Garage Works - 9/26/2022

Marlon and I skipped the afternoon session (although it did look wingable...) - and we got work done on the boards.

Marlon sanded down the ding repairs, but they still needed some work.  Filled the holes with epoxy and milled fibers.  We'll sand tomorrow and see if we need to put a thin fiberglass layer on (I think yes right now).

I had gotten the rail tape on No.26 (kinda a PITA - I guided off the bottom rail when trimming the rail tape and it left the top all over the place.  I think I'll do the opposite on No.27 to see if there is a difference.

After that (and cooking and mowing the lawn), I prepped the bottom deck laminate for No.27 and got the boxes in and the deck laminated.  I did forget to cut the box slots before using epoxy on the track boxes... I made an approximately located cut (so I wouldn't muck up my scissors) and kept going.

Not bad - we'll see how the fit is around the boxes when I grind them open.

Tomorrow I'll sand around the rail tape I added to No.26, smooth out the bottom area where the logo will be placed, stick on the logo and place a fill coat on.

On No.27, I want to sand the laps and get the rail tape on.  It has actually been pretty efficient glassing two boards simultaneously - I usually have to walk away once the epoxy is set in place.  For these two I've just start to work on the second board while the epoxy cures on the first board.  Constant production!

At this rate, I may be able to surf these this weekend... that's if I don't get distracted...

Garage Works - 1/12/2022

Rainy afternoon that had zero wind (and probably no surf) - perfect conditions for more glassing.  I sanded the edges from the bottom deck lamination, cut the carbon tape and did some resin quantity calculations.

I got the rail tape on starting with a quick coat along the rail so the rail tape would stick.  Then I started from one end, got it stuck on to the board using a brush, then went back over it to saturate the tape.  Then I added the thinner tape (cut to fit) to the nose area.  Finally I went ahead and put the top deck fill coat on.

I'll check on it in the morning before I go to work - but as I was putting it away, everything was nice and tight, there were no bugs, and I think I was able to get all the errant brush hairs off the deck.

Insert Blocks in on Kalani's Board

This post should have been before the previous one...  This morning I got the slots routed out for the footstrap insert reinforcement blocks.  I used 4.2 ounces of epoxy mixed with milled fibers then painted that mixture onto the blocks and along the walls of the slots.

I used some of the left over resin mixture to fill the crack in Roland's fuselage and to seal up the bolt at the end.  Tomorrow I'll grind down the bolt and nut, sand down the excess epoxy around the rear of the fuselage and get one last seal coat of epoxy over the repaired area.

Tomorrow I'll also rout out the slots for the inserts, clean the inserts with acetone, then epoxy them in.  When that hardens, I'll flip the board and get the track block installed and then cut the slots for the tracks (Futures One Pass 10.75" longboard fin boxes).  Then it'll be time to glass this board.

Top Deck Lamination on the New 4'10"

I got the top deck lamination done yesterday.  I am still a little concerned about the voids that developed when I dropped in the reinforcement blocks with straight epoxy (DON'T DO THAT - cut it with aerosil or milled fibers), so I added some additional fibers - left over carbon and innegra.

I took my time cutting the laps and it paid off - not perfect but really nice.  I really like using the dense 4" dense foam rollers from Home Depot to laminate - more so than the ones I used to get from FGH.  The only problem with them is the epoxy tends to collect on the tip of the insert - and before I finish the lamination, the epoxy starts setting (and since it is concentrated - smoking).

I left everything cure and in the afternoon I went ahead and grinded the laps and added the logo stickers.  I am going to see how these last under the fill coat (should be more durable than the logos on the Dually Stubby - but that's what this is all for, figuring out what works best).

Today will be addressing the voids around the tracks and the two fill coats.  That'll leave sanding and the plug installs for after work the next few days.  This should definitely be ready to ride next weekend.

Laminating the Bottom Deck of the 4'10" V2

At the start of this Memorial Day Weekend, I got started on the last part of finishing the new 4'10".  First I set the finboxes in and then I got the bottom deck lamination on.  Each 10.75" box took about 2.5 ounces of epoxy.  And after that the bottom lamination took 4x 4.5 ounce cups (but some of that got soaked up into the roller pad and half of the last cupful didn't go on the board - so call it a little over 12 ounces of epoxy.  The lamination was a nose to tail layer of 4.8 ounce carbon fiber and a cover sheet of 6 ounce warp fiberglass.

It went on without drama (as it should).

Tomorrow morning (Sunday) I'll grind down the laps and get the top lamination on - another 4.8 ounce layer of carbon fiber, a layer of 6 ounce across the contact area and a second cover layer to wrap the rails.  If all goes well, I may even try to grind the top deck laps and get one of the fill coats on.  That'll leave the other fill coat for Monday morning, cutting out the vent and leash plug holes, getting those plugs installed and then sanding the board.

And then there is the logo and gloss coat (clear coat acrylic) applications.  Honestly this board will likely be ready to ride by next weekend.

Tweaking the Mast Tracks on the 4'10" V2

This is one of the most critical parts of making these foil boards.  If the tracks aren't aligned, you'll lose some adjustability fore and aft of the mast.  And worst of all, you'll have to look at tracks that are not straight.

It took me two hours to tweak these in 2 mm.  My OCD was firing on overdrive.  But the good news is they are straight (and now I can sleep at ease tonight).

If the surf is still up tomorrow, I'll hit it, but if it comes down I'll try to get these epoxied in place (and possibly get the bottom deck laminated - carbon layer around the boxes, carbon nose to tail, and a 6 ounce warp fiberglass layer nose to tail).  It sucks having OCD (but things are done correctly).

A Second Fill Coat on the Stubby

After the 120 sanding, there were enough low spots across the board and some holes around the fin boxes that all needed to be filled - so instead of proceeding to the 180 grit sanding, I put on another fill coat.  2.8 ounces of epoxy and cabosil to make a manageable slurry.

I wasn't able to get the center part of the top deck filled - but arguably it didn't need to - that section is pretty smooth with no divots.

I'll probably cut the leash plug hole and set the plug tonight - that way tomorrow is sanding day.  I'll get everything smoothed out, place the logo decals on, and spray on a urethane coat.  As this build keeps going on, I keep taking slight detours - but the destination is the same - STOKE CITY!!! Almost done with this one - then I'll turn my attention back to the 4'10" that is sitting on the right of the pictures.

Glassing the Bottom Deck

Yesterday the kids and I got the bottom deck laminated.  I started by cutting out the fabric - full coverage of innegra and full coverage of 6 ounce cloth.  I folded back the cloth and set the fin boxes.  Then I dragged the kids out and hand Marlon mixing epoxy and Noe working the fin boxes to prevent air bubbles from developing.

Of the two decks, the bottom is always harder because of the fin boxes and the epoxy doesn't have a hard edge to grab on (like the top deck laps do grabbing onto the cured but still rough bottom deck).

The other issue with laminating the bottom deck is the laps often do lift - and that leaves air bubbles under the glass - especially on the tail and nose.  I went back before the epoxy fully cured and pushed down the bubbles (even though they really don't have any where to go since the epoxy has saturated the glass).  This is the first time I'm using innegra, and it is also the first time I'm using resin tint.  Why not - better to keep learning.

Did I mention I hate glassing???

Grinding the Top Laminate Laps

Grinded the top deck laminate laps this afternoon.

Had to do it relatively quickly to make room for Marlon - he laminated the bottom deck on his board tonight (next post).

Pigfish Top Lamination

Yesterday afternoon I grinded the bottom deck laps, then in the evening I got the top lamination on.  There were some irregularity areas from my grinding the bottom laminate laps - so I filled them with cabosil/epoxy before laminating the top layers of fiberglass on.

If I didn't mention it on the last post, I'm doing double 6's on both sides.  Nothing wrong with a little bit of weight if it'll get you a ton of durability.  It's not like I'm going to do a bunch of air-360's anyways so why not go a bit heavier (we're talking ounces not pounds).

The labels came out nice if I do say so myself.

Next post is the lap grinding.

Asymmetric Fiah Bottom Lamination

Got the bottom fiberglass on.  Noe helped out with the finboxes, while Marlon mixed plenty of epoxy.

Glassing is my least favorite aspect of making my own boards.  Tomorrow I'll grind down the laps and laminate the top deck.

Asymmetric Fish Labels

Printed these out today when I got home from work.

Will laminate the bottom deck this afternoon.

What to do on Rainy Days - Finish Building

It's been raining buckets here the past two days - good time to finish building Marlon's longboard.  On Monday evening, I got most of the rough sanding done.

This evening I got most of the detail sanding finished and I installed the leash plug.

Tomorrow I'll grind down the excess resin around the leash plug and start painting the board.  This should be ready to surf this weekend.  Pretty amazing what you can do when it rains and you can't go surfing.

Getting Marlon's Board Closer to the Official Annoitment

We got the bottom glassed on Thursday evening.  I'll clean up the laps on Saturday and laminate the top.

Should have this done by the end of this weekend.

Done!!!

This past four days have been slammed at work requirements.  I actually needed to take a nap when I got home.  But I cut the nap short to be able to use the remaining daylight to finish up the prone foil boards.

I sanded both boards on a 40-80-120-220 schedule.  Then I put two coats of Rustoleum Matte Enamel to fill in the residual scratches.

These both came out nice.  There are some bubbles here and there, and the reinforcement block area leaves a lot to be desired, but all of that adds to the homemade character.  I'm glad to be finished and can't wait to get these wet!

Lamination Done

This afternoon Marlon and I got the track boxes set, carbon patch applied and last bottom cap sheet all laminated up on both of the prone foilboards. 

This is the 5'6"

And this is the 5'2"

Here are the close ups of the labels:

I got the bottom fill coat on since the evening was still young (and that's one less thing to do tomorrow).

Now just a fill coat on top (if I wake up super early, I could possibly knock this out before going to work - or maybe not - sleep is a wonderful thing), drill out a couple of holes for the vent and leash plugs, and some light sanding and these boards just need some cure time.  Should be wet this weekend!!!