Well, after much plotting, planning and rearranging the shed, I'm about to start building my first board. I waited what seemed like months for the tax cheque to arrive and had spent the whole lot within 45 minutes on resin, glass, tools, fins and a box of four blanks from Midget's factory in Sydney. I was only going to get two, but it only cost $30 extra to buy four, cos they waive the shipping costs if you fill the box. So now my daughter and nephew are going to reap the benefits of dad's new obsession.
I'll post photos as I go and rest assured, I'll be asking advice at every step of the way. I must have spent over 100 hours trawling through the Swaylock's archives gathering info on rockers, fin cant, rail curves and concaves and now I think I'm ready to cut into some foam. Here's the outline of the first board I'm going to try, knocked up on the Aku Shaper software I found on Sway's. It's going to be a single fin based on an old 1976 model that I've ridden for the past decade or so.
Dims will be:
6'5" x 18 2/5" x 2 3/4" (ish).
Nose rocker - 4 1/2"
Tail rocker - 2 1/2"
Flat bottom the whole way through, both for authenticity and because I think attempting to put a concave or any other fancy additions in is just asking for trouble.
What's everyone think?
[img_assist|nid=1060944|title=CassS Single Fin|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=280|height=465]OK, so it didn't work the first time. Here's the outline and rocker...
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Hi Cass, Looks good! If i were to give a couple of bits of advice before you get to the lamination part of your first project. You need to get a feww things really clear and thought through
1. Make sure your lamination coat goes off slow to give you plenty of time (15 - 20 minutes) to get the laps right on the rails. (i use 1% catalyst when laminating as i have only glassed 3 boards and am still a bit nervouse and clumsey, the temperature here has been 17 - 20 in the shade lately)
2. make sure you wear surgical style latex gloves all of the time as globs of resin will inevitably end up in most unexpected places and it isn't the best stuff to get on your hands and thinners such as acetone sting and stink when you are trying to clean yourself (not the best!). Then wear heavy duty chemical gloves when laminating.
3. Read up on how to sort out the trimmed finished bottom laminate BEFORE you even begin to attempt laminating the deck, this will hopefully reduce the amount of problems you have in the future in terms of sorting out air bubbles and lumps and bumps.
4. When you are squeegying on the resin and lapping the rails, don't concern yourself too much about drips and loose strands of cloths dangliong off the setting board (unless it is tugging at the soaked cloth and causing a problem) you can trim them off with a NEW CLEAN stanley blade once the laminate coat has kicked nd started to harden it will cut with the consistancy of a jelly sweet (in my sweet toothed experience!)
5. Make sure you have everything to hand, i mean everything, because once the ride starts, you can't get off!
Theres food for thought, no doubt my tips are not everyones idea of 'streamlined' but they are lessons that i have learned so far!
nice nice nice brumstar123...
1. for the lamination use UV resin, u'll have lot of time, more than 30 min.Be systematic (not like me) do half of the board then the other half then the rails.
2. for the shaping part - take ur time and do everything very good, remove the stringer at the same level as the foam if not u'll have some problems for the lamination.
3. watch all the videos about lamination, shaping etc there are plenty on youtube.
4 when ur laminating the rails first wet (with resin of course) the fiber coat with a brush then start from the middle of the board ando go to the tail or to the nose.
take pictures of ur project and if u have problems ask here there are lots of very good shapers on this forum.
cheers and have fun doing ur project
Colin
Flat is fastest! and who doesn't enjoy speed?
I've got the UV additive for glassing, so will go with that. Will just have to find time during a weekend when there isn't at least one kid hanging off my leg...
Last night I drew up the template on the side of the box the blanks came in and transferred it onto the blank (a 6'6" Kneeboard-Fish model). That took me to 10pm, so will go back tonight and make the first cut. I've taken photos but have yet to transfer them onto the computer - will try to get the first ones on tonight.
One thing I could use some advice with - The blank's a "second", cheaper because of an aussie-10c-piece-sized bubble/hole 3 inches out from the stringer, about 1/4 down the length of the board from the nose (photos will come eventually). I've been told Q-cell and resin will be the best way to fill it in. Do you all think this is the best approach? If no, what are some other options? If yes, when should I do it; before I start shaping or once I have finished shaping, but before laminating?
I thought if I did it before shaping, it would create a hard point that would mess with the planing and sanding and make it harder to get a consistent level around that spot.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
OK, so I've been promising photos for a few days now, so here come a few...
[img_assist|nid=1061006|title=The next year sorted|desc=Blanks|link=none|align=left|width=297|height=394]
Four Midget blanks: 6'6" Fish, 6'2" fish, 2 x 5'7" Shortboard
[img_assist|nid=1061007|title=Blank on the racks|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=297|height=393]
On the racks, ready to measure up.
[img_assist|nid=1061009|title=Cardboard template|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=295|height=390]
I measured and cut a cardboard template initially, but wasn't too happy with how uneven the outline was. So I blew up the one in the previous post using Photoshop, printed it out onto five sheets of A3 paper and stuck them together to make a paper one (Swaylock's tip, thank you). Much better.
[img_assist|nid=1061010|title=Paper template|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=295|height=390]
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Oh, and here's a photo of the hole I was describing before...
[img_assist|nid=1061011|title=Hole|desc=About 1' from the nose|link=none|align=left|width=397|height=303]
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Hey CassS,
Mate never seen anyone else from S.A on SWAYS. i am living just down the road in Aldinga BEach.
Looks like we are at the same stage - shaped first board about a month back and starting another couple this week.
It would be good to chat and talk shaping some time.
Cheers
Jarred
Hey Jarred, good to hear there's someone else in this neck of the woods. I'd be very interested in comparing notes, particularly on where you get your supplies from. I ended up getting most of mine shipped over from the east coast, cos that's where everything's based.
Have you got any photos/threads on here of your board build? It would be great to have a look.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Hi CassS
Send me an email at: [email protected], so that we dont have to tie up the forums with our chat..
Thanks for the reply.
Jarred
And now to cut...
Shitting myself as I picked up the saw, my hand was shaking so much, I didn't want to f*%k it up right at the start.
[img_assist|nid=1061021|title=Shape outlined|desc=Note hole next to stringer|link=none|align=left|width=528|height=699]
Once I'd cut a rough outline I went hard with the surform, then fined it out with the 80-grade paper. Was reasonably happy with the result at the end of the night, although I have a nagging suspicion that I should have gone wider. Is 18 2/5" wide enough for a board of this nature? I'm aiming for something vaguely resembling the classic lines in the Kensurf vs Huckleberry NOT Bolt build threads.
[img_assist|nid=1061016|title=Surform Time|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=639|height=482]
Here's what it looked like at the end of the night.
[img_assist|nid=1061017|title=Cleaned up tail|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=623|height=825]
[img_assist|nid=1061019|title=Cleaned up nose|desc=Ignore the chunk next to the stringer, that should clear up in the shaping (hopefully)|link=none|align=left|width=625|height=471]
[img_assist|nid=1061020|title=Cleaned up - deck|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=625|height=827]
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Forgot to include this shot - the fin I'm going to try in the board once it's complete. I got it through the Australian Fin Co website. It's the PR7" model.
I'd like to make my own eventually, but this will get me in the water faster...
[img_assist|nid=1061028|title=Green fin|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=557|height=420]
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Good stuff mate. Surfblanks blue is nice foam. Is it a little single fin?
A medium single - 6'5"
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Ok, made some progress last night. I pulled out the big guns - planer and sander - for the first time and had a crack skinning the deck and working on the foil. I didn't take any photos of the board after I'd finished with the planer, didn't think anyone would want to see my amateurish work, but here are a couple of what it looked like after I'd sanded it all back.
[img_assist|nid=1061098|title=Half-foiled tail|desc=Still needs a bit of thinning, but it's looking good so far|link=none|align=left|width=500|height=375]
I'm pretty happy with how the shape is evolving, but I still need to work on the foil. I thought I had more to play with, cos the blank was supposed to be 3 1/16" thick and I was aiming for 2 3/4" final thickness. But when I measured it after cleaning up the outline, it was only just under 3" at its thickest point. Will probably end up being about 2 1/2" when finished. In the meantime, have learnt to love my spokeshave. Worked a treat on the stringer and I can't afford a block plane.
I was going to finish it off last night, but when I came to it, I realised it was 11:45pm and I knew that I'd fuck it up if I tried using a power tool at midnight. Hopefully tonight I'll get a couple of hours in - might even try to do the rail bands.
Here are a couple more images, including a rocker shot.
[img_assist|nid=1061099|title=Final outline|desc=Can't believe it actually looks like my original drawing|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640]
[img_assist|nid=1061102|title=Rocker|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Good stuff, keep the pics coming of your progress!
this is a great thread.... Looking forward to your progress.
What are your nose and tail dimensions?
No more photos just yet. I did manage to get the rail bands planed out and blended using a coarse gauze. But we've taken the kids on a trip to the east coast and didn't bring the camera charger, so all photos will have to wait until we get back to the deep south.
The surf at Byron has been a slight disappointment. I was hoping for the 4-6 foot, eight-second Lennox Point barrels that I saw rolling through a month ago or so, but will have to settle for 1-2 foot beachies. At least I'm not getting an icecream headache with every duckdive, like what happens back in SA. Nothing quite like the Great Southern Ocean an hour before sunrise in the middle of winter to remind you why you're alive...
Chrisp - I'll have to get back to you on the tail/nose measurements. I know it's about 1' wide, 1' up from the tail, but the nose remains to be measured.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
cool thread
keep it comming
boards lookin good
Ice cream head aches are all part of the experience here in the UK! We learn to love em, you can up your tollerance by chugging down a McD's milkshake everyday!
Progress Report:
Surf remained small the whole time we were over East, but I managed to get a 2 hour stint in crowded 2-3 foot Broken Head, so it wasn't a complete loss. I took my 3yo daughter out for her first surfing experience and didn't exactly cover myself in glory. She panicked as soon as the first whitewash rose above her knee and we only got to catch one wave in, and she screamed the whole way. She'll learn...
I went out to the shed last night for the first time since getting back and have now put the finishing touches on the shape. Had a bit of a slip-up with the nose. I was trying to round it off carefully with a file, but my hand slipped and I took a relatively large chunk out of the foam next to the stringer. So now it's going to be a 6' 4 3/4" instead of a 6'5", but who's counting?
I blended in all the remaining scratches and rail band edges then hit the whole thing with the 240-grade paper until it was smooth and sleek-ish. Couldn't take any photos because the digital camera shat itself and only have my wife's iPhone as a backup. She'd kill me if I got any foam dust in it, but you have to make sacrifices in the name of art. I'll see what I can do tonight.
Sadly, I spent all my shaping fund on getting set up and now have no budget for artwork, so will have to sell some non-essentials on eBay to scrape together enough for resin pigments and paint. Anyone want an old VHS copy of Reefer Madness? Going cheap! I wonder how much I could get for my mother-in-law's terrier...
More photos to come.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Right, I promised more photos and I've finally sorted out my camera issues (crosses fingers), so here goes...
[img_assist|nid=1061387|title=Rail band fail #1|desc=What happens when you trip over the power chord while cutting rail bands. Thankfully it disappeared in the blending stage (phew!)|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061388|title=Rail Bands|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061390|title=Rail bands #2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061392|title=Final shape (more or less)|desc=Just needs the nose rounded off. See previous comment to see what happened next|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061393|title=Upright|desc=Why is this application rotating my images and why can't I rotate them back?|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061395|title=Rocker shot|desc=Plenty of volume through the middle.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
More photos:
[img_assist|nid=1061396|title=Getting ready to paint|desc=All bits not covered will be a deep forest green|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Now that I've smoothed out the shape, I'm getting ready to paint. I've cut out the patterns on sheets of baking paper and will tape them down before painting. I'm severely limited to what I can use by my non-existent budget, so am experimenting with standard acrylic paints, thinned, to be applied with a roller. Hopefully I'll have enough to get the coverage I'm after.
[img_assist|nid=1061397|title=Paint preparations #2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Note: first daylight shots. I've been doing all my shaping at night under the light of one lonely incandescent bulb, but snuck a chance to go out to the shed between sunrise and sunset today while I'm home looking after a sick boy. Will have to negotiate some more time down the track, because I'm going to use UV catalyst when glassing.
[img_assist|nid=1061398|title=Paint preparations #3|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061399|title=Paint preparations #4|desc=Rotate you bloody thing!|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061400|title=Ding repair|desc=What's left of the hole that made the blank a second|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
It's about half an inch across and probably only 1/8" deep.
[img_assist|nid=1061401|title=Paint preparation #5|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061402|title=Paint tests|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
I tried it in different concentrations (paint to thinner) to gauge results. L-R: 1:1, 1:2, 1:3. The colour came out fairly similar in all three, but the 1:3 is way streakier than the 1:1, as you'd expect. I've only got one tube of green paint, so will probably thin it 1:3 and shoot for two coats, but i'm being optimistic. I do have a couple of hundred empty beer bottles in the woodshed that I can hand back for 10c a pop, which will buy me some more paint, and three of the DVDs on eBay are selling (50c each), so I'll probably wait for the results before I commit paint to blank.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Ok, I haven't posted in a while because there wasn't much progress. I had to wait for an eBay auction to finish before I could buy all the painting materials. However, I managed to sell a bunch of old DVDs and spent the proceeds, so progress has been made!
There aren't any photos yet, because my camera's still playing up (battery power lasts around 24 hours). I taped down the baking paper templates in the previous post and got painting earlier in the week. I had five different tools to try, so I could see which was the most effective at applying the paint to the foam. These included brush, a square of mattress foam, two different kinds of kitchen sponge/scourer and a $1 sponge-headed brush bought from a local art supplies shop. It turns out that a combination of brush for outline and a fine-grained kitchen sponge was the most effective.
The next night (last night) I flipped the board over, intending to just do a line runing about an inch in from the rail all around the bottom, but discovered green spots all over the surface from where I'd touched the board while moving it around the night before. I thought I'd been careful, but there's careful, and there's CAREFUL.
This just meant I had to get a bit more creative. I'll try replacing the camera batteries tonight and will take a couple of photos. Hopefully I'll be able to post them this weekend.
One thing I am excited about though. I signed the board! It's a great feeling, signing off on your first shape. It probably surfs like a hippo and turns like an ocean liner, but I can only get better from here.
Photos to come...
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
More photos:
[img_assist|nid=1061595|title=Bottom #1|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640]
[img_assist|nid=1061596|title=Bottom #2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061599|title=Deck #1|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Well I've made some fairly significant progress since my last post. After the green paint above, I added black outlines to give the paint job definition...
[img_assist|nid=1061748|title=Outlines|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061749|title=Outlines #2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
I also filled the "second" ding/hole with a combination of foam dust and resin and sanded it flush the deck once it set.
Yesterday we had a beautiful sunny day in the Adelaide Hills, so I managed to convince my wife to give me the morning off child-minding duties to attempt my first glassing job. First, I switched the glassing stands onto my racks...
[img_assist|nid=1061751|title=Glassing stands|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640]
As you do with these things, I started on the bottom. It all went relatively well, except for a couple of spots either side of the middle where long strands of wet glass hung down and caught on my squeegee or bucket. This pulled the glass a bit off alignment and resulted in some raised sections along the lap line. In hindsight, I probably should have cut the lumps off when the resin first gelled, because these lumps came back to haunt me when I glassed the deck.
[img_assist|nid=1061752|title=Glassing the bottom #1|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061753|title=Glassing the bottom #2|desc=Lumps long the rail where the glass has been pulled off-centre and folded up|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061754|title=Sea Dragon logo on rice paper|desc=I'm happy with how this turned out and it covers the filled hole in the blank|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
I had a bit more trouble glassing the deck than with the bottom, for a number of reasons.
My glassing schedule was 6oz bottom and 6/4oz deck. I'm not too worried about the extra weight - I'm happy to sacrifice lightness for durability. I struggled a bit to get the resin into the rails because the spiky edges of the bottom lap were catching in the glass of the deck layers. It was a constant battle to make sure there were no air bubbles forming at the interface (a battle I eventually lost, as it turns out).
Also, even though I was using UV-catalysed resin, it seemed like it was kicking or gelling before I even made it to wrapping the rails. Could this be because I just didn't have enough resin to work with?
I also had some trouble wetting out the laps. In all the YouTube videos the pros make it look so easy, with the resin just flowing naturally as they run the squeegee around the rails. Mine just came out all streaky, so I had to manually wet them with a hand/squeegee technique. Unfortunately this resulted in a lot of sticky strings hanging down, which gave me a great big pain in the arse, not to mention resin all up my arms (lost a lot of hair yesterday cleaning up).
Now I could really use some advice before I attempt the hotcoat. Like I said before, the folds in the bottom laps made a bit of a mess of the deck lam in about four places. They stand proud of the board about 5mm and are full of bubbles and glass spikes once the resin had set. What can I do to rectify the situation? Here's what I thought I might do...
- Sand down the bigger lumps, including a few bits of rough glass around the nose and tail.
- Laminate small patches of glass over these areas
- Apply hotcoat over entire board and sand
Does this sound like a sensible approach?Another question I could use advice on - There are lots of dribbly drippy bits of resin left over from the deck lam. Should I sand them down before doing the hotcoat? From everything I've read, without the wax in styrene additive, lam resin can be a bit troublesome to sand.
Please help Swaylock's, I don't want to go much further without expert advice.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
More glassing photos...
[img_assist|nid=1061755|title=Glassing|desc=Beautiful day in the Adelaide Hills, perfect for UV glassing - all I need now is the know-how...|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061756|title=Messy glassing|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1061757|title=More glassing photos|desc=Deck logo, sandwiched between the layers of glass. I was going to apply it directly to the foam, but the bottom layer of glass snagged on the laps from the bottom lamination and I didn't want to mess it up trying to roll it back.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Not very accurately aligned, but I'm not that fussed.
[img_assist|nid=1061758|title=Resin outline|desc=Shed floor level? I don't think so.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
I got the resin on the shed floor to kick by rigging up a mirror to shine the sunlight in through the door. It opens to the, East so all future glassing will be done in the morning.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Nah, its not that. Its caused by the speed of the earth as it circles the sun (18.5 miles/second).
Cass - you're board looks really nice, and I'm sure its gonna turn out a beauty. We all go through the learning curve, fiberglassing is not an easy task, and doing it really well takes several boards' practise.
As far as "expert" advice, count me out. I'm no expert, but I'll share what I know. You cant leave spiky edges on the lap before glassing over it (as you now know). You have to grind, sand, or somehow feather those edges down. If you do a search for laps, or grinding laps, tape laps, free laps, or sanding laps, you'll probably find a boatload of information on the subject. It has been discussed here at length.
I always sand before hotcoating, but I lam with epoxy. So I'll let the poly guys fill you in on the rest.
Thanks Huck, appreciate the feedback. I won't be leaving those spiky edges next time, that's for sure. And "expert" is all relative. Anyone who's made more than one board probably knows more than me...
Another problem I just remembered. I found an air bubble, more of a delam, down near the tail, which I missed somehow when I was glassing. It's about 1 inch square in size. How should I go about fixing this, now it's set?
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Right, without the benefit of the wisdom of Swaylock's (other than Huck's information on the turning of the earth, thanks again), I had a go at cleaning up my glassing job last night. the lumps in the rails sanded down ok and only one of four ended up exposing the foam - a fairly good hit/miss ratio from my perspective. But I got a little too gung-ho with the sander and went right through to the foam on the nose - bugger. I also sanded back the delam section down at the tail, exposing another 10c-coin sized patch of foam.
So after sanding back to level around these spots, I cut out some 4oz glass patches and fixed them as if they were dings. Rather than waiting for another sunny day, I went down the MEKP route for the resin, I just want to get this thing done! I'll go back tonight and sand the repairs back ahead of applying the hotcoat.
Another thing I want to do is put an extra tail panel of 4oz to strengthen the area where the fin box is going to be installed. Once that's in place, it's hotcoat time. I'll post photos once I reach this stage. Nobody needs to see my amateurish repairs.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
nice board mate
If u don't wanna have a good lookin board and ur not searching for precision, cut that bubble ant fill it with very small (1mm) pieces of fiber (4oz or 6oz) mixed with uv resin... put it in the sun (and serve it hot).
cheers
Gracias Colin para los consejos.
I'm certainly not looking for precision with the first board, just something that floats and looks vaguely like a surfboard. I've been using UV resin and have added a little MEKP so I could do the repairs at night.
More advice needed though folks...
For some reason, despite the fact that I've added MEKP to the resin when doing the post-glassing patch-up, it doesn't seem to want to set hard. I went back last night to sand back the edges in preparation for the hotcoat but the resin (used in the patch-ups) is still tacky in most places. At the nose it has barely hardened at all. Is this because I haven't used enought MEKP? I only used about 30mL (1oz) of resin, with UV catalyst incorporated, and added about 1mL of MEKP. Should I have added more, or is there a chance that the two catalysts somehow cancelled each other out, or at least dampened each other's effect?
There aren't going to be too many opportunities to get the board out in the sun this weekend - no sun and no time. It's a bit of an unseasonably wet spring in Adelaide and I'm looking after the offspring this weekend while my wife puts in the hard yards backstage.
Help!?
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
De nada CassS.
U have to add about 2.5 - 3% of catalyst even if the resin is UV cure. The UV resin without sun o UV lights doesn't cure. Wait till next morning and put it in the sun. If you want to continue with this "shaping thing" buy a UV lamp (it's what i'll do).
When u repair put also styrene.
Even if there's no sun u can use UV resin put like 1% mekp and the UV that penetrates the clouds will do the rest.
Cheers
I got an hour or so of sunlight yesterday morning and while the kids were off happily harassing the dog or eating dirt, I dragged the board out and managed to get all the tacky resin to cure properly.
I've now sanded it all back and am ready to do the hotcoat. Hopefully next weekend we won't have anything on and I can get down to business. I really want to get this boat in the water and see how it goes.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
I've finally got time to give an update on my progress, plus access to the computer. My wife's studying at the moment and she monopolises the machine in the evenings, so it's been difficult to get around to posting. Add to that our diabolically slow up/download rate cos we live in the country and you get the picture...
Anyway, I sweet-talked her into letting me disappear out to the shed for an hour last weekend and I managed to get the hotcoat on. Hoo-bloody-ray! It went on with no dramas and set like a dream. It came as quite a surprise just how differently it behaved to the lam coat - Set hard in a couple of minutes and hung down in curtains from the tape around the edges, which I cut off with the blade of a stanley knife before it fully hardened, as I've seen described so many times on this site.
[img_assist|nid=1062186|title=Hotcoat #1|desc=Raised lip around tail|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
As you can see on the picture above, there's a fair bit of resin accumulated around the tail. I'd seen in a couple of threads that you shouldn't make the rail too sharp on the blank, because that would cause air bubbles to form when you did the lamination. So I rounded the rails on the blank and laid the tape so it would create a raised lip around the edge of the tail when the hotcoat went on. I'm planning to sand this down quite heavily, but I put it there so I could make a nice sharp edge, which would then soften as it gets further along the rail line. The rail starts to round off just forward of the front of where the fin will go.
Here are a few more shots of the board post-hotcoat...
[img_assist|nid=1062187|title=Hotcoat #2|desc=Quite happy with how the logo came up under the hotcoat|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062188|title=Hotcoat #3|desc=A good clear shot of my messy glass job. Not pretty, but I'm not unhappy with my first attempt. |link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062189|title=Hotcoat #4|desc=I'm guessing (hoping) that these brush strokes will sand out.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
After I put the hotcoat on, I waited a couple of days then ventured out one evening during the week to install the fin box. I got an 8-inch box from Shapers Australia, but in hindsight I should have gone longer so I could experiment a bit more with fin placement, but whatever...
Once again using advice gleaned from Swaylock's, I decided on placement by laying the fin down flat on the board, with the bottom of it (where it would meet the deck once installed, not the bottom of the block that sits inside the fin box) running along the stringer. I slid it forwards until a third of the fin stuck out over the rail, with the other two-thirds inside the rail line. This ended up being about 6.5" up from the tail, which was the upper end of where others on this site have said to place a single fin. With this in mind, I marked out a placement about 1/2" back from here, which would allow me to slide the fin around between 5.5-7 inches (5.5" as far back as it goes, 7" as far forward).
Well, in another first for me, I laid out the area I needed to cut out, got out my flash new laminate trimmer/router and proceeded to gouge into the bottom of the board. I did it in two stages because the bit I have for this machine isn't particularly deep. The first went well enough, but somehow, halfway through the second run, the nut holding the depth gauge in place came loose and the bit slipped down without me noticing - rookie mistake, I know. I think it was how I was holding the machine. I had to really wrestle with it to keep it cutting the stringer. It kept wanting to slide off into the easier foam.
I ended up cutting about 7-10mm deeper that I'd intended, meaning that there was only about 5mm between the bit and the deck of the board once I'd finished. I wouldn't be surprised if you could have heard me swearing over in the northern pacific. I wasn't happy.
But I got philosophical about it (eventually). It's my first board and I was bound to make some mistakes. At least I didn't go through to the deck... I hope this hasn't compromised the structural integrity of the board's tail though. I have made an attempt to compensate by laying two layers of 4oz glass into the cavity when I put the box in. I can't get rid of this nagging feeling that the first time I take a late drop on anything overhead the tail will just snap clean off beneath my back foot.
In the interest of keeping this short story from becoming a novel, I'll cut this post off here. More photos of fin box installation and all the dramas that entailed with follow.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
As promised, more photos, less text.
[img_assist|nid=1062191|title=Finbox installation #2|desc=Messy messy messy|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640]
My wife has a theory that when you start fucking up when you're making something, you should stop, put down your tools and go do something else. I wish I'd listened to her...
So I've got this deeper that expected hole for a fin box. I need to set up the box so it doesn't end up deeper than the surface of the board. I put the fin in the box, planning to run tape from rail to rail over the apex to hold it vertical while the resin set. I then taped all around its base to keep the resin out of the box and set a paddle pop stick at either end, perpendicular to the box, so it would go no deeper than the top of the box into the cavity. Sort of like this diagram...
[img_assist|nid=1062192|title=Finbox installation #3|desc=black=box, white=sticks, blue=tape|link=none|align=left|width=466|height=640]
I flipped the board and routed a hole through for the legrope string to come out. I'm not going to install a deck plug for the legrope, but rather go with the hole through the finbox, out through the deck and fill with resin. Less-to-zero chance of the rope pulling the plug out on a heavy wipeout.
I taped off this hole, flipped the board back over and set up for dropping the box in. I cut out two pieces of 4oz cloth - one about the dimensions of the base of the cavity, the other big enough to sit well clear of the top once the box was in. After that it was just a matter of grabbing the leftover hotcoat resin (UV Catalysed, still good), adding MEKP at the lower end of the requirement scale for a slow set, and pouring in enough to cover the bottom of the hole. I then laid the first, smaller strip of glass into the hole and made sure it was wet through before...
Hang on, forgot to tape sheets of baking paper down to stop the overflow from making a mess of the board's tail. Went back, did this, prepared to pour more resin in, lay the second sheet of glass over the hole and insert fin box...
Hang on, forgot to add white pigment to resin. Shit! Added pigment to unpoured resin, poured a little of this into the hole, making sure to fold back the wet glass layer so pigmented resin went through into legrope plug channel, refolded wet glass over, mixed white resin with clear, poured more white resin into cavity and mixed as well as I could in there. Laid second sheet of glass over the hole and in goes the box.
15 seconds after the box goes in and the resin pushes up out either side, the tape sealing the inside of the box starts pulling loose and the whole thing starts sinking into the deeper-than-intended hole under the weight of the fin. Meanwhile I've got white resin all over my gloves and I'm pussy-footing around trying not to get it all over the beautiful green fin, while at the same time swearing my head off trying to stop the finbox from filling up with rapidly gelling white fucking resin.
Obviously, with all this going on, there was no time to take photos, and I didn't want to get that bloody white resin all over the camera as well. But here's another photo of the board as it sits now, post installation dramas. This is the resin plug from which the legrope string will emerge. It's about the size of an Aussie 10c piece.
[img_assist|nid=1062193|title=Finbox installation #4|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
Once the resin began to gel in earnest, I cut off the excess glass sticking out around the box, ripped off the baking paper to get rid of most of the messy excess resin and changed my gloves. I then carefully removed the fin, trying not to get resin all over it and also trying not to move the box around and mess up the bond that was underway. So much for trying to keep it vertical, my main concern was just keeping the resin from filling the box and setting, making the whole thing useless.
Swearing at myself under my breath, I let the resin set some more then set about digging out all the half-set resin that had seeped into the box. I think I managed to get about 98% of it out eventually. By then the resin was about 2/3 set and I took a deep breath and went in for a closer look. Oh fuck - The bloody fin box wasn't in straight! I'd spent so much time concentrating on stopping the box from filling up that I hadn't paid enough attention to making sure it was fucking straight. Once again, that howling you Californians heard about a week and a half back in the middle of the day wasn't the echo of mountain wolves, it was me in my shed in South Australia, cursing myself every way I knew (and some that I made up on the spot).
But it's not too bad (he says, allowing self-delusion to set in). It's only about 3mm out of alignment and hopefully that won't make too much difference to the board's overall performance. God knows, I'll spend most of my time surfing waist to chest-high slop on it, the curse of the Adelaide surfer, unless you want to drive 8 hours to the middle of bloody nowhere. You try convincing my wife that a trip to the desert would be great in the middle of an SA summer...
So now I'm all set to break out the sander and clean it all up. I'm planning to do 80, 180, 240, 320 grade paper using the electric sander, then maybe 400 and even maybe 600 wet/dry by hand.
Do you think 600 is excessive? Could I leave it at 400?
I honestly can't be bothered attempting a gloss coat and to be frank, I don't think the board's worth the effort. Perhaps further down the line when I make something I'm really happy with.
Another novel, sorry, but it feels better once it's out. I don't dwell on it then, I can just get on with it again. And hopefully some of you out there will get a laugh out of my amateurish antics.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Holy sh$t, I've finished!
After many long nocturnal hours under the glow of one lonely incandescent bulb, a great deal of creative cursing and god knows how much backtracking, I now have a new surfboard in my quiver. It's been an brilliant journey and an incredibly steep learning curve, but I'm stoked with the outcome and it's definitely just the first of many.
I don't have any photos of the finished product because it was 10pm by the time I finished sanding last night and I don't think the flash on my point-&-shoot would do the board justice, so I'll wait until the weekend when I can get some daylight snaps.
I've come to the conclusion that other than the router, the power sander is a novice shaper's worst enemy. It's such a fine line between perfection and "Bugger", and you'll cross it nearly every time if you're not familiar with the tool in your hand. I abandoned the sander after almost ruining the hotcoat when I ground down the buildup around the tail and the finbox. I exposed the weave in about three places and just said "F&%k this, I'm doing it by hand". These needed patching with extra resin, so the rest of the night was spent mixing in wax in styrene and MEKP then carefully dabbing it on over the effected areas.
The next night (last night), I came back and went at it with the padded sanding block and a progression of ever-finer grades of sandpaper. I ended up going right up to (wet) 600-grade wet/dry paper, to get that almost-gloss-coat finish.It's hard work, but I find shaping the blank and sanding the glassed board by hand much more forgiving and I have far more control over the final product. I guess this might change as I get more familiar with the power tools, but it's not like I'm working to a deadline or on a mass-production scale, so why hurry and increase the fuck-up risk by that much more.
The last job was to drill out the hole for the legrope string, down through the deck and out the base of the finbox, then installing a loop of nylon string pilfered from my wife's sewing supplies. I gave it an all-over hosing to get rid of the dust and paste built up from the wet sanding then howled at the moon in excitement because it was finished!
So I guess this is just about the end of the thread, other than to add a few more photos of the finished product and perhaps one or two of it in action, if I can convince anyone to sit around on the rocks at Middleton waiting for me to catch a wave. Thanks Swaylock's, for watching and for the pieces of advice and encouragement along the way. I'll post some photos of future projects as they develop.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Hey Cass
Thanks for sharing your build with us. The best thing about the first board is getting it in the water for the first time. My first board was completed two years ago (a balsa Jensen-style HWS), and only had about 3 months of water time before it met its untimely demise (it took on a lot of water!) But I proved to myself that I could make a board that worked well enough for me to want to ride it regularly. Keep going with your board building as they will improve rapidly - my boards 2 and 3 (last summer) were *much* better than my first, and I've just started boards 4 and 5 for this summer, which I have high hopes for! (But it's slow going, I know what it's like to try to build a board with an hour or two spare here and there between young kids!)
Cheers
Paul
It was kinda fun for us watching over your shoulder - hope its the first of many more, and don't forget you promised more pics of the finished board. Cowabunga!
[img_assist|nid=1062264|title=Sanding #1|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062265|title=Sanding #2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062266|title=Hole for legrope #1|desc=First drill a smaller (off centre) guide hole...|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062267|title=Hole for legrope #2|desc=...then drill again with a bigger bit. A bit of countersinking and some sandpaper and your legrope is secure.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062268|title=Hole for legrope #3|desc=Next, take a photo of it from the side so it doesn't look so off-centre...|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062269|title=Finished product #1|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640]
[img_assist|nid=1062270|title=Finished product #2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062271|title=Finished product #3|desc=Rocker shot|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062272|title=Finished product #4|desc=Bottom|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]
[img_assist|nid=1062273|title=Finished product #5|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=600|height=450]
Sorry, no shots of board with fin in, didn't think of it at the time. I just want to get it into the water now.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
[img_assist|nid=1061480|title=Logo|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=394]
A big thank you to my mother-in-law Jillian Dunn for the Sea Dragon.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Hey dude, nice logo, nice board, but I especially like the Chuck Norris imitation!
and, uh, I think you're fin box is a little crooked...
hahaha, just kidding - she'll be right, looks the business, crack a tinnie and celebrate!
I'm taking the board out for its first dip tomorrow morning. The swell's only going to be around the 2-3 foot range and hell will freeze over before it gets hollow at Middleton, but I'm going to give it a crack anyway.
To be honest, this board is really better suited to head-high to DOH, long walling point breaks like the ones found on the NSW North Coast where I grew up (how I dream about 6-8 foot Lennox Point). There's nothing within a 5-hour drive that's anything even slightly like that around here, so the next board I make for myself will be shorter, wider and fishier - much better suited to the waste-head high slop that is the norm on the southern end of SA's Fleurieu Peninsula.
I'll post a surf report at some stage soon, then I think we can safely draw the line under this thread and move on to more interesting ones.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
OK, but when I read stuff like "move on" I just have to bump the thread hahaha. Its in my nature, sorry. Yes, would like a ride report, but hope you get it into the type of waves you built it for. You have a very entertaining writing style, BTW. When do you start the next one?
Thanks Huck. I won't take it personally, because there's so much on this site of interest that moving on is inevitable.
I've already begun the next build. It's actually two boards, one for my 3yo daughter and a matching one for her cousin in WA. I've dubbed them the "Baby Eggs". Here's the basic planshape:
[img_assist|nid=1062288|title=A suitable board for a 3yo?|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=452|height=640]
I've had to adjust the rocker measurements slightly since drawing this up because of the dimensions of the blank I'm using (a 5'7" Surfblanks short board). It's like a mini mal for a mini person - it only comes up to my chest, but Gidget can't even reach the nose yet. Put the two of them together and I could just about use them for water skis.
Hopefully it will be good for a few years. If everything goes to plan, she'll be hanging ten before she turns 10.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
[img_assist|nid=1062288|title=A suitable board for a 3yo?|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=452|height=640]
Yo CassS what program you use?
Bout the board ... how do u feel when somebody sais something nice about ur board?
I really like when the people say "waw what an awesome thing to ride a board made by yourself" hahahaha even if mine it's so damn ugly. i gave it to some of my friends, they surf much better than me (i am a bad/beginer (2years) surfer) and they were so impressed about the board.
I can't wait ... on Christmas i'll start shaping the 2nd one
Cheers Colin
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