Visited.the warehouse for diy board kits today. This is my next project


diysurfboardkits.com.au

That looks like a great winter project
Wood boards look awesome.
Need a longer mini mal and a smaller wave sup ??

They do look good, great introduction to shaping and construction...

love to see / read real world build experiences and ride reports

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Lenn said..
love to see / read real world build experiences and ride reports

Agreed, I had a snoop around but couldnt find anything... I'll post it here if I can find anything

Gets pretty addictive , currently on wooden board number 5 . First 3 chambered , number 4 hollow wood knee board , number 5 - this one foam core . Foam core I've found so far much lighter , much easier build.This one is the foam core 6 ft x 19 inch , going to be thruster set up . Just starting on tail block and rails .

Looks real nice dude...

Interesting you're using a foam core? interested in the process here...

Nice board rack too

Thanks for that Andy - not sure what happened there .

This one is a new board for my 17 year old . Basic build is same as for a hollow wood build . Difference is start with a foam blank so no need to build the wooden skeleton .

I am pretty much into recycling as much as possible .This particular board started with an old 70 s board which was busted up and a bloke I know had stripped it back with the aim of using the foam in patch up jobs . Anyway he passed it over to me to bring it back to life . Basically squared up the rails and tail , glued 6 mm wood strips along top and bottom decks ( covering over dings ) and redcedar squares on rails . Still needs 3 x wood strips on each rail and nose cut off and nose block and tail block attached . It's coming in around the same weight as a standard board - but obviously much more robust .
Timber is recycled shipping pallets , red cedar and balsa rails .

Was lucky enough to score a heap of Huon pine and a bit of King Billy pine this afternoon . Reckon the next one will be a keeper .

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Tassiedevel said..
Thanks for that Andy - not sure what happened there .

This one is a new board for my 17 year old . Basic build is same as for a hollow wood build . Difference is start with a foam blank so no need to build the wooden skeleton .

I am pretty much into recycling as much as possible .This particular board started with an old 70 s board which was busted up and a bloke I know had stripped it back with the aim of using the foam in patch up jobs . Anyway he passed it over to me to bring it back to life . Basically squared up the rails and tail , glued 6 mm wood strips along top and bottom decks ( covering over dings ) and redcedar squares on rails . Still needs 3 x wood strips on each rail and nose cut off and nose block and tail block attached . It's coming in around the same weight as a standard board - but obviously much more robust .
Timber is recycled shipping pallets , red cedar and balsa rails .

Was lucky enough to score a heap of Huon pine and a bit of King Billy pine this afternoon . Reckon the next one will be a keeper .

Interesting, do you have some pics of the other steps? or some resources as to how... still not sure how you shaped the wood around the foam blank...

I ask bcs I am recycling an old busted windsurfer. I removed the old glass and cut and glued in a play stringer and am slowly shaping a foam blank, it's 7'3" atm... I was going to glass when I finish but this could be another option

Just missed out on an old windsurfer at the tip shop few weeks back - not quick enough - would be ideal for a longboard .
Few different techniques you could use - some use a vacuum bag ( I don't have one ) and timber veneers .
I use a thicknesser to bring the timber down to about 6 mm , then a table saw to cut into 4.5 cm and 2.5 cm strips . Use the wider strips on the bottom side and rails , thin strips on top deck - as you get closer to the rails the timber needs to bend front to back ( rocker ) and side to side due to the curve on the deck . I soak the timber strips in a water tub for at least put 24 hours with a weight on them to get the bend for the rocker .Then using narrow strips allows you to mould into the curve of the deck .
there is a YouTube video - how to make a wood wrap over foam surfboard by deep creek TV . Probably explains it better then me .

Square rails with sander



Glue and clamp / plastic wrap strips on deck and bottom





Cut shape with circular saw


Rough sand deck and bottom - aim is to remove lumps / high spots then glue on rails ( putting 4 layers on this one )




Then add nose and tail blocks ,fine sand top / bottom , shape rails and nose / tail

whoa!!!, crazy stuff... thats quite a process but looks awesome.

I guess it means you cant really fin tune the rails but at my level that probably doesn't matter that much...

I'll try and watch that vid today, thx again

The kitset boards I have had a good look at the videos to understand the processes. Really its the rails and shaping them and matching the rail templates is probably the most time consuming part.
Having built epoxy sandwich boards, i did make some ply boards. Only one ply bottom which had flat bottom with bit of tail vee. The decks weren't full wrap around rails but when you bend wood it gains more form strength. Using veneer i could wrap rails. Using vacuum pump is was to go.
One dude was living in Dunedin and made veneer surfboards that looked awesome and so strong he put on step and bouncing on it, I couldn't believe it was happening and he was tall solid guy.