I’m gonna have a go at shaping my own board. But… some question occur: What is less difficult: shaping a wooden board or a foam? And if I choose to make the wooden board, where can i find blue prints and good tips? If it floats it’s great, but I’m making the board as a present for my girlfriend. Please help me. BTW I’m a stoked surfer not just a poser!
Try: www.maui.net/~wooden/wooden.html There you can find info on hollow wooden boards, I’ve no experience with the bleuprints but the boards look cool. If you wanna try balsa check Rhino balsa or www.chuckbassett.com also Jim Phillips might have a lot of info, but my opinion is that, for the firts shape balsa is a lot harder to do than a regular foamy. Good luck. Peter Rijk>>> I’m gonna have a go at shaping my own board. But… some question occur: > What is less difficult: shaping a wooden board or a foam? And if I choose > to make the wooden board, where can i find blue prints and good tips? If > it floats it’s great, but I’m making the board as a present for my > girlfriend. Please help me. BTW I’m a stoked surfer not just a poser!
It is much harder to shape a wooden board than a foam board. I’ve tried both. The foam is much softer and you can take a good amount off with just some sandpaper. Where as a belt sander only does a little against wood. I ended up using a drum sander to get the thing flat, a jig saw to cut the outline, a router for the rails plus the belt sander some, and finally a planer to cut the rocker in. Now I can do the same thing pretty much with a sureform and some sand paper on a foam board. But the wood one looks much nicer and sure does get more comments about it on and off the beach. When was the last time you say a guy on a real log? I don’t know about shaping balsa wood seeing as it is much softer than the wood I used, but I am sure it is still a bit harder. And the balsa blanks I think run around $300 or so, but if you want to put the money and work into it, the results will show. I say go for the wood. Kevin Kingston
will she be able to carry the balsa board???
will she be able to carry the balsa board??? She probably would be able to. I have heard of some balsa boards almost as light as there foam rivals. But those have hollowed out sections, which are kinda hard to make. The board probably would be a little bit heaver than the standard longboard. I’m assuming a longboard although a shortboard might work, but not to short. I would say around 20 or 30 pounds, depending on how big it is. Plus you would have to add the weight of the glass on the board, I am pretty sure there is a way you can glass balsa wood. I would not really expect anything than 40 pounds at very most. Kevin Kingston
I’ve built a balsa board last december (it’s a 7’3" mini longboard, it’s in the boards archive). It was my first experience with shaping. I didn’t chamber the balsa. Instead I used a styrofoam core to fill in the inside of the board. In other words, I first shape a styrofoam core (rocker and outline) and then glued balsa planks on top, bottom and rails. Next, I shaped the rails and bottom and brought it to the glass shop. SHAPING DIFFICULTIES : None, I found balsa rather easy to work with. It is not like other woods, it’s rather soft, a bit like foam. I cut my planks with a sharp knife and did the shaping with a hand plane and sanding pads. The only difficulty migth be if you you’d have to go against the grain but with the technic I used, the grain follows your board’s curves. Also, using a foam core means you don’t need any pressure valve (while I think it might be required with chambered boards). COST : Here in France, balsa is really expensive and with this technic, I only had to buy the wood that actually remains on the board (with a traditionnal balsa building, you waste a lot of wood sculpting your rocker and outline and then chambering). For a 7’3" minimal, I used 35 balsa planks (100cm x 10 cm x 1cm) for a total cost of about USD 55. WEIGHT : Using a foam core gave me a board nearly as light as a foam board but a lot stronger (about 5 kg). Therefore : EASY, CHEAP, LIGHT AND STRONG ! Drawback is that don’t expect to shape a board like that in 45 minutes. It takes a lot of time on the drawing board (you have to start from scratch : rocker, foil … you also want to make sure the wood will bend OK and that you can shape your rails without reaching the foam !). It also takes a lot of time scarfing and gluing the planks. This first board took me about 40 hours but I’m having fun doing this. I remember someone once said on this forum that he prefered doing the glassing himself because the shaping alone was too short as a past time, he should try balsa/EPS !
I’ve built a balsa board last december (it’s a 7’3" mini longboard, > it’s in the boards archive). It was my first experience with shaping. I > didn’t chamber the balsa. Instead I used a styrofoam core to fill in the > inside of the board. In other words, I first shape a styrofoam core > (rocker and outline) and then glued balsa planks on top, bottom and rails. > Next, I shaped the rails and bottom and brought it to the glass shop.>>> SHAPING DIFFICULTIES : None, I found balsa rather easy to work with. It is > not like other woods, it’s rather soft, a bit like foam. I cut my planks > with a sharp knife and did the shaping with a hand plane and sanding pads.>>> The only difficulty migth be if you you’d have to go against the grain but > with the technic I used, the grain follows your board’s curves.>>> Also, using a foam core means you don’t need any pressure valve (while I > think it might be required with chambered boards).>>> COST : Here in France, balsa is really expensive and with this technic, I > only had to buy the wood that actually remains on the board (with a > traditionnal balsa building, you waste a lot of wood sculpting your rocker > and outline and then chambering). For a 7’3" minimal, I used 35 balsa > planks (100cm x 10 cm x 1cm) for a total cost of about USD 55.>>> WEIGHT : Using a foam core gave me a board nearly as light as a foam board > but a lot stronger (about 5 kg).>>> Therefore : EASY, CHEAP, LIGHT AND STRONG ! Drawback is that don’t expect > to shape a board like that in 45 minutes. It takes a lot of time on the > drawing board (you have to start from scratch : rocker, foil … you also > want to make sure the wood will bend OK and that you can shape your rails > without reaching the foam !). It also takes a lot of time scarfing and > gluing the planks. This first board took me about 40 hours but I’m having > fun doing this. I remember someone once said on this forum that he > prefered doing the glassing himself because the shaping alone was too > short as a past time, he should try balsa/EPS ! Kevin, Can you describe how you put the wood on the foam, what did you use to do this process? How thick is the wood, and how did you wrap the rails? I would like to try this. If you can send me as much info on this process it would greatley be appreciated Mark
Kevin,>>> Can you describe how you put the wood on the foam, what did you use to do > this process? How thick is the wood, and how did you wrap the rails? I > would like to try this. If you can send me as much info on this process it > would greatley be appreciated>>> Mark I wasn’t the one who put the wood on the foam I think it was Pierre who did that. I just used solid wood. The board ended up around 2 7/8" thick and for the rails I am just going to use a 1 1/2" round over bit on both sides. Kevin
I’ve built a balsa board last december (it’s a 7’3" mini longboard, > it’s in the boards archive). It was my first experience with shaping. I > didn’t chamber the balsa. Instead I used a styrofoam core to fill in the > inside of the board. In other words, I first shape a styrofoam core > (rocker and outline) and then glued balsa planks on top, bottom and rails. > Next, I shaped the rails and bottom and brought it to the glass shop.>>> SHAPING DIFFICULTIES : None, I found balsa rather easy to work with. It is > not like other woods, it’s rather soft, a bit like foam. I cut my planks > with a sharp knife and did the shaping with a hand plane and sanding pads.>>> The only difficulty migth be if you you’d have to go against the grain but > with the technic I used, the grain follows your board’s curves.>>> Also, using a foam core means you don’t need any pressure valve (while I > think it might be required with chambered boards).>>> COST : Here in France, balsa is really expensive and with this technic, I > only had to buy the wood that actually remains on the board (with a > traditionnal balsa building, you waste a lot of wood sculpting your rocker > and outline and then chambering). For a 7’3" minimal, I used 35 balsa > planks (100cm x 10 cm x 1cm) for a total cost of about USD 55.>>> WEIGHT : Using a foam core gave me a board nearly as light as a foam board > but a lot stronger (about 5 kg).>>> Therefore : EASY, CHEAP, LIGHT AND STRONG ! Drawback is that don’t expect > to shape a board like that in 45 minutes. It takes a lot of time on the > drawing board (you have to start from scratch : rocker, foil … you also > want to make sure the wood will bend OK and that you can shape your rails > without reaching the foam !). It also takes a lot of time scarfing and > gluing the planks. This first board took me about 40 hours but I’m having > fun doing this. I remember someone once said on this forum that he > prefered doing the glassing himself because the shaping alone was too > short as a past time, he should try balsa/EPS ! Pierre, how was the wood put on the foam and how were the rails done? if you could give alittle info on those steps that would be great. thanks mark http://www.scottsurfdesigns.com
I wasn’t the one who put the wood on the foam I think it was Pierre who > did that. I just used solid wood. The board ended up around 2 7/8" > thick and for the rails I am just going to use a 1 1/2" round over > bit on both sides.>>> Kevin thanks kevin mark http://www.scottsurfdesigns.com
Pierre, how was the wood put on the foam and how were the rails done? if > you could give alittle info on those steps that would be great.>>> thanks mark The wood was glued using polyurethane glue (we call it PPU in france, it’s used a lot in boatbuilding): it’s yellow and dries using the moisture present in the foam and wood. When drying, the glue expands like foam and fills in any small gaps you may have. Once dry, it’s very strong yet easily sandable. I gave many details of the building process I followed in earlier posts (search “balsa” in the archives). You first need to glue one plank on each rail side of your foam. I used belts to hold the planks while the glue sets but I really had a hard time moving fast enough. You have to make sure the wood will bend : on that board I chose to have larger nose and tail blocks to avoid the curvier ends. Then once you have these planks you can glue your deck without any risk of bending the foam. For deck and bottom I simply hold the boards with bags filled with sand. Then with your deck and bottom glued and cut according to your outline you go back with the remaining rail layers. Pierre