Greg, (& anyone else who knows): I’ve done some exploring on your Power Rod concept. Does this derive from bodyboards or wakeboards or both? Do you use actual round graphite rods or can you simply lay down some flat carbon fiber strips of glass in the tail of the board? Is this used on PU (Clark) blanks or your EDRO foam, or both? If actual rods, how are they embedded in the foam? What kind of flex properties are you going for? I’ve read that some fods taper and have more flex on one end. Should this (more flex) be towards the tail or the center of the board? Sorry for all the question. There is so much to learn. Thanks, Rob Olliges
Rob, I began experimenting with flexible internal structures back in the first half of the 1970s... for me it was mostly related to the bodyboards I was building. I used sheet, rod and tubing... polycarbonate, PVC, ABS, laminated wood, hand-wound fiberglass/epoxy tubing (tapered and parallel wall), unidirectional fiberglass, aluminum aircraft alloy, etc. Id pre-tune the desired flex (as much as was possible) by adding material and/or grinding certain areas down prior to final insertion. I would shape the board about 1/4" undersize and then slice it from nose to tail in at least two areas. Then Id route out channels to accomodate the flexible skeletons. Usually Id glue (industrial grade contact adhesive) them in place, but sometimes theyd simply be inset, free to move slightly. After that step was finished, Id align and glue/seal the blank back together, laminate a 1/4" skin of fine, closed-cell polyethylene over everything (top and bottom) and finish the shaping. An example of this type of construction can be seen in the Swaylocks Resource section: (http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/Detailed/523.html) I even made a few boards so that the rods/tubes could be removed for examination and further modification. Care must be exercised whenever bonding dissimilar materials, especially if they`re inside a flexible shape. Preparing an adequate transition between hard and soft areas (as with tubes, rods or sheets joined to foam) is important. The end result should be that all the separate elements function as a single unit. Through hard, flexible surfcraft, i.e. my kneeboards and paipos, I soon discovered that low density polyurethane surfboard foam was inadequate for the amount of flex I needed… endgrain balsa and later on, high density polyurethane foam (hand-pour 10 to 12 lb./cu.ft.) in combination with epoxy/fiberglass, proved to be much less prone to fatigue and failure when used for hard, active flex (experimental) surfcraft. In the end, such ideas are just extensions of your imagination, only limited by labor, patience, skill, finances, waves, materials and time. The truth is that the potential for ineffectual compromise and failure (for most of us) far outweighs any probable rate of success. Still, the fun is in the journey and all that one chooses to learn along the way. Dale
Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me. Surfing and board making isn`t that complicated.
Fred W., Youre right, and youre wrong… re-inventing the wheel, duplicating what has been done before, “polishing the polish” is always a lot easier and much less risky than being personally consumed with new questions for old answers. While most will ask “why?”, thankfully a few others can`t help but wonder “why not?” Those individuals who sincerely pursue R&D (private or commercial) are truly a different breed who deserve our respect… whether they succeed in their efforts, or not.
I used rail channels more than power rods. I didn’t particularly care for the rods. Thought they added too much weioght but they were effective. Rail channels are very easy to do. Just glue a piece of sandpaper to a dowel and you have the tool. Tape off the line your going to follow and run the dowel along it until the channel is about 3/8th of and inch deep. Laminating is just normal then at the end you push the excess resin out while pushing the glass into the channel. Simple really. Power rods were generally cut with a router and then a hollow rod was layed in. Also not hard to do. As far as where it came from the original idea was a hand hold for airs. We figured out that they were effective for strength from noting auto body design.