Speedneedle Burger Project - Done at last!!!

Hey at long last the first Speedneedle composite sandwich boards have been ridden!

The longest learning curve in 20 years making boards.

Check the pic of Pinhead waxing up! He is stoked or not?

I was exhausted, run out of enthusiasm for the damn things after countless hours of work and research, but then I did the first turn!

Snapped so tight and hard under the lip and pulled in under for a tube on my first ride!

I started these boards with tips from Bert, and he has been available for advice numerous times… If Bert deems it appropriate to answer any questions you have guys, then LISTEN. You will still spend ages in the wilderness figuring it out for yourself, but, there will be a flicker of light.

Thanks again Bert.

Speedneedle.



More Pix,

I won’t be going back to poopee for my personal boards.



They look gorgeous, SN!! Great artwork, as usual, and sick looking shapes!

So, what little tidbits and tricks did you learn from the Man that may not have been exposed here so far? Since the wouldn’t be coming directly from Bert’s mouth, then they’re not technically a violation of any trade secrets, right?

And how about some dimensions, I’m curious to know what thickness you went with. And what thickness of balsa you used for the rails. And for the deck/bottom. And what glassing schedule you went with. And finished weights. Hell, just tell us everything!

Spill it man!! :slight_smile:

And again, great work!

Yes,

Tell it all. You have our attention.

They look great!. The learning curve is pretty steep, isn’t it.

Shwuz,

Well if Josh isn’t going to answer this one, I will – materials were (from the deck down):

4 oz e-glass

3mm core-cell (A500) 92 kg m3

2.5 oz e-glass

12 kg m3 eps

2.5 oz e-glass

3mm core-cell

2.5 oz e-glass

Each rail was made from four 2m lengths of 4mm b grade balsa.

My board is the semi-fish. 5’10 x 19” x 2” dead flat bottom. With fins, it is about a kilo lighter than my PU/PE small wave board ( 5’11” x 18 3/4 “ x 2 3/8”) without fins. Not really able to judge performance from the couple of waves I got on the first session – board feels very lively and responsive, seemed project very well through a cutback and I really like the way it feels – not stiff or corky. The waves were small with quick hollow sections and the tail was sliding as I was taking off, so I need to play with the fins a bit – I’ve pushed the cluster back 5mm for the next session. I’m thinking I need more base up front and more rake and tip area in back, but will see how it goes. I did the shape, rocker and foil myself so any design flaws are mine not Josh’s.

Very nice…

wicked mate

good work

Quote:

won’t be going back to poopee for my personal boards.

me neither

it lies neglected in the corner

its now a template actually

Hey Silly,

There’s 15 in the corner over here!

But good for reference - curves:- gotta have a sound basis, whatever the technique.

Great work Josh!!!

I have my work cut out for me If I’m going to get something half as good on my first EPS attempt :slight_smile:

-Cam

Conversions to stupid US measure:

3mm = .12 inch (sheet foam thickness)

92 kg/m3 = 5.74 lb/ft3 (sheet foam density)

12 kg/m3 = .75 lb/ft3 (EPS density)

(http://online.unitconverterpro.com/index.html)

My board is 6’6" x 19" x 2 1/4"

A quarter inch thinner than my usual standard board. It feels thicker, the rails feel bulky, but in fact they’re not…its just the buoyancy. Will definately go thinner and finer. It feels sensitive, but unstable:- thats what Berts talks of with the extra width:- stabilising the sensitivity…I can figure what the value of the scooped deck is now. Wider but closer to the water. Not to mention the flex. Thats whats most exciting. Where to put the beef, where to put the flex.

The piece of wood down the middle just does’nt make sense anymore!

Bert’s tips have been in the context of where he knows I’m at… in the garage, with only my own ingenuity, next to no funds …These boards won’t represent his technique as he has developed it more recently, and of that, I can’t say…

Speedneedle

good stuff Josh !

how hard were they to shape , being stringerless …did you use a planer ?

The fcs plugs …was that some kind of “spackle” / q-cell you used to install them ??

cheers mate ! 



  ben
Quote:

If Bert deems it appropriate to answer any questions you have guys, then LISTEN.

Then why did you choose Corecell over Balsa, if you’ve really been listening to Bert :wink: Kidding aside, It looks like there is something down the middle that looks like a center stringer. Am I seeing something that is not there? Good looking shapes. And to hear a longtime pu/pe builder stoked on trying a different construction is refreshing. Because of Swaylocks I beleive we’ll all look back someday and know that this was the period in time that Bert Burger opened the flood gates for surfboard constructing beyond that of just pu/pe. It would be killer if that guy Gary Young that got into composite sandwich surfboard construction years ago participated here at Swaylocks too. Can anyone get ahold of him to ask him if he’d like to join the discussion? I’m sure he’d have a ton to say.

Glenn,

That’s not a stringer - its a centre line I drew on to line up my template - I didn’t think it’d show through the core-cell. Core-cell is kind of translucent.

We went with Core-cell to make things a bit simpler - Core-cell not as stiff as Divinycell and we figured we’d get enough twang from the balsa in the rails. We also picked Bote-cote epoxy resin. It is more flexible than most - 6-8%, elongation so we ended up with a much more flexible skin than if we’d used d-cell and a standard epoxy. Bert’s been fooling around with core-cell too - I think he posted somewhere that he been riding core-cell for a couple of months and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t as good as balsa. But my board feels better than PU/PE so I’m happy.

Roha-cell is another option it has slightly better properties than core-cell and is snow white - so can be used with digitally printed polyester cloth under the glass.

Nice work there! Hopefully ill get the courage and funds to give it a shot one day.

Most of the boards that Bert had on display at the Open were corecell boards with balsa rail. They have the advantage of being more consistent (no magic boards but no dogs) and the ability to put graphics on them.

Consistency is the thing. As a craftsman I enjoy complicating things, and with R&D there’s loads of time for scallopping balsa together.

However as a professional, I see more time and expense in it. All very well if theres ways to make it more efficient . That may prove worthwhile for performance but I’m certainly not writing off foamskins.

To take this out of the garage and under the feet of more than a handful of curious freaks will take power, influence, funds, comittment and time… Only the last two of which I can claim to have. Hats off to Bert and Nev… the ones really putting their balls on the line.

Quote:

Consistency is the thing. As a craftsman I enjoy complicating things, and with R&D there’s loads of time for scallopping balsa together.

However as a professional, I see more time and expense in it. All very well if theres ways to make it more efficient . That may prove worthwhile for performance but I’m certainly not writing off foamskins.

To take this out of the garage and under the feet of more than a handful of curious freaks will take power, influence, funds, comittment and time… Only the last two of which I can claim to have. Hats off to Bert and Nev… the ones really putting their balls on the line.

Yep, its one of the things that keep me excited about surfboard design…the endless push for a better board and of course coming here to Swaylocks and seeing some of the possibilites. Id like to hear more feedback when you get more time on the board.