YESS... Its begun skimboard project code name FRANKENSTINE..

General Discussion
1

So, today I went out and started picking up supplies. Heres what I ended up with. I NOW have a 4x8 sheet of half inch foam, a quarter inch piece of ply 4’x8’, and a piece of fabric that I’m going to inlay into the deck. total so far… $35… NOT DOING BAD… Here are the pictures…

I also made a template of what I figured I would make my board like. Its 52x21 and will have an aditional inch on either side that I will fill in with mulched fiberglass… As of now I’m figuring out how much glass and epoxy I’m going to need so that I can keep prices low. Epoxy should up the price bigtime, and I’m not sure about glass… I’m going to put the fabric on both sides… so that adds an additional layer of strength right?

I’ve decided to try making my board with just ply on top… and will make another blank and save it just incase the one I make breaks, that way I can take what I’ve learned and fix what I’ve built and try making another deck… MAN I’M EXCITED… I just have to go buy my epoxy and cloth. YOU BETCHA… oh pictures ARE BELOW!!!

OK… That’s all I have for now… It’s gonna happen… :smiley:

2

glad to see the ball’s rolling… I followed that thread with interest !

We’ve got some guys here in Perth who rip ! [I’m hoping they’ll let me photograph their antics… ONE day !]

  ben

it looks fun , from what I’ve seen…

WATER shots of skimboarding would be something I’d be keen to do , for sure !

[Of course, our stuff here pales in significance , compared to the stuff they do at ‘the Wedge’, and other such crazy places ! THOSE guys are AMAZING !!]

3

I’ve done alot with skimboards, and scince you said your not going to do much wave riding where you live, I sugest that you round out the tail much more, or else your not going to be able to turn anywhere with a board that long. Pull the wide point back too, and add more tail area. It would really increase your performance, and add some more area to the nose also because it doesen’t have to be super pointy to be effective. Thats just my experience though, but if you don’t change your template it will still probally work fine.

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Haha, Our surf in the Puget Sound is knee high on stormy day… I think of this as my lucky day board. Thats why I’m going to keep it a little heavier and more durable than a just foam board. So I’ll use it for flat land skimming too… I’ll bring my other skimmer just in case… because its a tank… Its a good ride… I didn’t add any rocker to it at all… I just used its natural rocker in the piece of ply. I’m hoping I’ll get lucky with this one and end up with another tank that will be solid, and work well… Its all pretty planned outso I dont know why it wouldnt be.

First question for later: Which side should I fiberglass first… the bottom or the top… If the bottom then do I just add enough resin spread it out and lay the foam and board on top, or should I do the top and hope that the board forms like I want it to… like I said I used quarter inch ply… They didnt have any eighth inch so I compromised… Yeah…

Ok… Thanks…

Max Biggs

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Your doing all your glassing at once right? Like using a rocker table and laying on the bottom, flipping it over and doing the top with chopped mush in your rails?

If you went side to side I would do the top first, the resin usally makes it warp up some.

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OK… I had a revelation… I could make two boards and then check the difference between the two… hmm…

Progress withought pictures though… Camera’s batteries died:

-Reshaped board design a little bit fatter and rounder… LOOKS MUCH better and more like a vic board… but fatter in the bottom… a little…

-Traced new template onto ply and foam.

-Cut 3 foam pieces out, and one plywood piece.

-Found a place that sells epoxy by the boat load, litterally;)… Going to check them out soon…

-Got frustrated after my little brother drained the camera batteries by taking pictures of the dogs being stupid… which they are normally!

-Decided to get online and ask you these folowing questions.

OK… So I once again am using 1/4" ply soooo… Should I form that first and then glue the foam to it, and then glass it? It seems like the easy way to do it… And I want to try to make another board out of the other two sheets… the question is, since it is 1/2 inch foam, should I laminate it together and then have an inch thick board, or should I just use one sheet and have it be half an inch? Third delema, Should I compensate for the rails now and start a slanted edge, so that the edges are thinner than the rest of the board so it cuts into the water better?

OK… I’m excited… phases 1 and two completed… YES…

Thanks guys, More progress to come.

Max Biggs

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anybody???

TTT

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are you putting your foam on the deck or bottom? Either way, you need to blend all the layers together or else its gunna be funky to glass. An inch thick board would work better for just about anything a half inch board could do if its foam, so glue them together for another board. Do your wood work first, because the foam gets ground down much easier and you’ll just mess up. Make sure you grind down enough so that if the foam is on top, then its narrower so you can get a good tapering edge, of if its on top the wood needs to be smaller so it can taper well.

umm… I think thats it.

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One board is going to have a plywood deck with a half an inch of foam underneath. The other will be an inch thick foamie… I’ve already started doing some tapering on the ply. Its looking good… really good… I’m excited… OH MAN… What do you think…

I’ll post up some new pictures SOOOOOOON… Going to get glassing supplies soon… I HOPE…

thanks for the help… I think I’m going to bend the rocker into the wood first and then laminate the foam to it…

Thanks for the help… any more advice you might have for shaping or anything in general POST IT UP…

Max Biggs

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Man,

TODAY ROCKED… I finished my plywood deck and am currently soaking it so that I can put the rocker in it. I also laminated the two extra pieces of foam together and trimmed them and SHAPED IT… It turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself… I did it all with sand paper and a nice 3m sanding block. Its looking pretty sexy if I do say so myself… I’ll have some batteries tomorow and then FINALLY I’ll be able to post up some pictures of how its looking so far…

Right now, I’m just freakin excited and covered with little particles of eps… PRETTY SOON I GET TO PAINT MY DECK… I think I’m going to do that on the full foam deck and then do an inlay on my other one… maybe… Maybe I’ll have just ended up with a bunch of cool yellow cloth that I can use for something else… I’m afraid it would make the board twice as heavy as it already would be… it was pretty thick cloth…

oh whell… Progress to come… Build tally: approx:$37 for two boards…

Max Biggs

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…I’m still following this with interest . I’d like to see some pictures when your brother buys you a new battery [keep the camera and him AWAY from those dogs !!]

I got a bit lost there earlier in the thread, I think…did you say your second board will be one inch thick foam …meaning foam ONLY [no wood ] ? …or did I read that wrong ?

When / if making a foam core skimboard, I’m presuming out of clark foam and epoxy resined glass , can anyone out there tell me how many layers and what oz cloth would be best, please ?

And, would a stringer be advisable for ? better flex return ? / ? extra strength ? [you can see that Big Alaska / Max’s enthusiasm is contagious…he, and the blokes down the beach who ‘skim’, have got me thinking…

… thanks !

     ben

Max, is ‘Puget Sound’ in Alaska…is that where you live ? [Was that the place that featured in the movie 'Endless Summer 2 " ?]

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Ok Here it goes chip…

I am making two boards:

NUMBER One is 2/3 foam and 1/3 wood for a deck… It will end up being 3/4 of an inch…

NUMBER Two is a full foam 1 inch that is made of two 1/2 inch pieces of styro.

They both are reciving epoxy and 2x6oz cloth on the top and 3x6oz cloth on the bottom… There is no stringer, unless you feel like putting one, there is really no purpose as I see it.

I used EPS for this project… Alot of people use airex or dyvincell which are both like 50 BUCKS FOR A PIECE BIG ENOUGH TO MAKE A BOARD… but higher density and can be glassed with polyester resin or epoxy… They are just a higher quality board, but that dosent mean that you still cant break them… These boards are to just get me out on something and trying to get out on the waves instead of just doing flat land… I am making the one with the plywood on the top as a beginner board and the other as a mess arround board… Its just for fun… just to say that I’ve done it… not much more than that…

Puget sound is in washington… Its the big inlet of water that makes the state look so weird… And I live in Washington. I moved from alaska down here two years ago with my dad… I still visit my mom up in Alaska as much as possible though… and Yeah people surf up there, but you have to have a major dry suit and some huevos grande, if you know what I mean.

PICTURES!!! he finally got me batteries…

Yeah, I just started making the rocker in the wood today, so that should be done in a few days… then its FOAM TIME, and finishing shaping this board, and then I’ll glass them both at the same time…

Heres the next question… Do I put the glass down one sheet at a time or do all of them at once, and saturate them all at once? Or how does that work… I’ve done some MAJOR searching but am still confused about how to glass it… and is there anything that I can use to make the rails smoother… like there are spots where the eps pooped out, and now there are little holes arround… could I use insulation foam or something to fix this problem or what? because I’m afraid that they will either cause pinholes or that they will be bubbles in the glass…

NOW ALL I HAVE TO DO IS GO BUY THE STINKIN’ EPOXY AND GLASS… Sigh… Still worried about glassing the thing, because it looks decent, and I dont want to mess it up.

OK, Thats it for a few seconds,

Max Biggs

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I think you should make a different template for each of the boards, they’re not gunna act real different like that. Like pick one to narrow down the nose and round out the tail, and leave the other one as it is, and you’ll have twice the fun!

Its probally not the best idea to just glass over where the foam pops out, but I do it anyway and ahven’t had problems yet… just make sure to hotcoat well because the foam soaks up alot of resin.

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Ok, I can do that… I god a pretty little ding on my all foam up twards the nose… SO IT LOOKS LIKE I’M DOING A LITTLE MORE SHAPING so I’ll try a few different things you mentioned… see if I can have a little fun :wink:

Can anybody help me with the glassing sequence… How exactly should I do it with a board like this… It seems simple, but utterly complex at the same time… ANYBODY???

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Comments, questions, answers?

TTT anybody at all… any advice…

SHOULD I USE A SQUEEGE OR A ROLLER FOR THIS PROJECT??? Would it be benifitial to use a roller for the first time and get used to itor should I just use a squeege for this and not worry about it…

Thanks,

Max

16

MAN LIFE HAS BEEN BUISY LATELY… Its keeping me from being able to go and get stuff to glass my board… Here is a quick little rendering of what I would like the Paint to look like… OH AND I RESHAPED MY FULL FOAM… I like the way that it looks now. It has a rounder tail and points on the nose more… Kinda like on my rendering… Its now 51 inches, but with extended rails It should come out about 52… which makes me happy… I cant wait to get out and paint this board… I finished sanding the whole thing down, and put it in a bag so that I couldnt contaminate it with oils from my skin while I paint it, or while I glass It… I’m kinda iffy on the other one… The quarter inch is being a butt to keep its shape… Its warping after I finish letting it set in the garage… So I’m soaking it down once again, and am going to try it ONE LAST TIME… If it dosent work, I’m going to have a half inch board, and a inch thick board… both with different characteristics… I think If I just use the once piece of half inch foam… I’ll do 3 and 3 and do it that way… It seems like it would be strong enough…

Here’s the idea for the paint scheme for the boards… only one this way and the other the oposite, color wise… or maybe just one this way and the other another…

Max

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I’m kinda having second thoughts about my core choice… I dont want to spend to much money on epoxy and glass and then still have massive delams and a possible break because my foam core sucks… Its just eps… Should I rethink… and go spend some money on a decent core material? Or should I go with the flow and give this a try and see what happens… I’d hate to throw away about 50-70 dollars worth of glass and resin because my core sucked eggs… Its just R CELL eps… I plan on doing 3x6 of E on both sides now… If I do it…

GAAAHHH WHAT TO DOOOOO… Do you think I should go find a decent piece of airex or divyncell and do it the correct way and have something that will work no matter what? I think I’ll end up just glassing my full foam as of now… because I like it better… haha My stupid wood/foam board isnt being as well mannered as I would have hoped…

This is the part where I freak about how much money I’m putting into something that could get screwed upso quickly… Sigh… I guess I just need to suck it up and go do it, huh? Thats Why I have a job… So that I can build toys…

After this project I’m going to make a surfboard… Somehow…

Max

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A quick picture to show what it now looks like compared to the old shape…

It looks a whole bunch shorter than it actaually is… Its only about 2 inches shorter than the other board… Its just taken at an angle that makes it look smaller… and yes that is a full size epiphone Casino next to it… So that shows you how big it is…

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That looks SWEET once you take it out let us know how it rides

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first stages of paint… Painting foam is not easy… I give people props for doing what they do on it… MY fade has streaks. but its ok… I’ll survive… It still is going to get green and then black pinstripes… THEN GLASS… sheesh…