This is the first long(ish) board that I have ever owned. After years of almost disdain I had an epic afternoon longboarding in EL Salvdaor on a smaller day. I had to have one after that.
I called it the long(ish) board because I guess it is not officially a long board at 8’ 6". I had to make it this length in order to use the bamboo veneer which was 8’ 3".
I wish I had gotten some black fin boxes and leash plug but what the heck.
My glassing is getting better although I still managed to sand through the hot coat in a few spots. aaargh!
A couple of other firsts on this board. Pin lines which are a little wavy but I think the next will be better. Carbon rails also a bit of a learning curve but the saran wrap trick helped.
I really searched this site for rocker, fin location, and countless other tid bits so thank you all for this amazing resource.
NICE! Is that the first time you've used the bamboo veneer?
If you don't mind, I have a few questions...
Did you vacuum the skins first and then do the carbon rails or vice versa? Is the carbon cut at the edge of the bamboo or does the bamboo overlap the carbon? Last question.... what is the glass over/under the bamboo?
THANKS
PS - I was part of a kayak group that departed from Telegraph Cove. Our group met up in Port McNeill the day prior to departure for the pre-trip rundown. A beautiful area!
I used bamboo veneer on the second board that I built a 6’ 2" quad with balsa rails. I have also helped students use veneer in my role as a high school shop teacher.
I used carbon tape to do the rails first. I wish I had used a roller to “mash” the carbon edge but instead I sanded a little rabbet into the foam for the edge of the tape. This seemed like a good Idea in theory but my (hand) sanding wasn’t so accurate so I had to do a little filling and fairing to get the carbon-foam transition smooth.
I then glassed the top with 4 oz wrapping the carbon and lapping a few extra inches on the bottom. When the resin had gelled I bagged both the top and bottom veneers which overlap the carbon about an inch. My theory was that this layer of glass would help tie the top and bottom and the rails together where on my previous board I had cut the under glass with the top veneer. I tried to build up the rails for strength so that I could keep the glassing light. Finally I glassed the top and bottom with 4 oz.
So to recap top-down: 4 oz-veneer-4 oz- foam- veneer- 40z. I am hoping I haven’t gone to light on this! I used this schedule on my other board that I have been surfing for two years and I don’t have any heel dents. I guess time will tell.
I enjoy being in this area. It definitely takes commitment to surf here but oh the adventures that have and will be had!
Thanks very much for the invite girvin. I have been admiring the work that you have been doing lately! I would be keen to watch while you are using tints sometime.
On a recent bellyboard I glassed the bottom and rails with carbon, feathered the overlaps and vacuumed the deck glass/bamboo/carbon skin overlapping the carbon. I ended up with a bit of a step and was looking for ways to eliminate that. I think you nailed it.
I feel extremely blessed to have the Job which I do. I have a lot of freedom and support and the facility to attempt all kinds of things. Even though I am pretty new with surfboard building I have “taught” a class of ten Technology 9 students how to build boards this past semester. This is a little like the blind leading the blind because I am so new to the process. The title of the thread is correct I have only done three boards for myself and after the second I felt like I could successfully lead a group through. I couldn’t have done it without swaylocks! One thing about that I love about teaching is the learning that the teacher has to go through and I have definitely learned things! Here are a few pictures of the Class.
Making standsDesign in Boardcad
Blanks Hot wired. Everyone had the same rocker but designed their own outline. Hard at it.
In the BagFin boxes.
Glassing.
The students had to pay $100 for materials, and the school paid $100 per student which I think is pretty amazing and has given these students a once in a lifetime experience. We will be going surfing in May hoping to get a nice day for their first time surfing.
I built my board along with theirs as the Demo board.
Wouter, I went with a flat bottom because I am pretty unfamiliar with bottom contours on longboards. On the Quad that I built I shaped concave through the middle to a little v in the tail and the bamboo sucked into these very nicely under about 15 inches of Hg.
You know kids are funny I can’t actually tell that they enjoying the class until I talk to their parents. For the most part they also seem pretty unmotivated; quite happy with the minimum amount of work to complete something. But the enrollment for this class next year has me somewhat scared! I proud of the way these students dealt with clean up. I teach another class in the same room and the students had to get everything cleaned up (including dust) every second day.
I will be exploring other options for next year with the larger class size and improving the shaping environment. I am thinking of building little collapsible booths with blue tarp walls and side lighting to improve things. I would like to move this part of the process outside as well for the obvious mess reasons.
I have read and and seen on this site that vacuum can not only suck the rocker out but also cause the foam to collapse. I try to keep the vacuum around 15 inches of mercury and every thing seems fine so far! Any thoughts?
The students used the blue dow on the rails because I figured that it would be much easier to shape then the eps. I have read about some delam problems with it but also it seems like plenty of people use it. Any thoughts on this?
I made a compsand with 1# EPS dumpster foam (seriously, I found it in a dumpster) with a balsa deck and bottom. I felt that 1# EPS would be too soft on the rails so I cut them off and attached some 3/4" Blue Dow foam from Home Depot. Personally, I found the Dow foam much more difficult to shape than the 2# EPS block foam I normally use. I had heard that DOW must be left rough because glass doesnt bond to the foam well when it is sanded smooth. This left me in somewhat of a predicament- low grit sand paper took off too much foam but high grit paper left a finish that I felt was too smooth. The deck and bottom were already attached so I didn’t feel comfortable taking a planer to it. I ended up using 60grit on a long sanding block and they turned out OK, but if I could do the project over again I would have just used 2# EPS or some higher density PU foam like the WMD blanks had.
Oh, and I used about 20" Hg on that 1# board and it did collapse the foam in places.
Take this assessment with a grain of salt though… I only have 7 boards under my belt and I think the title “backyard hack” might even be too generous. I see some fantastic work on here with extruded cell foam, your students included!
Your class looks like a ton of fun… and educational. Not only can you teach them how to safely and properly use tools, but you can generate a lot more ‘science-y’ lessons. Calculate the voltage and amperage needed on a hotwire taking into account the length and resistance of the wire. Make some test panels to find out which deck/core combination provide the best impact strengh. Test different skin materials (balsa, PVC foam, wood veneer, ect) to find out which perform the best in tension and compression and then have the students adapt that to deciding which material will be best for the deck (compression) and bottom (tension). Perhaps a lesson about flex vs strength or finding resonant frequency? And that isnt even touching the whole issue of fluid dynamics… The possibilities are endless!
I came from a small school district where we had no TechEd, woodshop, metel shop, ect. I had no idea what any of these mysterious engineering concepts were until I had to take MechE and EE in college. Your class seems like a great way to introduce these concepts early in a non-textbook based environment (did somebody say destructive testing!). Furthermore, you are teaching them the basics on using tools safely and properly. Unless somebody from my school learned how to use tools from their fathers students graduated without even the faintest idea how to cut a piece of wood. That doesnt exactly set you up for success in being a home owner some day.
Keep up the good work and, if you do have you and your minions do some testing, share the results!
Wow – what an awesome class. I commend your enthusiasm in teaching and using such an innovative way to teach students, skills, creativity, life lessons… Great job and nice looking board – I like the bamboo logo.
