge in the joins and the blast them with water before clamping together. the hot wire is turn up to the highest setting (glowing red hot) and you cut the glue lines slowly so the wire does break … after that it easy… When final shaping with I use a rasp and and old block of wood about 1 1/2 ft long x 4 inches wide with 40 grid sandpaper glued onto it.
This knocks off the highs of the glue and sits it flush with the foam … again try to think the glue lines like stringers when shaping… knock them down as you need
Got to cut out the 4 piece blank tonight … the one I will be using with the nylon
After cutting in the blocks… I cut out the jigsaw piece cut to lock in the stringer foam to the back VH foam… so you dont have a straight join … (i dont know if it helps? Just piece of mind)
Then I cut out the nose rocker in the stringer foam using a jig
And thats pretty much it… takes about 20 mins to do all the cuts and ready to be put in the rocker table to glue up… will do the glue up another night.
With the mesh netting under a woven skin, what are your ideas about the finish texture? Reason being, the thickness of the mesh. Are you filling the mesh voids with resin, a mixture of resin and a filler like microbaloons, a foaming epoxy, or a dimpled surface?
Hey everysurfer
I know you want me to do a dimple board! Just so it goes faster…lol
But truth is the thickness of the mesh is about the same as 4oz eglass … When doing the layup there is a slight dimple effect but the finish coat will fill that.
