Garage Works - 10/20/2023

I got the urge to start No.33.  This one is going to be a slightly longer and narrower prone Foil Drive board.

First I had to break down the 4'x8' EPS panel.

This foam looks to be nice and strong!  We will soon see.

I transferred the template onto the blank.

This template actually is a variation of the one I've been using on most of the pointy nosed, fast moving boards I've built (wing boards).  I like the wider stern because it adds planning surface, which in turn gets the foil engaged sooner (which gets the system off the water surface faster - which in the big picture is the main goal).  Tied to this is the straight rails - also goes through the water faster.

This picture above is the new board next to its predecessor.  I am going to move the boxes up 2" and also add a handle in the bottom deck (just to make carrying the system easier).  This could also double as another wingboard (just like No.32 - which is a wingboard, could double as a Foil Drive prone board).

Since I'm going to try and keep volume on this one, the shaping should go pretty fast.  I'll try and have this board done before Thanksgiving (which should be possible if the wind stays light...).

Taking Measurements and La to the Beach

Through a long chain of acquaintances, I was able to get my hands on this board (custom Jimmy Lewis wing foiling board specifically made for Derek Hamasaki - the Master).  Of course, I templated it.

And since I was going to the beach to meet up with Roland to get the board back to him, La asked to come with.  How often does that happen???...

Nice time at WPB!

Garage Works - EOM September

Lots of activity in the garage on this last weekend of September.  I redid the template on the 4'8" wing board blank - wider hips now and I went ahead and committed by cutting the template out.  Next step for this is skinning bottom and top, trimming down the nose volume, then dialing in the shape.

But before I do anymore work on that board, I need to work on fixing Ken's wing board.  What I had thought was an air bubble under the deck pad, was actually a full on delamination.  And there are two of them.  I prepared one for filling already - will need to lift the deck pad by the handle and do a big fill there as well.

And to top that off, Tim dinged the nose of his Amundson custom today and already dropped that off for fixing.

Knowing I am going to experiment on the Go Foils, I wanted to get some bottom mount rear stabilizers made.  I'm re-templating the one Dennis had previously asked for (but never picked up) to be another 15".  I got the holes drilled in to the two on the right - and I took off a bunch of bulk on the middle on.  Going to perform the bulk removal/taper down to the tips operation on a few of the top mount stabilizers as well.

I helped Marlon dial in his new longboard template.

Here is the re-foiled rear stabilizer (not quite finished yet - I took this picture mid-process).  It took about an hour to get the bulk off and get the surface sanded down to 220.

And here's Marlon cutting out his new longboard from the raw blank.  He opted to use the manual saw for the bulk removal.

And then used the surform to get the edges smoothed out and even.

I might have to reconfigure the garage to handle the volume of boards going in and out....

Templating the Lift HA120

This is part of the next big garage project lining up - making my first front foil.  This is Prayot's Lift HA120 - and since I had the Armstrong HA1125 out, I figured I should make a comparison (as I was templating the HA120).

I just picked up first generation CF800 for dirt cheap - I'll be cutting the majority of the foil off - and using the female ferrule to serve as the base of a new front foil - probably designed closely to the Lift HA170 or 120.  This is going to be the first time I've done this - it'll be a great learning experience.