Hey all! First off thanks to those who created this website and to all who have pioneered in the shaping of their own board- I salute you!
Im very new to shaping boards and am wanting to shape a SUP as the waves here in Victoria are less than surf-able. I've worked with styrofoam and all the tools before so no new learning curve there. I'll be building this board over the next little while and will put progress photos up as I go (if I can figure out how-I am computer newb).
I welcome any input or constructive criticism and help! I've read alot here but have not located the exact info I need. I will be glueing together 1 1/2 inch eps together till I have 4.5 inches thickness and will bend the rocker in (have done a small scale model and seems to work fine), no extreme rocker, at most 3-4 inches at nose.
I do need help on how to go about making a stringer. Do I shape it to the foam board after it has it's rocker? Or do I shape stringer first then mold foam around that and sand to desired shape? Do I even need one?
Also I have located 50 inch wide by X amount of yardage for a good price. It is 4oz, or 6oz E-glass(lol sorry can't remember-have to go to work soon so just wanted this up during the day). How many top and bottom layers would I need? I am 205lb 6'1" dude.
Thanks again for the help! I will be posting of pics to show progress!
I think that bending in the rocker is a PITA. Done it before.....didn't like it. Unless you have a rocker table, its relativly inprecise. You get a bit of springback.
I've heard from a reliable source that you can make a rocker profile templates from 1/4" ply. Use the templates to cut the rocker of the blank. Once the blank is cut, use one of the templates as stringer.
Note: Since you are building an SUP, people will start asking where are you located exactly. Don't tell em. They'll just arrive at your house with pitchforks while chanting "Death to the unholy!"
Here atr sompics of the SUP I’m working on. I hotwired and glued to get the right size and rocker. The glue up you decsribed sounds really challenging.
Beautiful! How did you hot-wire the rockers? Did you have two stringers on each side and sliced er up that way? I tried looking on swaylocks for hot wiring but no photos were available
I’m making a SUP for my daughter with foam cut into rocker slices. I’m using 6" EPS and 4" XPS to get a 28" wide x 8’8" long blank. I drilled holes (like chambering) through the XPS because it is heavy foam. The foam wasn’t quite long enough so I’m also adding to the length. Since it is stringerless, I’ll either add wood skins, or laminate it with 3 layers of heavy glass. I have some wide Carbon-fiber that I could also use.
I’ve made EPS boards by laminating 2 sheets to get the thickness I want, then bending in rocker using a template or rocker table. I’ve made a bunch of boards by cutting rocker slices from wider pieces of EPS.
Everything you need to know is in a thread here somewhere. Spend the time looking and you will be rewarded. Go the lazy way like all the other newbies and say you can’t find anything, and that’s what you’ll get.
I am building 4 SUPs for a couple of Lake Surfers here in MN. I get my foam in 2x4x10 foot blocks of 2# EPS. I had the foam company cutthe block in six 8" slabs. The largest blocks were 10 ft and i wanted to go longer so I staggerd the pieces to get the length 4 rocker slabs got me a 32" wide deck. I chose 8" so that I could also use three pieces on longboards. I used reglar gorilla gluefor the seems and plan on doing pin lines to kide the hardly noticable seems. I build my rockers on the free version of aku shaper and make them 2 at a time. I use the rockers templates to rin my hot wire around. It cost me about $55 a blank to build, but it does take some time.
Thanks for the info. Up here in Canada everything is so expensive. I had to buy 5, 1.5 inch eps to get the size of 4x8x4.5"- $90! Foam Suppliers were not far off $90 and they would have to ship to the island here. Epoxy resin and glass is another killer. I estimated 350-400$ total for a 11’8" x 33" x 4" thick SUP!
What would be a good glass to use? I was thinking 2 layers of 6oz on both sides and a stringer.
Would zolan glass work good too? I can get it in the width I need for my board but it is 7.5oz And I heard it gives a green tinge.
One more, how much epoxy resin would be needed for a board of my size?
Thanks!
Drive over to fiberglass supply In Washington and get a good blank or hot-wire yourself one. Don’t run over people and stay outa cox bay and chestermans.
Volan is what you are thinking of. Fiberglass supply can sell you a kit for everything you need so you won’t overbuy.
Also if you use the search function this has been answered many times
The board is cut out and just starting to shape it. It’s a 11’x28"x4.5" SUP
I am wondering if I need a stringer or not? I’m doing 3 layers of 6pz Volan on the deck and 2 of 6oz on bottom… Is a stringer necessary with that much glass? I was told by fiberglasssupply that it’s not but just thought I’d get others opinions? Thanks
A stringer is not necessary.It sounds like you are getting good advice. I would suggest you don’t skimp on the resin when you are laying up multiple layers of cloth. Also get a resin filler coat in when the resin gets just past sticky on the initial cloth lay up. I use a surfacing agent with the filler coat also.
Here is one I finished last week with a balsa deck/Hawaiian flag inlay/clear traction top.
Ahh nice, guessing its the leash plug? Im about to finish up a 11’2" like yours but all balsa and I’m trying to figure out if I should use two or just one… its pretty hot here in FL
Fiberglasssupply has these great gortex vent that self regulate. The membrane is so fine that it allows air to pass, but not water molecule. $7 I think. I put on on the stringer about mid board and drill a port to each side of the stringer. When the board is warmer than the water it bubbles away until the temps and pressures equalize. If you were really worried you could also get a vented leash plug from greenlight that uses the same technology. It’s nice not having to open or close the valve.
