I am contemplating making a foam board for a friend of mine, she is keen to learn to surf and can only spend $300 on a mini mal, I think I might make her one if she pays for materials, that will get her a new board for about $300 (?) and will also give me some good practice in case I ever want to make another one, keeping in mind I have only built a hollow wooden board before, I have NEVER worked with foam.
Questions:
should I be able to get away with $300 for materials? this is in Australia too guys so maybe only aussies can advise here! eg: blank, cloth, resin, fins, plug etc…
with reasonable ability but no foam experience can I still build a decent board?!! it needs to be decent, after all she’s paying $$$ for it!
roughly how many hours are involved from shaping to glassing + fcs fins etc?
I have a fair few hand tools and also a power planer, can you just use a normal power planer for foam?
thanking you in advance for your comments
feel free to ask me ANYTHING about timber or hollow woodens! but when it comes to foam, I don’t know S*#T!!!
in some ways the hollow wooden, balsa rail, wood etc. type boards are easier not to screw up. the materials are hard and don’t sand easy and you work off of more of a plan… foam dissapears quickly, is bendy, is easy to dent nick and gouge and is a pain is the ass to keep shinny and white… and that is all before glassing,
not to mention that it could be a handi cap for her to be trying to learn on a pos if it happens to turn out that way…$300 can by a darn nice used board…
good idea and not out of the question but remember that stupid money matters can destroy friendships. i’d say go for it only if you can hand here her money back if you blow it…
My first shape came out quite nice but it took me 20 hours to shape.
Here’s a couple of golden rules:
Blank selection is super critical. (If I were you, I’d get some blank links [foamez.com] post them here and discuss the design potential before purchasing - cant over emphisize this step). Get one that will require the least amount of shaping, so pick a good blank and then design to that blank…not the other way around. There are many great blanks to choose from. Close tolerance is the go. Luckily for you, the close tolerance blanks are designed for this purpose…minimal shaping for quick production times.
Get one that has good rocker right from the mold, you wont need to adjust/shape the rocker, which is the easiest part to screw up. Just clean it down with some sandpaper passes.
Keep your design very simple…ie, flat bottom.
Making a clean smooth outline is tricky. If you can, trace an outline 10mm+ wider then your finished design and practice a little. An e-planer with a 90 deg fence is best for clean outlines but if you go with a sanding block, long smooth even strokes will keeps the bumps under control.
Whenever in doubt, err on the side that removes the least amount of foam…its hard to get it back…but often you can spackle minor errors. If you want to finish to a 21 inch wide board, your shaping goal should be 21.25+ or so.
Robbo, you should be able to get change from 300 bills. Depending on how many boards your going to make you maybe able to get your board glassed at a glasser for about $250 a shorty is about $200. failing that for good cheap resin try surflife at the goldy, I use their resin and it is good, about $140 for 20kg. Blanks I can only say Burfords I have used other but go back always, service , and knowledge second to none. blank should set you back about 130 including freight. Glass is about 5_6 bucks a metre then acetone , squeeges brushes, tape. Another option is a preshape , for a minimal that is pretty much generic not a bad option, don’t use them myself. Any other questions feel free to give me a buzz.
yes, thankyou for that chip, very helpful indeed, just gotta weigh up whether I want to devote that amount of time considering it’s coming into summer and all!!
definately given me some to think about though
1 question… can I just use a normal power planer? I have one of these for working with wood.
Yes you can use your power planer with the wood cutting blades no problem.
Have a look at Shapers Australia’s website. I am pretty sure Len now sells everything you need to build a PU board in a single package. He may even still have some pre-shapes in stock.
I’m about to buy a planer for my first wooden board that I’m stiiiiiilllllll busy with. Any suggestion on make, model etc. Maybe the guys could also recommend one for foam as I’d definatley like to try a foam board somes time as well.
Hi Robbo, about the planer: any planer for wood will work without modifications but be careful with:
Edges of the shoe/plate usually are quite sharp and will easily “catch” when moving sideaways on foam.
“V” groove(s) in the shoe won’t help, either, when banding the rails.
Go slowly and watch what you’re doing. Foam is just another medium. Power planers may look disproportionate when looking at such a fragile material (as compared to wood) but it still is the best one to draw nice long and even curves.
