This site contains a wealth of information regarding vents/valves for HWS. I still don’t know if I will use a vent, but I am leaning toward it, just to be on the safe side. A few people have mentioned that vents only vent the chamber they are above, hence the need to make communicating chambers. My board is chambered and glued and not all chambers directly communicate but I have done an experiment to convince myself that communication is not necessary. In fact, I don’t think the vent needs to get into a chamber, only below the glass layer.
Forgive me if this has already been posted. For my experiment, I dipped a piece of balsa into soapy water and blew bubbles out the end. It took VERY little pressure to get a steady stream of bubbles to cascade out of the balsa. This leads me to believe that any pressure built up inside the board will be equal throughout. I hope this adds some fuel to the fire.
I have done an experiment to convince myself that communication is not necessary. In fact, I don’t think the vent needs to get into a chamber, only below the glass layer.
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-cmg
Very inventive! I wouldn’t have thought of that. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, though, it is unlikely that you could easily blow bubbles through balsa across (at right angles to) the grain. Given a choice between designing an HWS with balsa bulkheads so that there is end-grain balsa between every chamber that does not communicate directly, and drilling a few small “extra” holes to provide direct communication between all chambers, unless I’ve missed something (very possible) the second option seems to be the simplest.
Like Woody said, really enjoyed all the pictures. Stunning looking boards, keep the thread updated with pictures please, looking forward to your next posts. I’m about to go and make me one of those rocker copiers, then go looking for a decent board to copy. Beautiful work.
Here’s a quick update. Sorry, no new pictures. I dropped my board off at Cort’s shop so he can do the fine shaping and the glass job. I picked up Cort’s board and have it broken apart and ready to chamber. After much debate, I decided to use Resin Research. I had some reservations, as the Oregon coast is often cool and wet, but there should be plenty of days in the 60’s and maybe even 70’s in the next few weeks. I am anticipating a good outcome. Thanks again for everyone’s advice and kind words. I will go pick up the finished board in a couple of weeks and should have more pictures then.
p.s. I know this is a shaping website, and I am getting up the nerve to shape a board soon. I think I may have enough wood left over to do something short (like 5-6 feet) with little rocker, maybe a fish.
Or maybe start laying out something for that perfect little human in your avatar…I started on a board for my older son a couple summers ago, cut the foam, bagged on a skin…he was more into boogieboarding & never pressed me to finish it…now, I’ll be lucky if its big enough for his younger brother.
They do grow fast. My little guy is almost 7 months already. Here is another picture of the “baby gun.” It is actually the rails of the balsa board I am building. When I put them together, they looked like the perfect size for the little man. With his little arms, the thickness should help him paddle into some bug stuff!
Here is a picture of Cort’s board after I chambered it and glued it back together. I use the big clamping pads to glue the middle three pieces together, and then use inner tubes from road bikes to hold the rails on while the glue dries.
thanks for a wonderfully illustrated & documented thread. there’s so much here for us. i appreciate it. building beautiful surfboards. that’s what i like to see.
i like your method for copying rocker & that set of fins is outstanding. the template of the board in the above post tied up with inner tubes looks so sleek & gorgeous.
Slight change in plans; I have decided to glass the board myself. I went to Cort’s today and dropped off his chambered board and picked up my board that is ready to be glassed. Cort made some fins and showed me where to place them, now it’s my turn. This will be my first time glassing a board, but I think I can do a good job. Now I just have to build glassing stands and wait for the rain and cold weather to change. I’ll keep y’all posted.
Warm weather has arrived! I made a last minute call to Greg from Resin Research with a few questions and then began the glassing process. As the temperature began to fall, I sealed the bottom of the board and the fin.
I am waiting for the bottom to kick before I go out and seal the top. I plan to do the lam tomorrow and maybe even the hot coats if the epoxy hardens fast enough. I’m doing a small test block that is always one step ahead of the board. The lam layer on the test block was hard in just a few hours and looked great! So far so good. I’ll post again soon.
It’s been a few weeks since my last post, so here’s an update. We had some hot weather about 10 days ago, so I was able to get most of the glassing finished. After sealing the board with a coat of epoxy I glassed it with 4 oz S glass. Two layers on the deck and one layer on the bottom, with a patch under the fins. Cort suggested the patch, and so far whenever I haven’t taken his advice, I’ve been burned. Having never glassed a board before, I was surprised by how easy it was. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been as easy with poly, but epoxy was no problem. The trick is to play some slow music so you work slowly. This gives the epoxy time to soak into the cloth. Greg from Resin Research said not to wait more than 48 hours max between steps, so I glassed the bottom in the late morning, and then glassed the deck in the evening. The next day I glassed on the fins. It looked messier than I expected, but they have since been sanded and look fine.
I made a leash loop too. I don’t have a picture yet. I used a straw as the hole and laid some roving parallel to the straw on either side then over the top. For the roving that went over the top, I used one strand of glass to tie it together in the middle with a half hitch. This allowed the top of the loop to stay thick and high instead of flattening out. I was worried that the longer set up time of epoxy would allow the roving to end up a flat mess with no strength. Then I laid an hourglass shaped piece of cloth over the roving. The next day the straw pulled out clean leaving a perfect hole. The leash loop is opaque, but that doesn’t bother me.
Over the next two days, I hot coated the bottom and then the top. Now I am sanding and it has been about a week since the hot coats, well over the 48-hour limit, but the hot weather was replaced with cold rain and my work schedule has gotten in the way. I hope the gloss coat will stick to the sanded hot coat. I am using 80 grit throughout. I guess it will only be a mechanical bond instead of chemical, but I think it should be OK.
Throughout the whole process, I have been one step ahead on a test block of balsa that I have sealed, glassed, hot coated, etc. I dribbled some epoxy onto an unsanded section of hot coat that was more than 48 hours cured and was not able to pop the drips off at all. They could be cut off with a chisel, but didn’t pop off the way the drips do on my sealed concrete floor.
Now I am 90% finished with sanding the board. I am going to wait for more hot weather before I do the gloss coat. I’ll update again later. Thanks for the interest in this thread.
The gloss coat is on the board. It looks good except for about a dozen zits. I am tempted to leave the zits and forget the sanding and polishing, but I have to take care of the rail seam/lap anyway. I built a PVC/plastic tent in my garage to keep the dust to a minimum. I tried to vacuum and sweep, but my garage is a woodworking shop and years of sawdust are hard to get rid of. I think it will help keep the rest of the shop clean when it comes time to wet sand and polish. Thanks again for everyone’s advice. Swaylocks is a great site.
The board is finished! Final weight, for all of those who are curious, is 12 lbs. There are some things that I think I could do better on the next board, but overall I am very pleased with how it turned out. I will get it wet next week in waves far too small for the board, but the fall and winter are a long way away. I’ll post pictures soon.
Wow. Those are some pretty surfboards. INcredibel craftsmanship. When some people see them they will expect you to hang them on the wall (behind the bar). They don’t understand. …
I think just paddling out on those boards will make you want to hoot. Your first drop…
This are beautiful boards. I’m a little surprised that a first- (or second-)timer can get everything so right - you seem never to have made a significant mistake, the finish coat looks great (I’d leave it as is). I’ll admit the shapes are Cort’s, but the glassing is unreal.
One fly in the ointment - doesn’t Cort wear a respirator? That first shot of him sealing the blank with poly must have been what my garage smells like, but I always put on a double cartridge charcoal respirator during glassing.
To summarize, you built a 7’8" round pin, multi-stringer, chambered balsa, with wood fins in a 2+1 setup, with 2x4 oz deck and 1x4 oz bottom… and it weighs 12 pounds? Did I miss anything?
To achieve this level of quality so soon speaks to real craftsmanship. Wish I could …
Like to see several photos of all the finished boards, top, bottom, rocker, all together in a row or stacked.
Thanks for all of the encouragements and kind words. The board has been finished for some time, but I haven’t had a chance to get it in the water yet. Truth be told, this board was built for waves that are a little out of my league at this point, and the waves have been small lately anyway.
Charlie, you got it mostly correct. This was the third blank I have built and chambered, the first two being around 9’2”, and I chambered Cort’s 7’8” after mine. I did everything on this board except shape it, which with a wood board is a lot of work, but the board would be nothing without the expert shaping skills of Cort.
I built this board with Mexico in mind. My wife and I are going to take some time off from work (about 6 months) and do some surfing some time next year. I’ll keep you all posted.
I have always wanted to give shaping a try, so I used the lumber left over from the 4 boards I built with Cort and pieced together a blank. I had only enough wood for something short, so I decided on a fish. I used a friend’s jointer to make the pieces fit together well. This allowed me to use very little glue to hold the board together during the rough shaping. Here is a picture of the board after it has been rough shaped. I will break it apart and chamber it soon.
