No rocker table required!

General Discussion
1

So, i’ve been pondering how to keep the rocker perfect when bagging on skins for compsands.

Especially after the recent “Whats the most important feature ina surfboard” thread, where most people cited rocker as the number 1.

Previously I tried a bent backboard setup, and then tried just chucking them in the bag and racking the rocker round til it looked right…

But I just thought of a better way!

May have been done before, not sure, but i’m stoked on the idea.

No photos, cos I havn’t actually tried it yet, and Uni exams are taking up valuable board shaping time right now.

But heres the plan:

Hotwire blank - I glue the hotwire templates to either side of the square EPS block with dabs of contact adhesive, it holds them firmly, no movement. I use Ados Styrobond, it’s solvent-safe for polystyrene.

The blanks are exact thickness and rocker I want, from APS 3000, only a quick hit with the sanding block to take out hotwire wobbles.

So, I’ll stick in any required concaves into the bottom, then bag the bottom skin on with the templates still attached.

The templates will act as 2 stringers, keeping that rocker sweet!

Also any twist can be seen even easier than before, it’ll be more obvious because of the wide sqare block of foam.

Then cut out outline, rails, top skin etc.

Once that bottom skin is on, the rocker is pretty much permanently set for the next steps.

Stoked.

Comments anyone?

I bet you all already knew that trick and i’m lagging behind as usual… :slight_smile:

Kit

2

Nice idea, but I bet that rocker can still change in the next steps. I managed to change the rocker more than 1 inch front and back, bagging the exterior glass on the already bagged skins with a bad technique (as it was so visible, I could correct that before everything was set up). This happended because the bag was pulling on the rocker, and this has a lot of force. Even a completely finished board could bend with vacuum. I usually sit everything on the rocker cut in the block of foam, all layered on a flat table, with weights.

3

I thought of that same thing one time… Left my hotwire guides on, set up my bag, full vacuum, and walked away from it. Came back an hour later to find the blank/skin in full-on bananna style. It broke the hotwire guide in 5 different places on each side.

So, that didn’t work for me.

I’ve had the best luck with using my rocker offcuts as rocker tables. If you didn’t (or don’t) save your offcuts, the other best option is to just use a very low vacuum pressure and monitor it closely. It really only takes a few lbs (maybe 5-7) of pressure to get the skin to bond nicely, and then you don’t need to worry as much about sucking all the air out of your foam and messing up the rocker. But it still needs to be baby-sat unless you’re using something for a rocker table.

4

What about for normal, albeit stringerless 2# EPS construction? Any risk of the rocker going off after I cut it, when I lam it, or before?

5
Quote:

What about for normal, albeit stringerless 2# EPS construction? Any risk of the rocker going off after I cut it, when I lam it, or before?