Garage Session - 11/25/2024

I already alluded to the work I got done with today - Roland's two boards.

After I got back from surfing - in preparation for laminating No.39, I went ahead and placed new tape on the shaping rack.

Now that I've clear the garage of the side projects, I'm going to focus on getting No.39 across the production finish line.

Starting Wednesday afternoon, I'll have 5 days straight where I can focus on this.  I'll need to laminate the bottom deck, then figure out where I want to place the foot strap inserts, get those cut and glued in, laminate the top deck, get the fill coats on, sand, fill, sand (and maybe fill, sand).

I need to get some more epoxy before Thanksgiving...

Surf Shop Saturday

After a wonderful nap, we headed out the door to check out some surf shops.  First stop was Pioneer Saloon for lunch.  The atmosphere is really eclectic. 

Next stop was Surf Garage.  They seemed to be low in stock right now.  Marlon was looking for fins for a board he is planning.  I really like their board stands. 

Then we hit Patagonia.  They had a couple of foil boards on the rack.  This one was tiny - probably the smallest production model I've seen in person.

Our next stop was Hawaiian South Shore.  They also seemed to be a little low in the available board inventory, but they did have these JS foil boards.

We then hit T&C at Ala Moana so Noe can get some stickers.

And last but not least, we hit West Marine.  In case you are looking for self tapping stainless steel #12 screws for mounting footstraps - they have them here.

Fun afternoon!

Wing Board Template Cut Out

Here is a list of reasons I did not surf today - the surf is small for the rest of the week; I picked up my motorcycle from the shop today; I didn't have a vehicle to use to get me and a board to the beach; I went ahead and cut out the template from the blank I've got.

This last excuse was what I was actually more interested in doing this afternoon.  The sooner I start on this board, the sooner I'll finish it.  This is going to be a 5'2"x26"xsuper thick wing foiling board. 

I'm going to use innegra on this board for the top and bottom laminates.  I'll also use carbon strips nose to tail to improve energy transfer during pumping, and I'll place a carbon patch at the foil tracks for looks (and to contact the other carbon parts to the foil).

There will not be much shaping to this one since I want to preserve the volume.  I will drop in a closed cell foam block into the foil track area and place some dcell sheets under the feet.  And I'll throw a handle on the bottom deck and foot strap inserts on top.  Good thing there isn't much shaping to this one (because the rest is a lot of work...)

I also took a few minutes to fix an annoying issue that has been plaguing me for quite a while - the foam pads on my shaping rack would stick to my work and usually extended my sanding requirements.  Gorilla tape and this problem should be solved.

Hydrofoil Shimmed Up

With the surf really pumping, I haven't had the inclination to take this out again - but I did get it shimmed up so it should work better than the last time I had it out.

I had to use 60mm M8 bolts... And this is the real reason I'm trying to get the new dedicated foil boards finished.

Coarse Sanding Done - 5'2"

And here is the 5'2" getting sanded.  Surform was first, followed by Dragon skin, 60 grit screen, and lastly 80 grit screen wrapped around a foam block.  Block plane to shave down the stringer a few times during the process.

I will probably try and get the fine sanding done later this afternoon - that way I can just get to glassing the boards.

This one looks like it is going to be exceptionally fun!

Coarse Sanding Done - 5'6"

I was able to get the coarse sanding done on both foil boards this morning.  Here are pictures of the 5'6" all sanding down.

Still have to get the fine sanding done.  I am also debating whether to drop in the reinforcement blocks first, or laminate the decks then go back and drop them into place.  I'm leaning towards the latter - easier lamination and I can slap on a carbon patch without the urgency required if it were all placed at once.

I had the GoPro setup to take some time lapse shots (the kids weren't with me today - La took them to their activities and she let me have the time to knock this project out * Thanks La!!!).

Gluing Up More Divynicell Strips

Building out these hydrofoils seems like work that will never end...  Here we are epoxying the latest batch of divynicell strips into more mast track reinforcement blocks for the foil boards.

And here they are after the first cuts with the dual slider miter saw.

Next step for these is a pass through the scroll saw.

Also ended up getting more work on the shaping racks done.  Just need to staple on some reused slippers (for padding) and strips of carpeting or duct tape so I can get to work on shaping the two foil boards, and can have place to do board repairs/modifications.  Busy, productive weekends are awesome!

Garage Works - September 13, 2018

Got the board shaping racks put together.  Still need to cut up some carpet and tack it on, get the sand/buckets and do a little sanding.  The two blanks are sitting and waiting for these to get finished.

I got the fiberglass squares cut out for the mast-fuselage joint.  The table is setup for the epoxy work - will try and get this part done soon.

Getting Back on the Horse...

I had to tear down the glassing work station before Hurricane Lane made its approach to the islands.  And I just got it back up last night.

And since I was out in the garage, I also got a few other related projects started - 

These are the shaping racks

And these are the mast track reinforcement blocks.  Lots more work still required to get a foil board up and running... but hey - this is a long weekend!!!

Monday's Progress on the Foil

I was able to sand down the base plate and the mast.  I did it around 5:30 in the afternoon... should have waited as it was freak'n HOT.

Afterwards I took a close look at the d-cell glue-ups.  Everything looked good.  Eat dinner, clean up and then around 9 pm I had the urge to epoxy the two planks together so I could get to cutting and sanding these blocks down.  Marlon helped and we did the calculations to determine how much epoxy to mix (6.7 mixed, with 18 spoons of milled fibers).

I'll break out the sliding chop saw and the bench sander this afternoon to get these boxes all faired in and ready for inserting the mast track boxes.  This project is turning into a lot of work... I just realized I'm going to have to make a couple of shaping racks - yeah, a LOT more work (but Marlon is learning so technically this is a course, and it is fun work - it's all good!)

Old Editor, New Editor

A couple more rack shots.

I had switched to the new blogspot editor (but I don't like it). I was experiencing technical difficulties with the new editor, but have now switched back - this is a test (and the other pictures I had intended to post earlier).

Tomorrow - work to date on the kiteboard and the the beginnings of foiling the mini-SUBs!!!

And here they are!

Done!

Now I can shape the rails (already did)!

Moving right along!