Surfing Waves

im sick of looking at these paper thin boards and i kind of wanna put my own twist on a board.which got me into the realm of shaping. i know how to glass a board pretty well as all i do local repairs as well as my friends.i just have some questions/concerns


1.where to get a blank of the gulf coast?
2.how much epoxy/polyester resin would be needed for a board round 6 foot with a little more beef
3.what tools would be the bare necisities?(pardon my spelling)

i appreciate any help

NEVER confuse glassing a board with ding repairs two complete different animals.

1 - try hit a few surf shops and see if they sell blanks. You can buy em online but shipping is expensive.

2 - amount depends on experience and of course board size.

3 - you can shape an entire board with nothing more than a surform and a hand planer and sum sand paper. Having a power planer helps speed things up though.

You will also need some form of squeegy for the glassing

Have fun nothing like riding your own board (not such a big deal when you break it like i did with mine

Remember that epoxy does float more. There have been debates on this but I shaped a board out of epoxy like it was poly just to see, and yes, it's too floaty. I was building a tiny wave board, I thought I could never have too much float but I was wrong. Can't bury the rail pretty much at all, especially with the wave speed associated with the waves I built it for.

And glassing with epoxy isn't the same as poly, you sit around and just kinda...wait a while. I even had a guy show me how he glasses the deck, then flips the entire board over, and does the rails with a roller brush.

It's not an undoable thing but as mentioned here so far (good tips/help) it is way different than a repair. As how much resin to use,,,, well for your first stick. Way more than you need( then you'll be safe). As strength goes yes epoxy is stronger than poly but costs about double for small jobs, (way more slow and forgiving but costly) allso keep in mind thicker resins don't make a stronger board unless there is more cloth included.
Strongest I've made are 2-4oz on the belly a 4 oz deck patch with a 4 oz top and a 6 oz top. That's about as strong as it gets.
Basic tools: surfboard stand, glue brushes, spreaders, shureform, planer,block sanders(with lots of sand paper), shears(scissors) etc.

tomcat360 wrote:Remember that epoxy does float more. There have been debates on this but I shaped a board out of epoxy like it was poly just to see, and yes, it's too floaty. I was building a tiny wave board, I thought I could never have too much float but I was wrong. Can't bury the rail pretty much at all, especially with the wave speed associated with the waves I built it for.

Hmmm i'm not with you on this one tom. If you shape 2 boards to the same volume and then glass them with the same weight of cloth then the only difference in their 'float' or bouyancy will be down to the difference in the weight of the epoxy resin against the polyester resin. In other words pretty much nothing.

Of course this isn't how most epoxy boards are shaped and glassed. Not sure about the one you've just described tom. But most are made of lighter less strong material as the epoxy resin is stronger and will allow for this. Hence giving a lighter more floaty board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy

KS

opps double post

EPS has larger cells than PU so it carries more air in it making it lighter and more buoyant. That's what really makes the difference in weight and bouyancy

I was speaking of a EPS/Epoxy board, hand shaped and glassed. 2x6oz deck and bottom (hahahaha.....try dropping in on me....) and I feel like it floats more. That being said, I haven't ridden a carbon copy of it.

true ding repair and glassing are different but i make my own fiberglassed enhanged longboards.too.carve out the template glass it and grip it.they havent snapped yet haha.

the main things i was concerned with was im not nearly as familiar with polyester resin as opposed to epoxy and i surf an epoxy board.the only downside is its lightness being difficult on windy days

polyester i understand is you mix the poly with catalyst.saturate and let dry.then use sanding resin?
nobody ever explained it too me

Saturate, squeege, and let cure, not really dry. Then you have to do a hot coat, which has sanding agent added. You have to do a hot coat for epoxy too, it's just not hot.

sebastiansurfer wrote:true ding repair and glassing are different but i make my own fiberglassed enhanged longboards.too.carve out the template glass it and grip it.they havent snapped yet haha.

the main things i was concerned with was im not nearly as familiar with polyester resin as opposed to epoxy and i surf an epoxy board.the only downside is its lightness being difficult on windy days

polyester i understand is you mix the poly with catalyst.saturate and let dry.then use sanding resin?
nobody ever explained it too me

If you are concerned about using polyester and also the fact that your epoxy boards are too light then use a normal pu blank with epoxy resin.

KS

good point but i was just more concerned with the cost factor

kitesurfer wrote:
If you are concerned about using polyester and also the fact that your epoxy boards are too light then use a normal pu blank with epoxy resin.

KS

Doesn't epoxy resin react poorly to PU foam? I thought it melted it or something... But I don't know too much.

Sebastien I've been looking into this as well and have found the archives at www.swaylocks.com to be very helpful. If you get a board going, post some pics of it as you go! I'd love to see how it progresses.

will do
gathering the mucho needed $ as i speak

Snoodle wrote:

kitesurfer wrote:
If you are concerned about using polyester and also the fact that your epoxy boards are too light then use a normal pu blank with epoxy resin.

KS

Doesn't epoxy resin react poorly to PU foam? I thought it melted it or something... But I don't know too much.

Sebastien I've been looking into this as well and have found the archives at www.swaylocks.com to be very helpful. If you get a board going, post some pics of it as you go! I'd love to see how it progresses.

Ive never experienced any problems and neither have plenty of other shapers i know.

KS

Sweet, I must have been misinformed. Channged your avatar I see... I liked the fish plan.

Snoodle wrote:Sweet, I must have been misinformed. Channged your avatar I see... I liked the fish plan.

LOL, its nearly xmas, the fish will be back in the new year!

KS