I’m building a 6’0" fish out of EPS and want to use Red Cedar as a stringer, mainly because its the cheapest, its local, and I want wood as opposed to PVC. Anyway, I’m thinking 3/8". What do you think? Any other recommendations?
Thanks,
Simon
1/4th inch is pleanty of wood for a six foot long board. Hell, 1/8th inch would be fine too. But, if a 3/8th inch stringer floats your boat, go with it!
KInda chunky and harder to plane than basswood. Will give you a pretty stiff board, but fish don’t flex much anyway.
Two 1/8" Stringers.
The two should meet at the nose and fan and finish between the tips of each swallow.
Ply or Bass or even Cedar?
3/8" Cedar on a PU Blank Retro is fine however on a EPS/EPOXY go with function.
You asked!
Before I advise, can you tell me what you are trying to accomplish by adding a stringer? --that’s really critical, otherwise advise is just arbitrary
also please specify:
1)width and thickness at nose, mid and tail of board; nose and tail rocker; ounces glass on top and bottom
2)your weight, height, shoe size, years in water, frequency of surfing, general fitness level, age
3)the surfing conditions you will usually be riding this board in
Well, first of all, this is my first board build, my first fish and even my first shortboard. One of my goals is to keep the costs down. The stringer is for strength of course, but also for aesthetics and a shaping aid. I am using a hot wire and templates, etc.
Anyway, to answer your questions:
-
6’0" x 22" x 2 3/4" with 16" tail and 15 3/4" nose. Nose rocker is 3 1/2", Tail is 1 1/2". Glass? I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.
-
I’m 6’0", 170lbs, been surfing a couple of years, once a month.
-
Beach breaks mainly, from small mush to head height.
not 3/8".
filmworker, I kind of like surfdings Idea. It puts the stringers where it will do the most good. two 1/8 inch would look good. Since its your first build maybe keep it simple and do a 1/4 inch down the center. Anything more than that will be real stiff and look to chunky for a board of that size. Red cedar is fine. I would stay away from the ply though cause the center ply is working against you and is a pain in the but to shape.PS be careful of advise from old Ben up there, He's an engineer and they can get to complicated !!!!
**
[quote=“$1”]
**
**Two 1/8" Stringers. **
The two should meet at the nose and fan and finish between the tips of each swallow.
Hey Surfding do you think this stringer configuration has any noticable difference in flex, I want to do something similar for a 6’0’’ intended for Australian slabs and would like the board to hold up without creating a funky board. I’ve done some 3 stringer boards that held up really well this year but the 2 stringer would be a bit lighter, less work and look good.
[quote="$1"]
Two 1/8" Stringers.
The two should meet at the nose and fan and finish between the tips of each swallow.
Hey Surfding do you think this stringer configuration has any noticable difference in flex, I want to do something similar for a 6’0’’ intended for Australian slabs and would like the board to hold up without creating a funky board. I’ve done some 3 stringer boards that held up really well this year but the 2 stringer would be a bit lighter, less work and look good.
Stringers don’t add strength, they add stiffness (which may be what you meant) and a “flex pattern.” Since your board is so thick and wide, adding a stringer will only add a neglible amount of stiffness and you won’t notice a different “flex pattern”. Boards with stringers actually crack easier than without, because going from foam to wood creates a stress concentration. Since you didn’t state your shoe size, I’m guessing you have a normal sized foot: size 11usa. This means that to surf on rail you will have to put move your foot toward the rail, which means that your heel or balls of your foot will constantly be smashing the stringer, and it will crack.
Here’s my complicated suggestion:
If aesthetics and shaping aid are more important reasons than strength, then follow woodogre’s advice.
If strength is most important, make your life easy and don’t do a stringer. It’s really not that hard to shape or glass without a stringer (but then again I use a CNC machine). If you want to add stiffness and strength just add more e-glass.
If aesthetics are a concern, Cedar dust created during shaping and sanding tends to get permanently imbedded in the EPS. It’s a bitch to impossible to completely remove the stuff. It makes for a dirty looking blank. It gets worse if you slurry the blank. I’ve had few of these come my way and had to paint the blank with a couple of coats of white to hide the shit. Stick with Basswood. If you’re after the classic redwood stringer look, you can paint the basswood to look like redwood.
3/16" basswood. Enough strength to keep the rocker while shaping and being a guide.