This is a whacky experiment in foam skimboard construction im nearing completion. have a look and tell me what you think.
For the tech specs… I used 13.5" x 48" x 1" EPS insulation from Lowes. i glued 2 sheets together using 1/8" basswood as a stringer. i shaped it using same techniques as a surfboard. i then put weights on the center and bent curvature into it. then put on fabric using epoxy, now im about to laminate it.
Concerns… too light weight (might not track well or hard to throw out)… too colorful (might blind someone)
Why a stringer? A skimboard in action is pretty much fully supported on nearly flat sand (with a thin slick layer of water), so you don’t really need to construct much stiffness. Also…
The EPS (on the deck anyway) will require a substantial glassing schedule, particularly since you’re gonna be jumping onto it. A “typical” surfboard with a “typical” glass schedule wouldn’t take that treatment long before buckling or snapping completely. The point of this is that the glass schedule you’ll have to use, will in turn will bring the weight up to something pretty throw-able. I’d not worry about it being too light.
Just one more thort… I guess you used EPS because you could. EPS in turn requires you to use epoxy… But epoxy is expensive… But you can’t use poly resin b/c it’ll dissolve the EPS… OR CAN YOU? Have you tried sealing EPS with anything, and using poly resin? I know it can be done…
heres the glass schedule… 4x 6 oz. top 3x 6 oz. bottom… as fas as epoxy goes… i just finished an EPS epoxy board and have tons of left over resin and hardener. (i bought way too much) the stringer thing was so i could get the curvature… i used bass wood (superflimsy) then put weights on the center to bend it. once it bent and stayed, the basswood will hold it like that atleast long enough for the epoxy to dry. also, the foam i bought wasnt wide enough so i bonded 2 of them together. thanks on the color comment.
Whoaaaaaa…as we used to say in the 70s… heavy. Cool fab gear and all that stuff, man. Like, man, it’s like…like, wow, man, wow. Cool, man, like, whoaaa, that’s like wow, it’s cool, whoaaaaa, heavy, man.
Not bad. A suggestion. Next one, do your rocker before you glue 'em up. Maybe foam and ‘sandwich’ center of basswood, then laminate on the other foam layer on the other side That’ll work better than stressing that momma after it’s glued up while doing the glass. You may find that over time it loses some of its rocker as the whole assembly relaxes ( like, whoaaaaa, I’m , like , whoaaa, out there, man ) …you know how that goes.
doc…if you can remember it, you weren’t really there…
Proglass, my glass shop, used to produc Sandy Beach Designs, Skim Boards Back in the 90s
I think the glassing schedule was 3 x 6oz top same bottom. They were made with Clark sheet foam and the rocker was gravity driven as they cured on a rocker form.
I found the fabric in y mom’s sewing room… she used it to make a costume for a 70’s theme party. Im also going to experiment w/ plaid on the next one i do.
Nah, its a skim board (i copied the template off another one i have) although i added consiberably more nose rocker (other one caused multiple face plants) it has something like 4 - 5" of nose rocker.
that skim board is for monster shorebreaks in florida… actual barrels at shore. (only happens during hurricanes). my next skim is a 2" rocker… pics are on share the stoke thread.
must be sort of like sandy’s down here on oahu, except sandy’s is like the pretty much all of the time. A few people end up with some sort of spinal injury or paralyzed every year from there
