-pre-sanding weight is comparable to its pu/pe counterparts
4 glass on ply fins (no boxes) in twinzer config.
I still need to sand the fill coat back and I’ll be applying a UPOL sealer coat. It will be ready to test within two weeks or so. I anticipate using it in pretty dumpy chest high and under beach break conditions.
If I place the tail on top of my feet, hold the nose and apply force to the middle, I can feel it bend–more so than my other pu/pe and eps/epoxy test subjects.
Do you guys think the board will survive reasonable treatment? For the sake of this discussion, lets assume a quality glass job and that I am taking full advantage of the glass schedule and resin physicals.
I embarked upon this to test the proposition that super thin/concave deck designs are feasible only in sandwich construction.
I will report back with pics, observations, and (hopefully) a one-piece surf craft in short order. In the meantime, who thinks its gonna snap?
I do think you are wrong about needing sandwich construction. I think perimeter stringers will let you get most of the way there in terms of thickness and flex and strength, but nowhere close to the sandwich boards in ding resistance.
But 1 7/8" with a single stringer AND a concave deck…if you weigh over 130 lbs, the first time you land on it hard…its gonna be in splinters.
I agree with both of you. I’m 175 so my frame is gonna tax this thing. When I did my flex tests I thought: oh man, how many waves am I get to ride on this thing before it busts?
Yep, putting RR to the test, but maybe not a fair test.
I’m with you blakestah on the perimeter stringer notion. I’m also doing a comparably foiled and concaved 1lb eps/perimeter stringer experiment. I’m in the midst of the second layer of 1/4 balsa/ glue up stage. I think I’ll quit at 2 layers.
I don’t anticipate big floaters or shorebreak surfing with this one. It is a fish style board and my style (or lack thereof) is more of a sprint for the shoulder and do a ‘roundy’ approach. This may enhance the boards longevity. Anyway, I guess we’ll find out. Thanks for the input guys.
You might be able to get a lot more strength out of it with some carbon fiber reinforcements. Not like a cloth lam, but what if you routed lines into the deck & lammed in CF rods or woven ropes?
Lots of choices there. I noticed stuff like 1/8" x 48" long solid CF rods for $6.80 each… put 6 of those into the deck from the tail up, evenly spaced, and I bet you’d be in business: light, thin, very strong, and only adding about $40 to your board cost…
Was it a Clark blank? If so which one and what weight? Its obviously had a lot of foam removed from the deck so it is going to be very prone to denting. I’ve done a quite a few Clark/pu boards with RR and while fairly tough they will get a lot of dents. For the strength to weight and ease you can’t beat 2 lbs EPS under the RR. BTW I’m over in Morehead City and I have lots of EPS and even a few Clarks.
That is an interesting idea that coincides with something I had been considering flex wise anyway. Here’s my plan:
Sand and finish board.
Surf board until it snaps
Go to pawn shop and buy 2 graphite shafted golf clubs cheap.
Reassemble board routing in graphite shafts to deck on either side of the broken stringer.
End result: very ugly clark epoxy fish with carbon ‘springers’
whatcha think?
Dave:
It was a clark super green 6’2’’ A. I know some might consider this experiment a sacrelidge or a waste. But, like I said, who knew I wouldn’t be able to go down the street and grab another. Yup, I’m definitely expecting some pressure dings.
It’s 1 lb core, 4 lb Walker rails, balsa stringers, Spheretex deck, hemp bottom. It’s 7’4" almost 3 inches thick and weighs less than 8 lbs. Haven’t surfed it yet. It’s winter and I’m not going to man up anytime soon.
It has different flex than a center stringer board.
The first stages of flex seem to be light then it seems to get progressively stiffer as the tension increases. I think Perimeter Stringer means parabolic flex ratio. On the x y graph I would predict the curve to go up sharp and then plateau before it breaks, end of test.
The basic design of perimeter stringer, or stringerless, eps, Syntex and variable flex modulus epoxy is the future. NO doubt in my mind. Hard to prove the future though. Not at all unlike Bert and Nevs work. The future belongs to them.
That sounds awesome! Sounds like the cutting edge. Down this way I’m still toasty in the 4/3. Yesterday I saw a few kids out without boots and gloves. It’s been really mild so far. I guess that’s what a few degrees of latitude will get you. I’ve seen some solid pic and video of NJ this year on eastcoast surf though.
Yeah, I don’t anticipate shaping polyurethane again. I think its fun to shape and I like poly boards fine, but I think eps is going to be much more feasible for me.
I’m ordering the project V2 veneer press from Joe Woodworker this week. I just got a big enough compressor to support it. Stoked to start baggin’.
Ha! yeah the cold air sucks. My approach: I have an old honda passport. I lower the back seat, crank the heat, and change in the back. It’s sort of like yoga without paying for the classes and very hilarious for passers-by!
Yeah, I don’t know about the golf shafts. I think, in certain situations, you’d want all the materials to fail together, rather than some failing while others popped out intact.
If you sandwich the stringer with them, you’re also still going to get heel & toe dents, duckdive delams, and central weighting. If you used 1/8" or 1/4" carbon sticks, you could even router the grooves on curves parallel to the rails and bend the CF when you epoxied it in. It would resist breakage & up & down flex once set up, but would add very little weight.
I grabbed my minigun & did a quick illustration, I think you’ll get the idea:
I figured I’d break up the swaygate monotany with some pseudo surfboard design stuff. (It’s funny, I try to prompt a discussion about some of the new twinzer foils I’ve seen lately on the Jobson/Mandala project and not one reply as compared to 50 posts about chippa taking a week off and the hiding of car keys).
I finally finished this board. It was delayed by POSSUP. What isn’t really? So, I christened it yesterday in ultra grovel conditions. Waves were knee to thigh high with alternating mushy to steep sections as the little wind waves peeled down the beach. Had I checked it before putting on the wettie, I’d have gone home.
First impressions: Volume feels similar to an anorexic short board. I sit about 4 inches lower in the water than usual. Paddles fine… like a shorty. Definitely a swimmer. Spooned deck feels cool.
I can’t believe how easily it catches waves… as well or better than my pavel of similar length and width. I was able to get in early and make something out of the poor conditions. All in all I’m really stoked at this point. A little premature to analyize much other than wave catching and “pumpablity.” It ran down the line quick and made some sections I didn’t expect. This board is the first I’ve done that really seemed to work the first time out rather than feeling (ahem) ‘idiosyncratic.’
I will report back when I get some ‘real’ waves with it. I’ll also get a few pics up soon for comment. Plus… it is still in one piece after the first surf.
Oh yeah, POSSUP is done. We’ll hit the water tomorrow and I am super pumped. I’ll update that thread soon.
That is an interesting idea that coincides with something I had been considering flex wise anyway. Here’s my plan:
Sand and finish board.
Surf board until it snaps
Go to pawn shop and buy 2 graphite shafted golf clubs cheap.
Reassemble board routing in graphite shafts to deck on either side of the broken stringer.
End result: very ugly clark epoxy fish with carbon ‘springers’
whatcha think?
Dave:
It was a clark super green 6’2’’ A. I know some might consider this experiment a sacrelidge or a waste. But, like I said, who knew I wouldn’t be able to go down the street and grab another. Yup, I’m definitely expecting some pressure dings.
I think that you will be able to find graphite fishing rods much cheaper than carbon shaft golf clubs. Otherwise it’s an intrguing idea…
More news that’s new and improved on the super thin front–
I wish to clarify that there are no golf club shafts, fishing rods, or other sporting equipment incorporated into this board at present.
It is a very springy board. Hopefully it will stay that way. I’ve surfed it three times in waist high conditions. Nothing bigger yet. We simply haven’t had much surf in the last month.
Super thin rails make for a somewhat squirrelly feeling ride. When trimming and skating for speed I need to surf light on my feet. Feels positive on turns–easy to bury the rail, at least.
I love surfing, dammit.
Keith, I haven’t forgotten about that MR template, I’ve just been… well, we are all surfers here after all. I’m on it!
After your comment "no golf club shafts, fishing rods, or other sporting equipment incorporated into this board at present "… I just pictured a board with hockey sticks embedded in it, using the blades for fins, black tape and all ha ha… now somebody (in Canada?) will probably post a picture showing they already TRIED that…!
No problema hunter, anytime is fine on the template.
and the hiding of car keys).
