5’4” Fatty Build Thread

After being prompted into action by the efforts of sk8ment in a recent build thread, I have made a start on something not conceptually dissimilar.

Sizing began at a length that would fit across the rear compartment of my car with the back seats folded down, and at around 5’4" I’m going a full foot shorter than I ever have before (I’m 6’2" and 90kg).

Once I decided on the nose/mid-point/tail thicknesses, and rocker dimensions, I realised that if I was prepared to have a completely flat deck line running from nose to tail I could make it from a 3" slab of XPS. It looks like it’s going to end up approximately 20-21" wide, with nose and tail widths of about 17" and 19" respectively.

From the deck I intend to just chamfer down along the outline edge, where required, to get the rail thickness I need. I will add some deck concave to try and tone down all the width/thickness and get some control back. I have applied a gentle roll across the bottom to assist with this as well. Rounded pin tail shape for the graduated, analogue motor control available on the toe side, combined with a squash tail shape for the on/off, digital nature of the heel side.

I am working just with a saw, and an assortment of home made hand sanding apparatus, marking tools and improvised jigs to try and help me make things even, and ensure I create as little mess to clean up as is possible.

Here’s the progress and methodology so far.







Looking good Rohan!

That’s only because I have cleverly avoided showing you all the gouges I took out of the bottom, up near the nose, when I was cutting the nose rocker in with a long hand saw, and which I will now have to fill once I’ve finished shaping it.

 

 

 

Nah, just put some concave in the nose. Give you more lift.

 

This thread makes me STOKED!!!

Looks good RDM. I like the pictures of your tools of the trade. In the fifth picture, what is on the end of your long sanding block? It looks suspended from above. Good luck with the build.

Yes, what** is** going on in this photo?

I’m assuming the foam is moved up and down the long sanding block, so as you sand the rail band you can slide the foam on the blank to set the angle at a consistent angle. But it does kinda look like its suspended from the ceiling.

And as a random one, is that XPS, or did I miss that earlier?  OK I did miss it. Carry on!

Mostly right sk8ment. I’m using it so I can slide the whole lot up and down and sand an even amount of bottom roll onto each side, even though I do have marked lines on the bottom and along the sides to guide me as well. Just makes the process a little easier to work faster and more accurately without having to stop and check my angle constantly. The rail bands I have pre-cut with the saw and will now clean up properly - hand sanding them completely woud take too much time and create too much foam dust for me to clean up.

RDM I was thinking that was what you were using it for, but I had the operation completely over exagerated. In my mind, you had mathed out the radius of the rocker and curve of the outline, connected the free end of the sanding block to the ceiling/overhead at the exact radius you previously calculated, and proceeded to sand the deck/rail. Way more complicated than what you actually did, but effectively the same idea.

The main deck side rail bands are now in a little better shape than the initial rough cuts. Still need to adjust them in a few spots to sweeten all the curves up, but progress is being made.

 

 




You have decent luck using a Surform on this foam??  I tried a Surform on EPS once or twice.  Wasn’t happy with what it left behind nor what it took with it.  So now I go from the planer and grit barrel to my 7" Sander.  Then onto sanding by hand with a block or foam pad. 

Only in certain areas for particular things. I use it to knock off sharp edges here and there, and to sweep over checking for any irregularities. I find it OK on XPS for this sort of thing. I’ve never really worked with EPS, but I can imagine the larger beads might cause it trouble.

RDM,

Just noticed you are using XPS.  What density?

I find the surform takes it off fast with XPS but seems to work well enough with 1.55 pcf XPS.  Then I go to 60 grit to finish removing foam.

Curious to see how you final prep/surface the foam for glassing.

32-36 kg/m3 is the XPS density.

I usually run over it all at the end with 60 grit to make it evenly rough, and then forcefully squeegee a coat of epoxy onto it, wipe off any excess and let cure. Then paint and laminate.

 

 

 

 

Secondary rail bands are done with another concocted tool to keep me consistent.

From now on it will be freestyle though, so given my limited experience I will have to proceed a bit more carefully in order to minimise the number of screw ups that will be made.

 

Here are my notebook sketches from before I started.

My current dimensions have turned out to be 5’4" x 21" x 3", with an 18 1/4" nose, and a 19 1/4" tail. I’m used to surfing 17" wide tails on my McCoys, so I’m hoping an extra inch per side will still be manageable with enough bottom roll. I’m resisting the temptation to slim it down as I don’t want it to simply be the same as something I’ve already got, but with 1’ cut off the nose. Volume will end up being around 45 litres.

 

 

 

RDM,

I was following your build.  Then it vanished.

Very interested in your flat deck rocker project.

How is it coming along.

Bill

Almost ready to start glassing. I’ll take some photos of the finished blank and post them.

Nothing too exciting, but here it is almost ready to glass.

I’ve decided to go with a gentle tucked rail edge the whole way around to help sharpen up the feel of release off the rail, and mitigate the potential for an overly soft feeling due to the rolled bottom. I’ve found that this is a good combination for me when combined with low rockers and simple outlines.

 



I look forward to seeing and learning about the end result.

You’ve got me thinking about using a foam slab with no deck rocker.  If I’m building for me, doesn’t have look mainstream.  Just needs to work.