As of late we are not able to get longboards with the stringer and rocker combination we would like. So lets hear all of your techniques for glueing and bending your rockers. maybe some step by step walkthrough etc. thanks everyone.
Austin
What foam are you using?
I’m just using EPS and lately doing only curvey stringers. The rocker is already cut, but adjustable to a large degree. I posted pic’s a while back. Not much interest.
I did one LB with a conventional stringer and altered the rocker by setting 5 points I knew I wanted to hit along the stringer material then propped up the two halves and stringer with glue applied from the two ends. Then clamped from the middle out with 5 bar clamps, finished off with a bungee cord on each end. As I clamped adjusted the rocker as I moved to the ends.
If you are cutting EPS for a stringer, the two best ways I know are:
- use a long hand held wire held by two people, one on each end. Or,
- do a rough cut with a hand saw and flip the hand cut edges to the outside so you have the clean factory cut next to the stringer.
Gezz, I can’t believe I’m giving advice to ya’ll. Love your color work. Love your videos. THanks for all you have shared.
Greg,
We use Poly foam. Mostly Walker and Excell lately. We use to get our Walker’s bent to our specs but lately thats a no go.
Sincerely,
Troy
Hi Troy!
We’re in the same boat, so to speak… (I had to glue custom stringers lately, my new blank manufacturer provided only plywood stringers in the beginning, and no custom rockers unless you order ten identical pieces.)
First, do you need to cut the blank or is it already cut? I found what works best if need be is to use a big circular saw (my Makita cuts 4" deep, that’s what you need for most longboard blanks). A ruler made out of 5 to 8 mm plywood as a guide is fine. Clamp the ruler onto the blank at both ends, and go.
Next, use one half of the blank to draw the desired rocker onto your stringer-to-be. That’s where you can bend the nose and/or tail upwards or downwards to your specifications. It’s a good idea to have someone holding the half-blank in its new rocker position while you draw it on wood:
Cut your stringer with a jigsaw to the rocker you have drawn. Then glue-up:
If you use the old Clark advisement, you will want to use the deck as the reference, thus no deck over-shaping later on. I use polyester resin as glue but white glue (for wood) seems to work too, as will polyurethane based glue (Gorilla?). You may add some pigment if you want to get that fine colored line along the stringer. Cover your stands with some plastic bags to avoid glueing them too… Set one half of the blank stringer-side up and apply resin with a brush or squeegee, then do the same to the matching stringer side. Put the stringer in place. Apply resin to the other side of the stringer and to the other half of the blank. Assemble everything on stands, deck-side up. Use clamps or belts (if using clamps, don’t forget to protect the blank with small pieces of wood where needed), starting in the middle and going towards the nose/tail. Don’t tighten too much so that you can adjust the rocker as you go, making the blank deck flush with stringer. (Be careful with halves sliding back and forth, it’s a good idea to draw one or two reference lines across the blank before cutting, and to keep them aligned after). When everything looks OK, tighten the clamps/belts. Don’t forget to check the bottom for possible “gaps” (you’ll have to adjust, then). Of course, if you use resin, you’ll have to work FAST, but you know that better than I, don’t you?
Balsa,
geat post man!
While building my flowerpower super tanker I had an idea I’m still waiting to put in practice for gluing rocker to an existing (or rockerless) foam.
It’s about splitting foam in half, draw the desired rocker on 3 wood panels, drill about 5 or 6 holes along the deck and bottom rocker lines, use aluminum ar wood bars to force foam to the desired rocker and glue only the central wood panel, using bars as clamps.
When set, remove bars and side panels and just cut, plane or sand down the central wood panel flush to the foam.
Something like this (I know…everything seems possible with 3DCAD):
