i am doing a year 12 subject on making a surfboard, and every where i look it looks like i have to spends hundreds of dollars just buying the tools and workspace requirements, is there any ideas or previous experience on simplifying the process? cheers
You can build one with a homemade sanding block, sandpaper, an old hand saw, a small block plane, an old paint brush, a squeegee, and a couple of old saw horses. Cost you about forty bucks if you buy tools from garage sells. What’s a 'year 12 subject on making a sufboard?
I don't know that there is a simple way to make a modern surfboard, but here is a thought starter for you:
Wkipedia:
History
The Alaia’s roots span back a thousand years.[3] La-La is the Hawaiian word describing the action of riding an Alaia surfboard. La-La is an ancient word found in the Hawaiian dictionary meaning ‘the controlled slide in the curl when surfing on a board.'[4]
“In Hawaii the board was called Alaia. In Japan it was called Itaka. There is evidence of early surfers riding this style from all around the world but in the early 1900’s this style vanished.”[5] Alaia boards began making a comeback around 2006 when surfboard-shaper and experimenter Tom Wegener tested prototypes made of Paulownia wood among pro-surfers. The first contemporary professional surfers to master the skill of riding an Alaia were documented in the Thomas Campbell surf film The Present. This appearance dramatically increased the popularity of the Alaia board type.[3]
Good Luck!
Woody
Where are you Eddo, Im sure theres a Swaysperson nearby who'd give you a hand or at least a loan of their shed.
And define "surfboard" for us, what type are you talking about ? A modern poly 6'1" ?
well im am from south australia, and this year there is a new subject called the research subject and we can do whatever we want and so i decided to make a surfboard, sorry but what is a sways person? ahh yer well not excactly sure, i am fairly new to surfing and not sure what i would be best suited to i was thinking a fish?
thanks
Pardon me if I may, surfoils. I Sways person is someone who enjoys sharing the stoke of board building.
Nice idea for a research project eddo. Good luck. You should be able to find all the information you need here. Best bet is to find a local board builder who is willing to let you watch. There are some how to videos out there, too. A fish is pretty simple except for the butt crack. Mike
I made this board from hardware store insulating foam:
http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/foamy-number-two-under-way
It is currently my go-to board although I'm not a great surfer.
The most expensive part was the epoxy and fiberglass. The foam was cheap as dirt and I used mostly hand tools (sanding block and a hand saw).
This isn't a popular subject here but I would also suggest that you consider a hollow wooden board. The construction method is a bit more complicated and depending on how you go the raw materials can be more or less expensive. It is also possible to construct a wooden board with nothing but hand tools. You might add some beef to your research project by discussing the environmental aspects of wood versus foam as a construction material for surfboards.
Check out these links for some ideas on wooden boards:
The second link is my personal website showing the wooden boards that I have built myself so if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them.
dude sways is the best place to find out the most complicated way to make a surfboard!
for sure…
easiest might be PU blank, borrowed tools/space, UV resin
For tools you can get by with a piece of 2" x 4" lumber and attach various grits of belt sander media. You can cut the lumber to fit inside the loop of the media or cut the media and staple it to the lumber. I cut the media so I can have 2 grits on one piece of wood. A really course grit like 36 will be great for skinning a blank, quick removal of foam or taking down lumps when you glass. The finer grits will be for smoothing. A small 1" wide hand plane or a planer that uses one sided razor blades is all you need for smoothing out the stringer. I think you can get this stuff for under $100.
I don’t know what blanks cost in Aus, but I’d get a second quality or a reject heavy PU for this project. Maybe look up a place that machine shapes blanks and ask if they have a throw away blank. Maybe something that got twisted a little that may not be good enough to sell to the original customer, but it would be good enough for this project. It would be 95% shaped and much easier to finish.
Then get poly resin and enough fiberglass cloth to do 3 layers over the board, 1 for the bottom and 2 for the top. You can even go 1 bottom and 1 top. You can get laminating resin and wax additive to convert the laminating resin into sanding resin, but if you choose to do a gloss finish, you’ll need some finishing resin. You might want to go with regular resin and use a very slow mix for your lamination. Then you won’t have to deal with moving the board from a protected area to a UV lit area.
You could probably get everything you need for about $200 - $250.
Without power tools you use lots of sweat equity, but it’s not that hard to do.
Then if you think you want to do this again, you can invest in better tools and better materials.
Dude! You'll never figure out the "simplest" way to build a surfboard by hanging around this website. How about a bird house or one of those volcanos like my kids did in school.
The simplest way to get a board is to buy one, used. It'll be cheaper than making one, you can ride it the same day, you will pay so little it won't be worth patching dings (hey the last guy didn't either), and when it's fully waterlogged you can get another one just a cheap, and just as expendable.
Yeah I know, it's not the way to build one, just sayin. There are a lot of ways to make a board, but the standard polyurethane blank with polyester resin is just that, the standard. Yes you can use EPS and epoxy but the increased cost of epoxy resin will tend to offset the cheap blank.
My best suggestion is to get an experienced guy to oversee your work. If the overguy "buys in" to the project he will set a workable standard of care and quality that will make for a better outcome.
There are loads of "how to" videos online, you should review some (many) of them. Not all are quality but you will see the general process is well known and understood.
i'm with charlie,
have someone build you one while u watch.
herb
1 get a close tolarance EPS blank,
2 sand the casting flashes and plane the stringer down and sand the blank to to a clean foam finnish
3 glass that sucker up with epoxy
4 go surf and have fun
no one said it had to be some bitchen shape
exclusive of making a board to ride right away,
making a model out of solid wood is Stellar
go to the hobby store
buy some balsa wood
get a razor knife
and whittle up a three to five inch long fish
after you have done that move up at increments
until your cognizance and confidence have elevated your
technical skills and self esteem to tackle the real thing
foam and…Balsa and… et cettera et al…
…ambrose…
always carve away from yourself
douglas adams said in the hitch hikers guide
""Always take a terry cloth towel’‘’’