Garage Works - 1/19/2025

I cut out the slot for the reinforcement block for the track extension on Scotty's board today.

Measure twice, cut once.

And here's what the inside of a Kalama board looks like.

I actually got the block glued in also.

Tomorrow I'll flatten the block and mark out the track location.  If I feel good about everything, I'll route out the slots and epoxy in the tracks.

Garage Works - 6/17/2024

Between napping and working on the yard (edging and mowing), I got the big SUP repair forwarded.

I started by using the planner to take down the pour foam.  Then I used the router to open the slot to accommodate the polyurethane blocks.

Here's the open slot and the foam blocks.  I had to use the surform to get everything to fit the way I wanted it to. 

Expanding Gorilla Glue for this one.  I've been reading a lot of feedback on how other people secure this - most have moved on from epoxy to avoid the exotherm damage potential.  And the Gorilla Glue is stronger than the foam it is securing together - so the results strength wise should be the same.

At this point I had finished the yardwork and used the planer and surform to level out the foam block (and glue that expanded out).  Then I marked up the center line and the 90mm spacing 

And here is where I stopped for the day - I setup the first cut.

I'll cut the slots out tomorrow and then likely epoxy in the tracks.  I should go ahead and cut out the reinforcement patches and get those epoxied on at the same time (so everything chemically bonds together).

Garage Works - 11/15/2023

The weather went sideways today - and after yesterday, I figured I should take break.  That opened up an opportunity to work on No.33

I used the laminate trimmer and a carbide hole cutter bit to trim out the slot top and bottom for the mast track reinforcement block.

I placed the top block in first since this slot was a closer cut to the block side.  I used regular Gorilla Glue and set the block in place.

Then I went ahead and glued in the bottom block.  The opening for this block was a little larger (cut that way).  I placed glue over the entire interior then placed the block.  I added weights on top to make sure the two blocks had good contact as the glue expanded then set.

Tomorrow I'll use the planer and skin the blank.  Including the reinforcement block top to bottom before shaping should make this build as strong as possible.  This board (like the other boards I've recently shaped) aren't too far off from the "rectangular" starting point.  I'll cut in some nose rocker, the shallow chines from 1/3 back through to the exit, and a few other nips and tucks.

As long as the wind is light, I'll continue working on this new Foil Drive board

Garage Works - 7/20/2023

I got some work done yesterday on equipment in addition to the winging session.

I sanded the ART999

And got the mast track reinforcement block epoxied into place.

I actually sanded down the HPS 700 also.

Garage Works - 6/8/2023

I got the carbon fiber liner installed yesterday evening.

And since I was at it, I dropped in the polyurethane reinforcement block.

As long as the wind or surf doesn't come up, I should get this finished pretty quickly - oh snap!

Wind is blowing....

Garage Works - 6/5/2023

I got home in time to edge the grass and mow the lawn.

After that and some other chores, I headed into the garage to work on the ding repair on Tim's Greedy Beaver.

I cut up a bunch of fiberglass patches, and then saturated the repair area with epoxy.  I added the patches one by one to make sure there were no air bubbles.

I placed a cap patch, then placed a piece of peel ply.

If done right, I have found this method effectively reduces the amount of sanding I have to do to get the repair area flat and smooth.

I'll still have to sand - just not as much.

I had a little bit of epoxy left over (I mixed a total of 0.7 ounces), so I mixed in some aerosil to give the epoxy some body - then I placed it in the corners of the mast track reinforcement block hole.  This served as the "skim coat" - so that when I use epoxy to laminate the carbon fiber liner into place, the excess epoxy will not migrate through pinholes.

Tomorrow I'll sand Tim's board and add a fill coat if necessary.

I'll also laminate the carbon liner for No.31

Garage Works - 6/4/2023

I want to move the boxes up on this one (No.31) to even out the pressure on the boxes.  I cut the old stuff out yesterday - this morning I cleaned it all up, made sure the blocks fit, and cut out the carbon fiber liner.  I Gorilla Glued in another piece of EPS to firm things up.

Tomorrow I'll laminate the carbon liner on to the recess.  There is supposed to be a significant bump up in the swell height... maybe this will get delayed....

And here is the Greedy Beaver back in the garage - this time with a ding towards the rail (but still on the top deck - way easier to fill/repair).

I put the vacuum on the ding to pull what water I could out.

I'll let this one air dry a little more also before I fill it.  I'm just going to use progressively bigger patches to fill this in.  

Garage Works - 5/3/2023

I actually did this work yesterday - I lined the slot with carbon fiber then epoxied in the reinforcement block.

This was one of the better inserts that I've done.  Sealing the slot with a thin coat of epoxy and cooling it with a fan to counter the exotherm made the rest of the process almost easy.

The carbon laid flat and the block was just a few millimeters proud.

Today I used the Makita planer and got everything flush.  Then I measured and marked the finbox lines.  I didn't cut them out because I am hoping the vacuum attachment I ordered comes in.  Even if it doesn't, I'll cut the finbox slots tomorrow and get the boxes epoxied in.

Garage Works - 4/8/2023 Part 3

The last thing I tackled in the garage today was cutting out the slots for the mast track reinforcement blocks on both No.30 and No.31

I really need to figure out how to hook up a vacuum to the big router... there was foam everywhere.

I did not keep pace with the schedule I wrote about earlier - but I think the time dialing in these shapes was time well spent.

I almost want to get No.31 laminated first - I've built many of these short foil boards that this would be a warm up for me for No.30 - its been a while since I laminated a board longer than 5'.

We'll see what comes up after I get the blocks set.

Garage Works - 4/6/2023

I have been fretting over this issue for a while now.  Cutting in the infrastructure to support the finboxes that will hold the hydrofoil in place and getting it wrong is the fastest way to ruin a board making project.

I've measured and looked, then adjusted and looked, and repeated over and over.  I've simulated paddling this board and popping up to figure out where my back foot will land and then readjusted the track position based on that.  But no matter what I did, I always felt I was either compromising on potential adjustability or adding too much weight.

Well - today I resolved my dilemma -

Instead of trying to use the 8" boxes as the augment element, I just doubled up the 8" boxes and now have a 16" track!

This is an optimized solution between the weight of a longer track and the limited adjustability of a single 10.75" box.

I trimmed the polyurethane blocks also and marked the area to be removed by the router.

I'll try and get the slots routed out tomorrow.  If I get that done, I'll also get the liners laid out.  My goal for Saturday will be to epoxy in the blocks.  Sunday I'll fair out the expanded epoxy, mark the tracks and get those slots routed.

At this point I'll take a break, and take a second look at the overall shape - this is where I'll adjust anything that nags me (usually the nose, sometimes the tail, and almost always some part of the rail).

Garage Works - 8/15/2022

I decided to truly take a break from surfing/foiling today - so I used the time to get these two prone boards advanced.

First I routed out the slots for the reinforcement blocks.  Then I cleaned up the edges so the blocks would fit in snug (not too tight - need room for the fabric).

These first pictures are the carbon layers added in.  I use offcuts from the bottom laminate from previous boards (this stuff is not cheap - I try and use all of it).

On these boards, I did something different than previous builds.  I broke up what would normally be a combined step into two separate ones.  In the single step version of getting the fabrics wetted out and then placing the reinforcement block immediately after, the top fabric usually pulls.  Even though this part of the board is never seen in the finished product, I still wanted to do it so the fabric doesn't pull.

This first of two separate steps was to wet out only the top part of the fabric that would stay above the routed out hole.  I placed saran wrap over the fabric, placed the blocks in place to hold the fabric in place and added soft weights to help keep the fabric down.  

The next step was to add some more fabric to the bottom - this is scrap innegra (even more expensive than carbon fiber), then I wetted out the bottom and sides of the hole, added a layer of epoxy thickened with Thiksil, and then placed the block in.

I filled the gap with some straight epoxy (flows into the gaps easier), then covered the blocks with saran wrap and placed the weights on the outer edges of the blocks.

The next step on these will be to rout out the finbox slots in these blocks.  Then I'll flip the boards and rout out a thin layer of foam on the top deck where my left heel goes - I'll press on a thin sheet of divynicell.

From there I'll laminate on the top deck fabric, then flip the board and epoxy in the finboxes and laminate the bottom deck.

There's more (a lot more), but these prone boards get done faster than the wing boards.

Garage Works - 6/11/2022

The family took off for activities early this morning - that left me with time to test out the new lawn mower and get some work done in the garage.   First up was cutting the d-cell strips I epoxied together. 

I cut four of the strips to lengths that will work for footstrap reinforcement block inserts.

That's a lot of footstraps...

Then I cut the last two strips to lengths that can work as cutouts for the ends of the mast track reinforcement blocks.  I'm not entirely sure these are needed - but I may try this as an add on the next prone foiling board I build.

And after all that, I worked on the fitment of the Kujira front foils onto the Stringy fuselage.  I've gotten the 980, 1095 and the 1440 to all fit well on the Stringy fuses - the 1210 is revolting against me on this (and that foil is the almost singular reason I got the Stringy fuses).

I also got the Stringy GoFoil (direct mount on the Project Cedrus mast) fuselage shimmed up - gonna need that today...

Garage Works - 6/9/2022

The board I have in the garage to be repaired was still giving up water - when I got home from winging, there was a good deal of liquid where I had the board sitting.  I decided to go ahead and just open it to allow the water to drain freely or even evaporate.

I bet these high-density foam pieces go all the way to the top deck.

These boxes kinda just fell out once I trimmed the bulk of the foam away.

Now to let the interior dry out.  I should be able to sand the edges where the bottom laminate will hang over tomorrow, and possibly even epoxy in the reinforcement block.

As long as the interior drys out... there was a LOT of water in this board...

Mast Track Replacement for Eddy

I was talking to Eddy after foiling on Sunday evening.  He said he cracked the boxes on his board.  So now the board is in my garage getting ready to have the track replaced.  This is the before - the top had a delamination and the bottoms were cracked.

Here's the reinforcement block measured out to fit in this area - there is the tail kick at the back end of the board and the signature area - this is going to be a tight area.

This is the area I'm going to cut out.

And I marked the centerlines of the track boxes so I get the alignment back to the original.

Same info, different angle.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the repair area outed open and cleared.  I'll need to let it dry (it's been draining for a couple of days and it still feels moist around the cracks) for a couple of days before setting the reinforcement block.

Garage Works - No.25

After surfing this morning, I worked on some garage projects.  I got the reinforcement block for the mast track sanded down to match the height of the surrounding blank.  Then I lined the hole with carbon and a layer of innegra.

I used about 5.6 ounces of epoxy to line the hole and saturate the laminates.  I used a roller to spread the epoxy evenly.  Then I spread some epoxy on the reinforcement block to make sure there would be a bond, and then stuck it in.

There was a little pull on the side pieces of carbon, but nothing catastrophic.  I used saran wrap to keep the laminates and the epoxy flat. 

I also finally epoxied the divynicell strips together (this needed to be done a long time ago).  I'll figure out what size these need to be assembled to in order to use them as footstrap reinforcement blocks and augment mast track reinforcement blocks (under the ends of the Futures boxes).