i seem to remember that you made a few skim boards just wondered if you could point me in the right direction of building one??? or anyone else ?? can i use surfboard foam? thanks
Hi Paul, Yup, I did few skimboards. These are made of either plywood or foam. Epoxy glue 3 or 4 layers of 1/8 plywood sheet, put a 2"x2" and a 1"x1" wood strip at both end, bend the plywood by putting some weight on top, I used to put a 3 gallon distilled water jar. For those ply skimboard, the rocker is no more than 1" and the tail is about 1/2". Let it cure for 3 days, cut the board shape out of it. Shape and glass it as you did it in surfboard building. Normally, 1 x 1 4oz or 6 oz glass fabric is enough. If you plan to build a few or you gonna change your style to kiteboarding, you better build a rocker table. A rocker table can more accurately set the rocker and tail height, while using vaccum bag tech., it distributes the force equally, thus, makes the board much stronger. A rocker table is a MUST for foam board building. For those core materials : 1) Plywood, its the cheapest cost and easy to build. But it adds much weight. Therefore, plywood build skimboards are only for sand riding. 2) Balsa, lightweight and durable just a little bit expensive than plywood. 3) Foam core for wave riding: a) EPS foam, the 2 lb density is pretty easy to obtain in your local store, buy the 1/4" sheets and glue it up. But its not recommend for big guys even though its glassed 4x3 6 oz fabrics. b) Dinvinycell, as known as high density pvc foam sheet, is the best core material for skimboard,wakeboard and kiteboard. Glass with 4 oz carbon fabric and 4 oz e-fabric will make your board bullet proof. I dont think the surfboard foam can be used for skimboard building, since its too rigid and can not be bent to set the rocker and tail. If you dont have any experince in skimboard building, try the plywood, it wont cost you much. Have fun ~… Regards, Crabie
can i not shape the skimboard from a blank and copy the rocker and shape from another board? can i do it with polyester resin ? thanks
Hi Paul, You may shape it from a blank but … first a typical foam board is around 3/4" - 1 1/8" in thickness, you could be really hard to shape. Second, a skimboard dont need a stringer, if you cut the shape from a new surfboard blank, you’ll waste a lot. Third, surfboard blanks are rigid and easily subject to dents unless you gonna glass it a carbon fabric. Fourth, if you invest a big sum of money on carbon fabric, you wont save a dollar on Dinvinycell, this is the best combination to make a bullet proof board. Yes, you may use polyester resin but make sure you have to put at least 3 x 2 6 oz fabric. Have fun~… Regards, Crabie
In the states, the bigger companies typacally use 5 lb PVC. Divinycel works great but you might get better results from Core-cell. The phsicals seem to handle things like skimboarding and kitesurfing a little better. Either will work great. On the lower end boards they use between an 8 and 10 lb urethane foam. You can find this at a “sign” material company. It is a very standard product. You can also get a light weight end grain balsa from either Diab or Baltec under 10 lbs. You can use either polyester or epoxy on either of these core materials.