Garage Works - 3/19/2023

I got a bunch of errands done today - fun how that happens when the surf and wind are down.  But I also got in a nice nap and after all that, I did get into the garage.

I got the new long prone/light wind winging board cut out of the blank.  And I also got the bottom deck skinned (removed the hard outer foam).

I ran out of battery on the new 12V Bosch Planer so I stopped at the bottom deck.

Now comes the hard part - trying to figure out the bottom deck shape.  Wide and flat provide stability, but narrower would lower drag.  Balancing these and getting the track placement right is a game.

The tape measure is where most shapers are putting the mid point of the tracks (about 30" from the tail).

I'm trying to figure out how to install these Chinook 16" boxes.  That would take away a lot of the worry about getting the placement just right.

And since I ran out of battery, I went ahead and shifted over to finishing off the nose rebuilding on Matt's board.

I cut out the fiberglass cover sheet, got it trimmed and set it aside.  I mixed up 1.4 ounces of epoxy and laminated the 3 patches on each side (to build up some low spots), and then kept going with the cover sheet for the bottom deck.

The laps actually came up pretty far on the top deck - I guess I do this now from using the innegra on my foil boards...

I came pretty far back from where the repairs were, to make sure the repair wouldn't fail.  I had to remove a lot of Matt's paint job to get to the base fiberglass and rough it up (so the new glass/epoxy would bond).

I'm really happy with how this rebuild is turning out.

Tomorrow I'll sand the laps, add the top deck cover sheet, trim it up and epoxy it in place.  That means Tuesday I'll get the fill coat on and Wednesday I should be able to sand it down to finish grade.

Garage Works - 3/9/2023

I saw this little planer at Lowes recently and thought it would be perfect for doing small area work on repairs and builds.

I can attest that this is a useful tool.

It is ultra light and fits in much smaller spaces than the other planers I have.  It is strong and cuts through hardened epoxy without any drama.

This surface is now flat as I need it without having spent more than 5 minutes working on the high areas (and it only took that long because I was learning which buttons did what).  On the repair project side of this, I'll use the sander to still knock down some even smaller irregularities, but then I'll go ahead and rout the slots for the finboxes.

The allternative to this would have been a sander using 40 grit - but that often leaves a bias in one direction or another (because of the spinning and what direction I go at the project area).  This planer works perfectly for this application.

I can also see this working rocker on the shorter boards I make - not having to deal with tool weight will let me focus on material removal and dialing in rocker.

This being a new tool system from Bosch, I can see getting the 12 volt barrel jig saw and 5" Random Orbital Palm Sander also.  I already have my heavy tools for longer span work - I've been waiting for this line of tools to come out (without even knowing it was in development).