BoardSide Surfboard Forum!

So I have been working on getting a forum or message board in place because this blog doesn't really have the capability I need to effectively communicate with all you Surfcraft Enthusiasts. Well, it's finally done. Hoping you guys will embrace this.  I'll do my best to answer any questions.

Also, if any of you guys are interested in helping me moderate this forum, create an account and email me. Your help would be great.

Post away!! http://boardside.com/forum/

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.

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.

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

Surfboard Shaping Stand

Here are the specs I drew up for the shaping stand I created. It cost me about $24.00 to build one of these, purchasing all the stuff from Lowes. Anyway, just wanted to share this.

Click Here to Download the PDF

Reflection

All in all the kick times seemed alright. Freaked out a little bit at first only because I didn't know what to expect. I would kick it slower next time as the lam job started to gel a little and would of like to work the lap tucks better. It started to gel in less than 10 minutes. After I was done with what I needed to do, I used a heater to cure the lam and hotcoat faster.




The kick time for the hotcoat was fine. Just noting that it had 3 teaspoons of pigment in it, the kick times would be faster if there was no pigment. After reading some threads, I think I did the lam job too thin where the glass looked dry. This is why I think I got pits and zits in the hotcoat.

I probably should have installed the fin box after the lamination, but I think I will do it before the gloss coat. Plus I am trying to spread out my spending. I still need to get a 1/4 inch router bit, a router template bushing and make myself a template.

So having said all that, now I'm ready for some sanding. Kind of dreading this part... But Jason over at ClipsAndFasteners.com gave me an awesome deal (like always) on a DeWalt 7” /9” Heavy-Duty Electronic Variable Speed Polisher! Should make things easier. I will keep you updated.

The Glassing Stuff

Trying to be organized and all, I jerry rigged a little table using a water cooler and some Pepsi 24 pack boxes. Didn't want to get resin all over my work desk.

The Shaping/Glassing Stand

Forgot to take pictures while I was building the stand for my shaping and glassing, but I made the stand so I can interchange between shaping and glassing. The top part comes on and off and is held down with a bolt. I also made the cross beam removable so I can change it out with a longer beam for longboards. Seems to work pretty well. Doesn't wobble.

Here is the stand with the glassing attachment. It's narrower than the shaping attachment so it won't get in the way when doing the laps. And is taller so I don't have to strain my back. Getting older and older, it's just not as easy anymore :(

I placed tape on the top, sticky side up so the board doesn't move around while I am glassing. There is that left over Oracle kneepad again.

Shaping the Board

Skinned it with the Bosch 3365 and seemed to work. Although you can't really tell by the mess, the Bosch 3365 had a little bag attachment for the shavings and seemed to keep it a little more contained in my work area.

The single blade on the planer seemed to take chunks out of the board while skinning. Not sure if this is typical, but I am assuming not. Having only one blade instead of two made pretty rough cuts on the blank. But once I got pass the hard skin, it was as smooth as a babies butt.

Glad I went with the Bosch 3365. It was cheap and seems to do the job. Made a few modifications to it... I epoxied the foot's 45 degree grooves, removed the set down rest contraption and filed the notches on the knob to make the depth cuts smoother to turn.

The Tools

These are some of the tools I am using...

I hand made the shaping block with some foam glued to it, a shaping paddle, caliper, a poormans shaping square made out of left over plexi glass and a shaping pad made out of an Oracle knee pad. And the usual tools I purchased from the store.

Don't know why Oracle was giving out knee pads for a promotional pieces!?!? I guess us techie nerds are always down on their knees fixing people's computers.

Oh yah, not shown here is the planer I purchased. I actually went with the cheapo Bosch 3365 3-1/4" Planer with only one blade. Actually got a deal from Home Depot because the box was all beat up. Hopefully it works!

Drawing the Template

This is the custom template I just made using a pegboard without the holes for my Displacement Hull project. I decided to make the nose a little more rounded, kinda like a longboard. The template turned out to be a little wide so I had to bring it in a little when outlining. I think it will work alright though.



So after tracing my template, I decided to draw out a diamond tail to see what that would look like instead of the pin tail. Can't decide!!!!

Anyway, I ultimately went with the diamond tail.