what do you think of my blank? *PIC*

Thats my XPS blank for my funshape… all hotwired from two blocks. it looks a littel thick but is only 2.76’’ I have never seen a “real” blank…so how does it look to you? [smile]) http://fluid.kajakworld.at

thats pretty good, and excellent shaping room. http://www.surfboardglassing.com

thx my kitchen lightning seems to do a good job. So what should I do next? Where do I start and what tools do I use? Don’t know if I should try a planer or just use grinding paper… How do you work the deck and keep the curves? Is a disk-grinder a good tool? I would think it can make some nasty dents? I also have a belt grinder… want to put some double V behind the fins…what tools do you use? http://fluid.kajakworld.at

On my home planet,lives were cheap compared to a fine blank like this .Why I vaguely remember a man trading 5 daughters and two sons for a blank 1/2 this size. You have now in your hands a precious entity talk softly to it and it will tell you all the secrets…look hard and deep to see the soul of the board and then take away all that is extra.and encumbering this trapped soul… the tools and tecniques are subjective …use what tools you have… commune with this spirit and you will become one over time in the water …It’a a beaut…and I for one have a magnum of faith in you and your capacity to make the finest board in the history of many planets…esorbma…resident agent of betelgeuse 4 surf healers and police…ambrose lets me use his computer

Where is the seam where you put the two blocks together??? K

Well…you asked for it [smile]) The seam is right in the middle running from side to side…I used carpenters glue that worked for cutting…the hotwire went right trough it…but by now it has disjoined…i am going to buy styroglue today to join the halves for shaping. After shaping I’ll cut into the shaped blank and put in some kind of bisect structure…something like the thing on the picture…I got an old Carbon/Kevlar tube from a broken freestyle paddle…for the pipes in the board I’ll just wrap glass around them to built an fitting outer tube. The brown thinks in the drawing are something like balsa blocks…there will be a face plate on both sections…that makes a nice lightwight structure that bonds to the very hard XPS and also to the epoxy deck…the tubes will not break either so the connection should hold well. The most stress would be generated where the decks join I guess…so I will put some extra epoxy behind the faceplates under the deck…maybe I will use some carbon for connecting the two tubes instead of the balsa wood… the rest is filled with XPS again and an extra batch of fiberglass should go over the middle area (bottom and deck maybe). I hope I am not overdoing this and it turns out too heavy… Some kind of lock must also be installed…don’t know how I will handle that…I am not sure about the connection anyways by now…first I have to shape some nice board [smile])) but I already love it. cheers Marcus http://fluid.kajakworld.at

The newspaper on the chair - are you in Germany?

I’ve never had the chance to see a true Pope bisect, but I’ve read the patent files. The Pope system features a layer of rubber on the face plates so that a compressive force can be applied to the faces in order to get a tight bond and avoid any gaps that may pinch your skin. I’ve been thinking about a hollow wood bisect for some times but I have not figured out a proper clamp mecanism yet. For the face plates, I think I would use cork instead of rubber … What clamp system do you plan on using ? Pierre

About joining two board halves, I recommend you to check how wings are attached on planes and gliders(real planes or radio-controlled scaled model planes) because the wings are often removable and mounted either with tubes or vertical bits that take all the load. They also have good systems to prevent wings coming apart when flying (obviously). Model plane wings are often made of EPS covered by balsa wood or fiberglass, just as surfboards are. I think you could get inspired by such systems as they answer to exactly the same problems and needs you have with a two halves board. Pierre

Marcus, the blank looks great. As far as shaping that piece o’ XPS, I might recommend one of those grated hand planers, preferably the smaller ones. They look like normal hand planers but instead of one blade, they have a cheese-grater like blade that covers the entire bottom. I have found this tool to be very effective and versitile on XPS. Before using it, I just use a small rip saw to bring the rails down to a pre-drawn line where I can begin shaping. This keeps dry-cutting and dust to a minimum. I don’t know if anyone else uses this method but I’ve found it to be easy and safe on the foam. I will add that there is a learned method to holding and working this kind of planer. Would your board be strong enough if you had no internal tube or structural plates, and instead had carbon rails running thick at the midpoint? I have a hunch that carbon tape running down the rails and a carbon tape strip down the deck from nose to tail might be enough to compensate for your glue joint, especially if you are going heavy with the glass schedule. Post pics when you’re done-good luck!

Marcus, It’s looking good. As Ambrose said, use the tools you like, just slowly find that perfect shape that’s hidden inside. As for securing the join, we used pins. You seem inventive, I don’t think this small job will be any problem. Love the kitchen shaping room, you must be clean! Greg.

Matt, Carbon rails won’t be enough…I need to take it apart for traveling… PC, Newspaper: Not Germany, but Austria. Pierre, thank you for posting the thing with the rubber face plate…sounds good to me. Do you know where I can find his patent paper online? GW: I’ve built my fair share of model planes and fly EPP wings myself. We just glue them together with epoxy, I’ve yet to see one come apart. All my HighPerformance HLGs have one piece wings and carbon tubes or d-boxes running all the length. But I am doing my best to find something with litle to no moving parts for securing the halves. keep you updated. cheers Marcus http://fluid.kajakworld.at

Click on the link below, then click on “Images”. This is public information, it can be viewed online or downloaded (the help section tells you how to install a shareware to view the files). Remember that you’re not allowed to “make, use, offer for sale, sell or import the invention”. This is the result of over 40 years of research made by Karl Pope and I don’t think it’s fair (and legal) to just copy it even for your personnal use. Instead, I think it is worth studying the patent so you can benefit from this valuable experience in order to develop your OWN solution. Pierre http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=ptxt&S1=(sectionalized+AND+surfboard)&OS=sectionalized+AND+surfboard&RS=(sectionalized+AND+surfboard)

I am interested to read – see more of your “bisect” idea. I am currently working on a similar idea – three pieces for travel, as well as flex ability in the tail, but I am working on a deck mounted concept. I look forward to seeing more of how it goes for you. tO

How do you mean “deck mounted”? Pope wrote in the patent that bisected boards where around already but that one of the benefits of his system is that it breaks before the board does. My system doesn’t need to break…if the board breaks it breaks…but I think that the board won’t break that easily…the XPS is really tough stuff and I will glass it like 180g/m² (6oz) bottom (cheaper than double 4oz) and 2*180g deck. There is very little chance that the middle structure can ever break before the rest of the board does. Tell us more about your “trisect” idea.

I wrote some thing about it under the idea of a two piece flex tail system, as flex is one of my main goals, although, one wouldn’t have to have flex if the torsion bar were stiff enough, and fixed close enough together, as my plan for the nose is. The basic concept can be imagined thus: take your board (the flex in the tail is an additional preference – something I have experience with, but not in a “take apart” system) cut the nose and tail off @ 18-24” from the ends. Reinforce the new butts you have created, dig out ¾” of foam and fill with resin, micro sphere paste, reinforce deck at appropriate points to attach the torsion bar. The stiffer, and closer fixed, the torsion bar is the less flex. I plan on having an “in water” adjustable point on the “body” side of my tail torsion bar. And then you take it all apart and put in a “checkable” board case for airline travel. The goal is to have, maybe even more than one nose/tail piece, a versatile board for travel, and “quiver” simplicity. I have been working on several design aspects with a good friend of mine, who is well respected on this site, so I don’t think I am way off base here, although he would suggest I give up and “lay down” on air. But that’s a different discussion. Thanks for the interest – keep us posted, as will I. tO