I recently finished a 6’3"x19"x2.5" thruster,2 1/4" tail rocker & 5"nose rocker.The core is stringerless 2# eps,the bottom is glassed 1 layer of 4oz S glass.The deck is 2oz,1/40" bamboo,and a layer of 4oz that fully wraps the rails.I used all RR quick kick and the board has been curing for a month here in florida,80-90 degrees.I just checked the weight and it is 6.5 pounds with probox tri fin set up,when I checked the flex for the first time I noticed it only took about 80 pounds of pressure to touch the deck to the floor.I’ve never had a board flex that much,I look forward to your opinions.Heres some board porn for your troubles…
Ride it and if you find it too flexy strategically lam a strip of bamboo or carbonfiber along the bottom to stiffen it up. Or you could route channels in the bottom and fill with carbon rods or even fin roving.
Nice afoaf,I hope that goes well for you.I was more worried about snappage of my board on the first wave or duckdive.I set it up on some padded saw horses a while ago with the deckside up and gave it a few bounces and it seemed solid with good flex.I had one horse set about 12" down from the nose and the other right on the tail.Alot of the flex from my floor test with the deck down came oit of the thin nose and tail.I’m stoked and cant wait to surf it this weekend,looks like a little windchop might hit our beaches.
I can’t agree with Brian more here… Ride it and see if it feels good… if not, adjust as required…
The bamboo top is plenty stiff, focus on the rails as well as the bottom skin to tweak or adjust stiffness… Consider HD parabolic rails as a future option, wood or foam…
The board looks real nice, the outline would work well for a kite surfboard
A lot of kite board builders allow for flex in their boards… In other words they build a flexy board with a flatter overall rocker, as the wind and speeds increase the flatter rockered boards bend to soak up the increased wind chop energy…
How about trying the same board with 4.5" nose rocker and 1.75 to 2" tail rocker… It would be faster in the small surf, and then “flex to fit” in the bigger heavy stuff…
I’m not a surfer, but this construction works well for kite-surfboards…
The deck of your board looks pretty flat… Is it ? Or is that just a photo error ? … Flat or concaved decks = bend great… Domed decks = stiffer ride…
Pick your poison…
One layer of 4oz. E glass is weak, no matter what you stick it on !.. 4 oz. S glass though , is somewhat under-rated… Put 2 layers of it on the deck, and don’t tell anyone…Far less pressure dents…
I reckon it'll go great as is, get out there and see, maybe a few adaptions to how you surf it but gotta try.....dont plan how to fix it until you are sure it needs modifications, could be epic as is...and have an open mind when surfing it, sometimes guys have a mind set that wont allow a board to work but most of the time there is some positives in every shape or design.....looks good....
We’ve been playing around with stringerless eps boards and apart from the occasional foot through the deck we’ve managed to control or regain stiffness withough adding too much weight by using carbon fiber on the rails rather than upping the deck and hull laminations schedules. I figured that the flex we want is actually torsion or twist in my mind and that too we like to use in moderation as IMHO too much flex is a loss of energy. Anyway that’s off the point, by using carbon fiber on the rails you not only control the stiffness longitudenally but torsionally too as well as reinforce the board and so reduce the chances of snapping and rail damage by impact. We control the stifness by the length of the lap top and bottom. The carbon is laminated into the rail before the hull and decks are laminated. Putting a strip of carbon down the middle of the board has offered little again IMHO. By changing the type of carbon bydirectional twill, plain weaves and unidirectional materials all allow customisation of the flex and the sensation/feedback. Carbon fiber is also fantastic in its springback rate or memory and almost completely fatigue free and so goes a long way to preserving the twang of a board where most poly/fg boards start to loose responsiveness with age and use. I’m a huge fan of carbon fiber and pooh anyone who says its too stiff for surfboards as stiffness is relative again IMHO, cost however is its greatest failing in so far as sufboards go. I’d suggest deck patches to avoid a foot through the deck… the end result is an ultra light high performance board with some serious twang. Personally I still prefer a bit of weight to give me momentum and to cope with the wind.
twang is great but a board thats too stiff doesnt feel good to me....I guess its about getting the happy medium, just the right amount of carbon to supply the strehgth and getting the twang benefits while not making it too rigid .....I have been dabbling a little bit with it, no expert by any means, just doin some variations and learning a bit too, have a newy with some carbon running down the centre on a stringerless board, carbon slowly tapers to point before fins....should be interesting and sure I'll learn more.....
Carbo tape comes at that one width here, have you tried reducing the width ? probably making it tricky to roll over rails then ...maybe running down the rail curve but bit higher on the deck, maybe an inch wide ??? think this might still suply strength and twang with less of a rigid feel ??? just thinking out aloud really ...
jesus - i have built a few similar but used 2x 4oz bottoms. they have a lot of flex to them. i think the bamboo deck adds a unique dampening to a surfboard. they feel good and smooth on choppy days and sometimes not as responsive as i would like on smaller glassy days.
for guys who like a stiffer board, i have been doing a bamboo veneer stringer by putting a layer of veneer between two pieces of cloth and clamping the blank as the resin cures. you can use more layers for stiffer board - i have done some 2 and 3 ply with a normal glass job with good results.
I recently finished a 6'3"x19"x2.5" thruster,2 1/4" tail rocker & 5"nose rocker.The core is stringerless 2# eps,the bottom is glassed 1 layer of 4oz S glass.The deck is 2oz,1/40" bamboo,and a layer of 4oz that fully wraps the rails.I used all RR quick kick and the board has been curing for a month here in florida,80-90 degrees.I just checked the weight and it is 6.5 pounds with probox tri fin set up,when I checked the flex for the first time I noticed it only took about 80 pounds of pressure to touch the deck to the floor.I've never had a board flex that much,I look forward to your opinions.Heres some board porn for your troubles....
Hey looks good! Interested to see how it went. Did one similar to yours a ways back. Mine was 2 lb, ply stringer, same deck schedule, but double 4 warp bottom. I'm 200lbs and I felt it was too stiff. Not bad stiff just too solid, no twang and dare I say almost too light. I know the stringer thing can be an issue but I thought maybe a 1.5 lb density with a single 6 bottom might loosen it up.
As grasshopper i made my “timberflex” with 2x4oz on bottom. Boards feel very flexible (sometimes too much). Now i put a bit of carbon on rails that’s give a nice spring but to much and board feel dead. If you want to quick stiffen the board put UD carbon in center on both side (where board is thicker).
