Shaping All Done

Well... I am pretty excited moving on to glassing the board and getting it in the water. After doing a lot of research at my local surf shop, I think the board came out exactly the way I wanted it to. I am pretty lucky to be close to a shop (Icons of Surf) that carry a wide variety of boards, including retro boards that I can spec out.  

Just need to sand the fins and do the resin work. I have some ideas on the resin tints I want to place on it. I'll post it in the next few days to get everyone's opinion.

http://boardside.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13

Mini Bob Simmons Fins

So with the fins all shaped, now ready to start glassing it. These fins were for the ShortSider board, but it's now going on the Simmons board. This was placed on hold for a while as I was trying to finish up the Blunt Nose Longboard. But here we go. Hope this turns out. Never done this before.

Top side all done. I took the fiberglass fin rope and drenched it in resin, then wrapped it around the fins.  Then took some 8oz cloth that I pre-cut and placed that over it. Resined that into place. I did notice that after I was done, that there were some bubbles in the fin rope. Oh well. I think I should of spent more time working the resin into the strands of the rope.   

After the top was hard, I pealed them up and glassed the underside. I put quite a bit of catalyst in the resin to make it kick pretty hot. Didn't want to wait too long.  I forgot to mention that I used wax paper under the fins. This made it really easy to peal up.  So with them all glassed, I need to sand and cut the bottoms to get the height I want for the fins. 

Mini Bob Simmons Project

I just started the Mini Bob Simmon board. I was originally going to do the ShortSider, but went with the Simmons instead. So here is the beginnings of it. Hopefully it will come out the way I want it to :-) You can see more photos and the progress at "thtp://www.boardside.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13".  

New BoardSide Logo

Actually put this together a while back, but wasn't sure if I would use it or not. But after some consideration, I think it might work for some boards. What do you think? I still need to make a silk screen for this. 

When making my logos, I originally used a laser printer to print onto the rice paper. I didn't have a bubble jet printer, so I went ahead and tried the laser. I was concerned that the rice paper would just melt, but it didn't. The only thing is it didn't print out as dark as I wanted to. Might of been my old printer... So I went with the real way - silk screening the logo. Not only did it turn dark and crisp, it was a lot easier than I had thought.

If any of you are interested in creating your own logo design for your boards, I used this thing called PhotoEZ to make my silk screens. Really easy!!! Just print out your logo on regular paper and expose it to the sun to develop it. Here is the link:  http://ezscreenprint.com/photoezstarterkits.aspx

Also, if you need rice paper, I went to Micheals and purchased a roll of it (probably about 10 feet of it) for only $12.00. I think you can pick it up at any art store. The rice paper will turn transparent when you glass it.

Blunt Nose Longboard Ready to be Ridden

It took me a while to complete this, but here it is.  All done - the blunt nose longboard.  This is for a friend of mine, so I haven't even taken it out yet for a ride.  But I am hoping it's going to ride great....Hope she likes it.  Here are the specs:

Length: 9'0

Width: 23"
Nose: 19 1/2"
Tail: 15 1/2"

On to the next board.........

No. 4 Surfboard Template Design

Here is a new surfboard template that I just designed called "the No.4". It's the fourth template of the growing list of surfboards I want to build. Excited to know how it's going to ride with the funky tail that I put on it. I am expecting  it very loose but controlled. With the sqwirly tail shape, it has more surface area for tighter turns and the outward curves has a venturi effect, causing suction. I may be wrong though.

If you are interested in building this board or want to see a better view of it, like always, I included the template (PDF Format)  that you can download and print up.  Click here to download the template.

If you do end up building this before I do, let me know the hurdles you came across building this and of course - how it rides! I am sure the tail going to be a little hard to wrap the rails when glassing because all the curves. 

Hotcoating the Longboard

For some reason, the photos I took didn't come out very clear. So, this is what I managed to salvage. Next step.... Sanding. I hate sanding!

Lamination Complete

A definite experience laminating four different colors. I felt very rushed and actually barely had enough resin mixed up for each color. I initially had each color in a plastic disposable party cup, but didn't realize, by the time I got to the last color, the cup started to melt and the bottom of the cup busted. You could imagine the mess I had on my hands.

Ready to Start Glassing

Preparing the Pigment

I spent a little time a night before preparing the colors for the Blunt Nose Longboard. The colors came out slightly different than the preliminary design that I rendered, but it should look pretty good.

Designs for the Blunt Nose Longboard

Here are some designs that I put together for the Blunt Nose Longboard. Not sure which one I will go with yet. I am kinda leaning toward the third one from the left. Any input? Leave a comment.....

Shaping All Done

Shaping is finally all done with the Blunt Nose Longboard. On to glassing - well, hopefully soon.

Here are the specs:

- Length: 9'0
- Width 23 "
- Thickness: 3"
- Concave Nose
- Square Tail
- Eggy 50/50 Rails

Shaping the Longboard

With the template cut out, I am now ready to start shaping down the board. I am using the Bosch 3365 3-1/4" Planer that I picked up at Home Depot for about a $100. Not too bad. Seems to work alright. Although on the last board cutting through the skin made some gouges in the foam. Hopefully it won't happen again.

Here we go!!!


Here are the rail bands being cut.

Blunt Noserider - 9'0 Longboard

Finally found some time to start the blunt nose longboard. Especially with the waves being so small lately, I figured that I might as well get started. This is a US Blank 9'3 and will be cut down to a 9'0 longboard. It's actually going to be a present for a friend of mine, so I am hoping it will come out the way I want it to.

Drawing out the template.

Mini Bob Simmons Surfboard Template

Here is a Mini Bob Simmons inspired surfboard template that you can use to create your own. The PDF link below has the actual template. All you need to do is print it, tape the pages together and cut it out.

This template measures 5'5 inches and is meant to be built with twin keel fins and a scooped nose. I haven't built this board yet, but decided to draw out the template and add it to the list of boards I want to make. Someday......

Click Here to Download the Template

Surfboard Glassing Guide

Here is a surfboard glassing guide/schedule that I put together. I wanted a chart that would help me figure out the amount of catalyst to put into the resin - based off of the outside temperature and fall within the time frame I wanted before it kicks. It's kind of been a guess work for me, so I am hoping this will help out.

This guide is broken down in three sections - Lamination, Hotcoat and Gloss. The measurements are in CCs instead of drops or percentage. Also included is the amount of Surfacing Agent (Wax) to put when making the hotcoat. I modified the amount of MEKP CCs per ounce of resin to fit with the kick times I wanted. So adjust the amount of catalyst to get different kick times.

Anyway, if you guys use this guide, let me know if you how it works out for you. I haven't tested all measurements yet, so make sure you do a test batch. Depending on many factors like weather and the amount of pigment you put into the resin, the outcome will definitely vary. So... do this is at your own risk.

If you can, post your experience, comments or suggestions to make this better. Hopefully it will help out other fellow DIY surfboard builders.

Click Here to Download the Glassing Guide

ShortSider: Stubby Surfboard Fins

This is the ShortSider surfboard fin I just traced out and cut with a jigsaw. I purchased the wood over at Michaels. Cost about $9.00 for a 12 x 12" plywood.




Here are the fins all shaped and ready for glassing. It's been foiled on one side for each fin, the oposite side is completely flat. This will provide the suction I need going down the line.



It will be cut down to size once the glassing is done. It is currently a little tall, but needed the extra height to clamp down when sanding down the fins. Shaping these weren't as bad as I thought it would be. It only took me about a total of 30 minutes from tracing to shaping these fins.

New Surfboard Templates

Here are some of the surfboard templates just carved out. Middle one is for the ShortSider stubby surfboard. I know I mentioned that the longboard is going to be my next project, but I have been really into shorter boards lately and may start on the stubby surfboard first.

You can see in the photo above that I used a printed template to get the shape I want. I used Adobe Illustrator to draw out the surfboard design and printed it with the tiling feature and just taped all the sheets together to make the full size template.

BoardSide - ShortSider Twin Fin Stubby Surfboard

Shortsider is a twin fin stubby. Kind of inspired by the Bob Simmon style board but extremly modified. This will have a "S" deck, blunt nose and will measure about 5'5. Should be really loose and fun to ride. I figure I can make this if I screw up on my longboard.

Here is a link to the PDF version of the ShortSider with a few more color schemes.

My Next Project - 9'8 Blunt Nose Longboard

Click Here to View the File (PDF)

Once I save up enough money, I'll be starting my second board - a blunt nose longboard (Nose Rider) i just designed. Probably a 9'8 single fin square tail.