Garage Works - 7/24/2024

And - I did get some work done on Matt's repair order.

I used the grinder and got the excess epoxy off.  Then I used the sander to get it just below finish grade.

Then I cut out some carbon and got it epoxied on.

For this part I used peel-ply.

Tomorrow I'll sand the excess epoxy off the bottom, cut out the patch (with laps) for the bottom deck, and get it laminated.

I should be able to have this done by Friday.

Garage Works - 12/4/2023

As I was driving home, there were mixed signs of trades/thermals - but it looked like a trap.  I figured if I stayed home, I could get these board projects forwarded down the path to completion.

I started by grinding open the boxes on Marlon's long board.  There were a few air bubbles that were opened that we will have to fill.

I quickly moved onto the repair on No.30.  I grinded the boxes open and noted some air pockets that also needed to be filled.

And I did the same to No.33 - but I also went ahead and sanded down the laps from the top deck lamination.

And in preparation for the labels, I added a fill coat where they will be placed (typical placement)

I used the leftovers from the 0.70 ounces I mixed to make an aerosil slurry with black pigment.  I filled the voids on both boards.

I made the fill a little proud on both boards so when I sand them, they should end up flush with the other surfaces (and I don't have to deal with low spots).

Tomorrow I'll sand these fill spots and get the fill coats on.

Grinding to Open the Inserts on No.25

I was pretty tired today after work - when I got home I went ahead and took a nap.  When I woke up, I went and started grinding away the excess epoxy to open up the footstrap inserts, the leash plug, the vent, the SUP handle, and the mast track boxes.

I started with the footstrap inserts using the Dremel and a flap sanding bit.  Then I moved to the grinder and took down the epoxy from the two plug installations, and finished off with the SUP handle and track boxes.

This board is really light.  Tomorrow I'll get the fill coat on the top and sides, and if there is enough time maybe the bottom.  That will give me time to sand and get the labels on the board maybe Wednesday.

Garage Works - 1/16/2022

After hitting the beach this morning, we got home and Noe was practicing flute for a virtual music practice session.  We waiting for that to end, then all of us headed out to run errands.

When we got back, there was still some sunlight to work in the garage for a bit.

I notice the top part of the rear deck pad on the had some parts separating and lifting.  I went ahead and gorilla glued the deck down. 

Earlier I had grinded out the handle and the track boxes, and sanded off the sharp edges on the rail tape.

Tomorrow I'll place another fill coat on the bottom and on the rail tape, including some epoxy/aerosil slurry around the handle and at the base of one of the boxes.  Not much left to do on this one, but this is where a great board is made.  Stickers/labels placed, fill as described; flip the board and drill out for the vent and leash cup; install the plugs; open up the foot strap inserts; fill coat on top; then sand-sand-sand.

Garage Works - 1/5/2022

I grinded out the box openings, sanded down the small bumps, opened up all the voids, then prepared carbon patches to fill the big void, added epoxy to the carbon patches and as a fill coat.

Tomorrow is sanding through the grits, cleaning out the boxes of epoxy that found its way into them, and spraying clear coat.  Then this board is ready to get back in the water!!!

Grinding Down the Rear Stabilizers

After riding with the stabilizer I just finished, I'm convinced I need to thin out all of the ones I had previously made.  If the camber is too thick, I can feel the extra drag.  The thinner it is, the faster I think I am going (perception).

I ground down two of the crepe spatula stabs I had - one of them was previously thinned out (was the one I was prone foiling with - bottom mount on the Go Foil).

These two are now hovering in the 6.2 ounce range (super light compared to the previous ones I had finished).  I still need to go over this with the sander and wet sand them.

La is going to help me sew covers for these!!!

Grinding, Sanding, Laminating Sunday

This morning I felt compelled to get some work done on this board.  I used the grinder to take down all the high points and I opened up all the inserts.  Then I took the sander and faired in all the laps and got the boxes leveled off and ready for filling (epoxy and thiksil).

After all that prep work, I laminated the port side of the board using carbon rail tape to hide the carbon lap line on the rail.  This picture is the pre-epoxy state, making sure everything fits and will cure lined up well.  I used 2.1 ounces of epoxy to get the carbon tape laminated.

Tomorrow I'll laminate the starboard rail, fill in any voids around the SUP handle and track boxes, add on the logo stickers, and lastly get the fill coat on the bottom deck.  

Slowly but surely getting there.

More Chopping

This weekend I found myself short a rear stabilizer, as I've really taken to the chopped down Uni 300.  Instead of unbolting it from the prone setup, I just used a 232 for winging the past two sessions.  I only had one of the chopped 300s - until today.

Trimmed, grinded, sanded through 40-80-120-180-220-320 dry

Then ran it through 320-400-500-1000-1500 wet.

I didn't go through the carbon, so this one is done!!!

If it seems sticky in the water (holding water from a rough spot), I'll wax it - but I'll test it first.

Lap Clean Up and Bottom Deck Fill Coat

Spent the afternoon (after work) working on the NWFB.  I got the foot strap inserts opened, I sanded the laps, took down a lot of high points, then prepared the board for the first bottom fill coat.

The innegra frayed in some spots - but I used the plastic wrap to try and push these down into the epoxy.  We'll see if that worked tomorrow.  I'll sand down some of the excess, then paint some stripes on the board (and place the labels), then put the second fill coat on (to protect the labels and to add more layers onto the shallower spots.  

If all that goes well, I'll place the top fill coat on Friday, then on Saturday I'll sand down the excess on the top deck, drill in the leash plug and top deck vent.  Then Sunday I can grind down these plugs and go through the final sanding.  I'm kinda glad the wind is not forecasted to be up - more time to finish this board as well as the ding repair order I have sitting in the garage.  And also help Marlon with his alaia (that's another set of posts). 

NWFB Top Deck Work

I was back at it after work.  I used the grinder to clean up the laps from yesterday.  I then went ahead and took down the laminate covering the SUP handle and the two foil tracks - I'll have to fill a few spots around the boxes.  I almost stopped at this point - but nope, I cut out the carbon, the innegra and the fiberglass.  Like I discussed yesterday, I decided to take a different approach - laminate each layer separately.

Totally worked!

 Addressing the laps was way easier and everything ended up super clean.  

Tomorrow I'll gently clean up the laps from today's lamination, then I'll grind open the footstrap inserts.  I'll use a hole saw and get the top deck vent in place.  I'll add a few spots of spray painted base, add some stickers that'll go under the fill coat.  And I'll finish it all off by applying the top deck fill coat.  That means bottom deck insert filling, spray paint the base for stickers, and bottom fill coat on Thursday with sanding and finishing to follow (probably not on Friday - the wind is supposed to come up). 

Chop Shop HS1550 Number 2

And here is Tim's wing all marked up.

This wing is not water logged like Kalani's, so this chop shop should be quicker.

I'll post more pictures as this progresses.

Finished with the First Batch of Rear Stabilizers

I finished the first three rear stabilizers.  Started out by foiling number three, sanding it with the 60 grit to get it faired in, and then took all three through the 60-120-180-220-320 sandings.

Then I used 500-1000 wet sandpaper to bring the sanding to an end. 

I found the centerlines again (the original markings were long sanded away), marked the 30mm spacing and drilled pilot holes.  Then I drilled the 7/32 holes for the screw bodies.  And last I drilled the counter-sunk space.

I put the labels on and let them dry.  Tomorrow I'll spray some clear coat on and "DONE"!

Grinding and Sanding

Got the work on my least favorite part of the build process.  Used the grinder to clear the mast tracks and the bottom handle.  Then broke out the dremel with a carbide grinder to trim down the high spots.  Finally I used the sander with 60 grit to clear some of the excess resin.  I went ahead and drilled out the holes for the leash cups and got those epoxied in with epoxy/milled fibers.

I'll have to place epoxy and aerosil on the low spots tomorrow - then sand again.

Fill Coat on the Top Deck

When I got home, I got to grinding the laps from the top deck lamination.  Lesson learned - the front laps closest to the nose don't need the second cut to shorten the overlap.  Since I've been doing this recently in rapid succession, I've noticed do this produces a gap in the laminate that has to be addressed during rough sanding.  Oh well - next time.

After that I grinded the finboxes down.  I went ahead and set the dual single fins in just to get a preview - WOW!  I am excited for the possibilities of this board!  There were some air bubbles in the finboxes and I went ahead and opened them up with the Dremel so the fill coat epoxy can get in those spaces.

Then I taped off the rail and epoxied the top deck.  I used 5.6 ounces and got the whole board covered.  The next steps include rough sanding (40-80) the top-bottom-rails, drilling a hole for the leash plug, setting the leash plug; grinding the leash plug down, sanding (120-180) everything down, applying the logo stickers (did not laminate this time and I don't want to spray paint this one), getting a light coat of epoxy over the vinyl stickers (top and bottom so two separate runs); sand the cover coat down (120-180), sand the whole board to 320-400, write in the dimensions, spray on a coat of urethane (again separate coats for top and bottom), then outfit the board - place the leash tether, clean up the finboxes, and get a coat of wax on it.  Considering all these remaining steps, I figure I have at least three more days of work, both mornings before going to work and in the evening after I get home.

Did Lots of Work in the Garage

Started out routing out the voids on the new 4'10" prone foil board.

Then moved on to skinning the duo finned stubby blank.

Afterwards I helped Marlon grind open the fin boxes on his board and continued on with sanding both the top and bottom decks with 40 and 80 grit.

I went ahead and removed the old manual vent on the 5'2" prone foil board and set in a new automatic vent in the same place.

Marlon and I drilled out a spot for the leash plug and got that set.  Tomorrow we'll fill in some air bubbles we found on the fin boxes.  If we do this in the morning, we should be able to grind down the leash plug and the boxes, then move on to the final sanding.

And I went ahead and planned out the fixing of the ding I acquired on the pigfish (the board slipped from my hands when I was getting out of the water - I thought I caught it, but apparently I didn't).  And this is where my OCD kicks in.

I also mowed the lawn, cooked breakfast and lunch (and dinner for me - everyone else ate already) -  I think I'm dealing with my mom's passing by working on things (and I'm talking about it on this blog).  

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).

Squeezing it in - Fill Coats

I had to work today, but before I left I got the laps on the bottom ground down and the fill coat brushed on.  Here is the board before I ground the laps down.

So nice - it really reminds me of the interstellar object 'Oumuamua that flew through the solar system a couple of years ago -

And here is the board with the laps across the bottom deck all ground down.

The fill coat got to harden while I was at work.

And I got home, ate dinner, then applied the fill coat to the bottom deck.  It was mostly dark so we didn't take pictures, but I'll take a few pictures of the board tomorrow before I start to sand down the fill coat.