Surfboard build WIP

[Chris152]

Just an afterthought/ update, as a few of you've been so kind to take an interest and advise on this build! After a long summer of small swells with light winds, we went in yesterday in a return to our more normal autumn/ winter conditions - strong winds and bigger waves brought by the tail end of storms and worse from the other side of the Atlantic. I was on my longboard and spent most of the time trying to deal with the wind (which tries to pick up the board even when you're sat on it) and spray in my eyes. Sat there, I got to thinking. Being hit by a heavy board can be bad - a friend who longboards in Cornwall's been airlifted twice after boards hitting him and I have a deep-ish scar on my face, just below an eye, where the board flipped (as a result of v bad surfing) and a fin cut me.

Anyhoo, stop rambling. I think I'm not going to build a longboard yet - weighing in at 1/3 more than a PU board, assuming I can get the build weight down to professional levels, that's going to do a lot more damage to a body than a PU board. I might think differently as the weather changes but that'll be next spring, so sights now set on that dinghy and a winter of boat building. I'm really excited to get going on that one and will do another wip (contain yourselves)...

 

[novocaine]

this popped up on my whotube feed this morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6WgxF1TVXY

an interesting (if a bit wasteful) technique that I feel needs some more exploration, I could see it being a considerable less tool intensive approach.

 

[Chris152]

I saw a few videos using that method - it looks like more wood is left than the method I used, but it seems you don't need any glass fibre on it so weight can be kept down - I saw one which just used oil (iirc). And it looks less fiddly. I think the problem we have here is the cost of light woods - the only price I could find for balsa was about £500 for a longboard, and I don't think Paulownia is any cheaper. I'd like to try it though.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I saw a few videos using that method - it looks like more wood is left than the method I used, but it seems you don't need any glass fibre on it so weight can be kept down - I saw one which just used oil (iirc). And it looks less fiddly. I think the problem we have here is the cost of light woods - the only price I could find for balsa was about £500 for a longboard, and I don't think Paulownia is any cheaper. I'd like to try it though.

Thanks, really interesting - I had a look in the comments, and apparently the deck is 8mm, the bottom 6mm. The blank weighs 25kg before cutting out the chambers, bringing it down to 9-10kg afterwards. I'm looking to make a SUP, so probably double those numbers. Lot of wood thrown away, but looks very easy, provided I can lift it for shaping! I hadn't twigged that it is finished with 2 coats of epoxy, but no glass fibre mat - I just assumed I missed that bit. Would it be better to reduce the skin thickness, but add glass fibre? How thin could you go before worrying about the grain, poking holes etc?

I must plant some Paulownia - it will be ready to harvest in 10 years - insane tree.

 

[Chris152]

The skin on mine started at 6mm, probably ended up at 5 by the time I'd planed/ sanded it, and my guess is that'd be fine even with no glass (but with resin and good internal support) as long as you're not going into waves? From what I've seen a lot of the weight must be in the supports that divide the chambers, they do look pretty thick - not sure why they leave so much. Have to say, 9-10kg is very heavy for what looks a fairly short board - my 9'1" PU longboard is less than 6kg. With a 20kg SUP, there'd be no stopping you once you get going!

 

[Trainee neophyte]

The skin on mine started at 6mm, probably ended up at 5 by the time I'd planed/ sanded it, and my guess is that'd be fine even with no glass (but with resin and good internal support) as long as you're not going into waves? From what I've seen a lot of the weight must be in the supports that divide the chambers, they do look pretty thick - not sure why they leave so much. Have to say, 9-10kg is very heavy for what looks a fairly short board - my 9'1" PU longboard is less than 6kg. With a 20kg SUP, there'd be no stopping you once you get going!

With a 20kg sup there'd be no getting going! I think I'm going standard construction for the first one - once I have a shape I like, I can always experiment later. It's not it as if making a board takes much effort, - knock one up in an afternoon - easy peasy. Have the order all assembled and ready to go - but various technology failures are stopping me actually paying the money. I hope it's not fate. Fingers crossed Fyne Boats are patient people.