rocker table is almost made

7'10" Single Fin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XN1eEQVVRE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Excited to start a new 7'10" single fin

Well christmas has come and gone looking upon New Years Eve in just a few days.  Starting a new board today.

Spent a lot of time in the garage last night needed a break. I spent some time checking out what folks are willing to share about.the various ways they construct and mill their lumber for hollow wooden boards. This was an interesting way to maintain consistency in ripping lumber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2T-I9DoCJM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Go Blind Dog !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yIbxabrR7M&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Surf Sufficient - How To Make A Canvas Surfboard Bag

A great way to protect your boards and customize your board socks.

http://www.youtube.com/v/31RJGX_BJDU?autohide=1&version=3&attribution_tag=6Q4ygtN6Ms0p3efmV3RF6A&autohide=1&showinfo=1&feature=share&autoplay=1

Make a simple woodworking box joint jig

So it's time for D and J Wooden Boards Shop to turn into Santa Workshop.  I wasted my Veterans day at tool shops trying to work out a solution for a troublesome dovetail joint.  Decided to run with box joints.  They are equally beautiful and less expensive in time and router guides.

http://www.youtube.com/v/bTd81dlRQiE?autohide=1&version=3&attribution_tag=x1qf1VTDiJ8WMZKQ-nGA-g&autoplay=1&showinfo=1&feature=share&autohide=1

Fun Fat Bouyant Boards, 7'4" Single Fin Double Concave...

So, partly for the size of my garage and mostly because I want to enjoy a different kind of ride.  Fun boards are the flavor of the year.  We surfed the 6'8" last weekend.  It paddled fast enough and road fun. I'm leaning toward a 7'4" Single Fin with a double concave on the tail. 

Taping off an outline before laminating or coating ...

8 Foot Fish Design Akushaper

I wanted to share this with any one interested in checking out how Akushaper works. I need to get a better screen capture software, thanks for putting up with the poor clarity of the video image.

7'0" Cedar Single Fin

Watch "7 0 Cedar Fin" on YouTube

Gloss coat issues....potatoe chips...

I have had resin act this way once before. In certain areas the resin repels. I attributed this to a previous board I was in a hurry to glass and I used just any old rah on the garage to wipe it down before applying glass. It was super disappointing to see but I had to sand it down and repoor.  This occurrence isn't as bad and o can probably just sand it down then polish it, we were macking some chips after sanding for several hours.  We wiped down the board with a wet rag, bit as you know oil and water do not mix.   So I am jumping to the conclusion that we need to cit our cholesterol intake while prepping a board for hot and gloss coats.

Put A Cork In It!

So I am trying the use of cork to allow a cleaner transition between the plastic vent and leash plugs  and the hot and gloss coats. I am sure this is no knew invention. I was hoping to find a rubber stopper the same size.

Sanded Hollow Wooden Surfboard...

So for the first time, and with the help of my friend Ian, I have pondered the benefits and beauty in a hollow wooden surfboard that is dry then wet sanded but not polished. Results to come later this week.

7'0" Completed

I was able to get the wet sanding and polishing completed tonight.  I learned that the final gloss coat is not intended to be a "poor  it and hope she's perfect". I learned that you poor this coat as a coat that you really need to work over, ie. 400 grit dry, then 600 grit wet, then 1000 grit, then 1400 wet sand grit, and then the polishing with rubbing compound begins, and ultimately polish. I learned that wet sanding is best with a sanding block vs. electric sander, but the electric polisher is ideal for the compound and polish. 
Really looking forward to giving it a shot in the water soon!

New 9'4" In The Design Process No Name For It Yet...

Most all of the boards I design revolve around two motivations.  

1. How I want the board to behave in a particular setting.
2. Or a new construction technique.

Which has made each board present new difficulties and opportunities to learn.  Often times I design up a board and it flops in design stage after throwing it to a couple of friends, a good night's sleep, or even good old common sense sets in. 

This next board is designed with a few things I want to try...

1. I want a board that is easy to carry under my arm.
2. Single fin (already got that fin designed will post pic later).
3. I want it to be responsive, but long enough to paddle easily.
4. Buoyancy is always good.
5. A rocker that works in smaller waves (less rocker).
6. Want to maker it lighter so I'm using 1/8th inch ribs.  I'll need to reinforce it with 1/4x1/4 inch cedar pieces on each rib.
7. I also put the ribs at 6 inch on center in the middle and 8 inch on center towards nose and tail.  That's why the distances between slices may seem larger at nose and tail.

Please click on the image to get it's dimensions to pop up larger.  

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   After two really good sessions this weekend... 
   
   

   So after a great weekend of surfing and thinking about what board size does for us in the water I've come to a new concept.  

   1. Carrying a board under your arm is nice, but there's nothing quite like speeding along a line up because you're not worried about falling down.  
   1. So I've widened the 9'4" to 23.75
   2. For us shorter more stocky fellas, buoyancy and width in a board is important for paddling and catching waves.
   We spend so much time working on these boards that it's very important to design them well before hand.  
   Feel free to check on your opinion of these new dimensions I drew up last night.
   
   
   

   
   
   
   

7'0" Single Fin Hot Coat

This is the last poor of resin we'll see on this board. From here its 48 hours to cure. Then wet sanding and finally polishing. Honestly, the gloss is beautiful before the wet sanding and polishing.  If I'm doing a board for myself I'll often just stop here at this point out of laziness, mostly because I just like the way it looks at this stage.  There is a seem to it from the masking tape, but if it's my own board I don't mind it.  The goal is wetsand away the seems starting with a WS of 600 Grit and working up to 1000 grit or above.  After wet sanding we'll polish the board.  What's really cool about HWS board making is that every step of the way is a build up and sand down.  This applies to the building stage and the glassing stage.  If you add something and it fails, it can always be sanded down and reapplied. 

Hot Coat Finished on the top deck...

Gettting closer to being done...

Bottom Hot Coat Complete

I spent a good amount of time cleaning up the fin lamination.  If you still have the energy (I've got 3 kids so I measure energy differently than some), get the gratification of that first hot coat.  It's worth it!

Fin Glassing

It's gotta get messy, before it gets better...
Maybe you've heard the old saying it's going to get worse before it gets better. That's exactly what you can expect when laminating a fin onto a surfboard. In building a surfboard you spend a lot of time refining the shape and the surface. Making a mess while laminating the fin is the last thing on your mind.

Fins plug and air vent installed...

Leash and Vent Holes 

This is a pretty exciting part of board building.  You've already...

• Designed the board with Akushaper
• Cut the skeleton
• Milled the bead and cove rails (which you can see in the tail portion in this photo)
• Built the rocker table 
• Made your top and bottom decks
• Glued it all down to the skeleton
• Shaped/Sanded the board into shape
• Laminated the 6 oz cloth top (2 layers and bottom 1 layer)
• Glassed on the fin(s)

....and now the you are able to put a real time line on when the board will have it's first surf.  Tonight we'll flip the board, finish/sand the glassed on fin, so we can put a 1st of possibly two clear coats we call the "hot coat".  Sometimes you can get away with a single hot coat that is glossy and full enough to pass as the top glossy coat.  Sometimes the hot coat needs to be sanded for blemishes so a more perfect Gloss coat can be reapplied.