Retro fish & EPS?

General Discussion
1

Hey everyone!

First of all, thank god for swaylocks! It’s a kickass site! And second of all, I’m from Sweden (you know the little country in Europe) so you have to excuse my bad english… But I hope you will understand me at the end…

I’ve read a lot about all kinds of shaping, and learned a bit… But I still got one million questions on my mind…

I’m planning to shape a retro fish with EPS and epoxy (I guess), and hopefully try to surf it in summer…

I really respect all of you, and in my opinion you’re way to advanced for me but I’ve give it a shoot!

When I look around on the forum I see plenty of different constructions, but I don’t know witch construction I should go with?

You all think that I’m a lazy kiddo who haven’t searched for the information and just ask some questions… But that’s not the case, I’ve been readning for like 5-6 months to find the best way for me to build a board… But I haven’t found it yet… That’s why I ask you guys, to give me a concrete answer.

Maybe I’ve missed a great guide or two, then just post a link…

As I said before I’m planning to build a retro fish in the size somewhere between 5’6 - 6’0. My economy is not that great so I haven’t got that much money to spend…

As far as I know, I will buy some EPS and cut the shape with a hotwire. Should I cut the rocker and alla that stuff with the hotwire to or should I shape that with a sandpaper? What’s the easiest way to go?

Okey, so when all the shaping is set, it’s time for the epoxy and the fiberglas? (right?)

It will be my first time using any of these materials so im a total stranger to this…

What’s the easiest way to go when glassing your board?

Hope you guys could help me out, and I also hope that I will fininsh my board some day with some professional help from you all!

Thanks // Fredrik Hvass

2

Its only a personal opinion and I havent done a huge amount of boards, but I think that for a first board, standard construction will give you a higher probability of getting a rideable board.

If you go the EPS/Epoxy route, buy a small amount of epoxy and make a skimboard or something first. Then hold it under water an look for air bubbles.

3

and please , Fred …

PLEASE post some photos here of the ladies in your country too …

4

If you blank comes rockered, cut the outline with a hand saw, then use a sanding block or surform to get it perfect. Usually, you would use an electric planer to do most of the shaping, but with EPS you can shape the whole thing with coarse abrasives. You really don’t need a hotwire unless your foam comes in a big cube with no stringer. Epoxy resin only over EPS. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for mixing and safety.

I would recommend ordering a shaping and glassing CD or video and watching it carefully if you’ve never seen anybody shape a board. Watch it and take notes. There are several available and you can get them online.

Good Luck!

5

haha, what is it about our chicks…?

alright then, i’m only 18 so they could be to young for some of you ;)…

a fresh party after a day of cold water surf in sweden…

by the way, I live in sweden and it’s hard to get DVD’s like master shaper I and II any other ideas how to get them or any familiar DVD’s?

6

…are these their friends too ?!

…is it true they kick you out of the country if you don’t have blonde hair , blue eyes , and perfect skin ?

7

I guess you will start from a block of EPS, or else you can order a cut blank there : www.atuacores.com , but shipping might be expensive for you from France…

Try to find the highest density EPS you can get.

Then make 2 templates of rocker/foil of your project, fix them to the EPS block and cut with the hotwire. You can also make 2 templates for the outline and cut it with the hotwire or cut it with a saw.

You can then shape your blank, try to find a board close to your project, or look at photos, you can use an electric planner, surfoam, coarse sandpaper etc… or even hotwire rail bands after you tape, with a mini-hotwire.

Fisnish the blank and glass it with epoxy resin. Mix the resin with the exact ratio of hardener, put the fiberglass on the blank and pour resin on it. The best for me is to use a paint roller to saturate the cloth with a perfect fiber/resin ratio. This is all easy as epoxy resin leaves you time to work, even if you are a bit slow, so the end-result will be good.

Do one side, wait for it to harden, then do the other side.

Clean up the laps and do your hotcoat. Then sand and finish.

For glassing schedule and advice, refer to http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=242323;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

Polystyrene/epoxy construction will give you a good board.

8
Quote:

…are these their friends too ?!

…is it true they kick you out of the country if you don’t have blonde hair , blue eyes , and perfect skin ?

offcourse! 2 of them are my sisters, the rest live in my backyard :D…

It’s kind of true, once we hade a neighbour, she had dark hair and brown eyes… Then one day the cop showed up at took her away, and I never saw her again… :smiley:

9
Quote:

I guess you will start from a block of EPS, or else you can order a cut blank there : www.atuacores.com , but shipping might be expensive for you from France…

Try to find the highest density EPS you can get.

Then make 2 templates of rocker/foil of your project, fix them to the EPS block and cut with the hotwire. You can also make 2 templates for the outline and cut it with the hotwire or cut it with a saw.

You can then shape your blank, try to find a board close to your project, or look at photos, you can use an electric planner, surfoam, coarse sandpaper etc… or even hotwire rail bands after you tape, with a mini-hotwire.

Fisnish the blank and glass it with epoxy resin. Mix the resin with the exact ratio of hardener, put the fiberglass on the blank and pour resin on it. The best for me is to use a paint roller to saturate the cloth with a perfect fiber/resin ratio. This is all easy as epoxy resin leaves you time to work, even if you are a bit slow, so the end-result will be good.

Do one side, wait for it to harden, then do the other side.

Clean up the laps and do your hotcoat. Then sand and finish.

For glassing schedule and advice, refer to http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=242323;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

Polystyrene/epoxy construction will give you a good board.

okey thanks alot for the advice…

I called a store today and asked for EPS, and they had all kind of diffrent “densitet” (don’t know how to spell it in english) is 30 kg/m3 fair enough or should I go with more?

One more question, when im glasing, how should I overlap the fiberglas at the rockers? Just put them over eachother and use the sandpapper to get it clean?

What dimensions should I shape the board in, i’m gonna surf quite small waves, in the area of Biarritz France but also here in sweden…

10

30 kg/m3 is very good, for that you can glass with 1 X 6oz (200 g/m²) bottom and 2 X 6 oz on the deck.

Start with the bottom. Make a lap that goes around the rail and 2-3 cm over the deck. Clean the lap with sand paper to get it quite smooth, and glass the deck with the 2 thicknesses of fiberglass, one shorter than the other, going around the rail, like that, you only have 1 thickness to sand to clean it up.

Clean the new lap again, and hotcoat.

The size of the board you will make depends on your size and weight, but a retro fish can be quite short, 5’10 is good, shorter if you are light. They work very well in small waves but also in waves you will find at Biarritz maybe if there is a bit of good swell.

11

okey thanks,

well im 180 cm tall and weight 75 kg, converted (I don’t get your system :D)

180 cm = 70.87 inch & 5.84 feet

75 kg = 165 lbs

It also depends on how good you are as a surfer I aspect?

waves like this is the only sweden offers… COLD WATER…

or what do you say about this? Can’t wait for some stone cold winter surf!

12

Hey Fred,

I second everything that Pierre has said but since you’ll be surfing in ice water, you should also make sure that your eps/epoxy board is fully cured. Check the archives for post curing techniques/tips/tricks. So, umm…when’s the next swaylocks anonymous sweden going to be? I’d really like to meet and talk to those female shaper friends of yours :wink: you know, discuss planshapes,curves and templates :wink:

Rio

13

im moving to sweden for the girls…uh…i mean surf…yeeeeah the suuuuuuurf.

About the board. Hotwire setups work great if you decide on EPS. Make sure you have a rocker guide on each side of your foam block, then just rip right through. I would practice though on some scraps to get the hang of it first. Good Luck man

14
Quote:

Hey Fred,

I second everything that Pierre has said but since you’ll be surfing in ice water, you should also make sure that your eps/epoxy board is fully cured. Check the archives for post curing techniques/tips/tricks. So, umm…when’s the next swaylocks anonymous sweden going to be? I’d really like to meet and talk to those female shaper friends of yours :wink: you know, discuss planshapes,curves and templates :wink:

Rio

okey, thanks, I will…

Do you guys recomend any special epoxy? As far as I know it’s hard for me overseas do get some american epoxy?

15

California Swaylock’s foam cutting !

Check out this link too http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=258116;search_string=eps;#258116

16

There is good epoxy at Atua.cores, that is designed for surfboards. It is excellent, but they are in France, so there again shipping will cost you a little.

Get what you can, it should be anti-UV treated so it won’t yellow fast and get brittle in the sun or else you’ll have to paint it to protect it.

17
Quote:

As far as I know, I will buy some EPS and cut the shape with a hotwire. Should I cut the rocker and alla that stuff with the hotwire to or should I shape that with a sandpaper? What’s the easiest way to go?

You will probably get a better end result if you cut the shape with a hotwire using a templete.

18
Quote:
Quote:

As far as I know, I will buy some EPS and cut the shape with a hotwire. Should I cut the rocker and alla that stuff with the hotwire to or should I shape that with a sandpaper? What’s the easiest way to go?

You will probably get a better end result if you cut the shape with a hotwire using a templete.

Just the rocker or the outline also?

19

For the rocker, place a foil template on each side like the picture and then use the hotwire.

For the outline, just use a template to trace the outline and then you can cut it out with a saw. Try to keep the saw straight up an down when you cut it out. I try to cut outside the line and then clean it up with the planer or sanding block after.

20

Made a tool found on a Google search, worked great to rough cut the outline. http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/…s.html#CopingSawTool. It’s part of a Pendaflex file hanging folder hardware. . Then sand to square the rails as normal. I’m using 18 AWG stainless wire from Ace to cut with. (ran out of guitar string)