Wooden Compsand 42" Bodyboard

I've had this one on the back burner for some time. I cut the blank out of EPS and that's pretty much as far as I got, until recently... This build started from copying an old Rheopaipo bodyboard which was coming apart like most bodyboards after some use.

Rails on this board is 50/50. I've kept everything pretty much the same for simplicity and not really knowing how it could be improved. There are some deep dished concave twin channels in the rear.

Was a super quick build. I'd estimate around 25-30hrs.

 

 

 

 

It wasn't all that easy persuading the Wester Red Cedar strips to follow the curve up to the nose. I gave them a soak which made it comply a little easier.

 

 

 

This should be one fast bodyboard. I think I'll have to use some Versa Surfboard Traction for grip. I've used it on previous boards and it works like a charm - fuss free!

 

 

 

 Hand cut abalone with wood burning outline.

 

 

For Abhinav a friend who I owe some thanks and doubles as a belated b'day present. Will be borrowing this off him at some point to test it out.

Mini Simmons - 5'8" compsand

My hollow wooden 5'6" Mini Simmons, although I love it, it just doesn't have that much speed down the line on the bigger stuff. To overcome this I'm experimenting with this diamond tail mini simmons.

The Western Red Cedar I'm making this from was left over from a 12m Van de Stadt Yacht. It was joined in 12m lengths so had to cut it down in length to A) Transport it & B) Size it down obviously. The WRC is a little random with giant dowel joins here and there as well as scarf joints with some sort of epoxy. The state of the wood has been a little challenging to use but figured it's imperfections will be it's appeal...

Blank prepped and skins ready for bagging. 

 

I've recently come across sia Abrasives which can be purchased from Shapers here in Australia. I haven't been to happy with the result from Epoxy Resins as far as getting a good gloss\shine but these SIA pads are a game changer and worth every penny.

 

After Cut & Polish followed by a polish cream she's come up trumps - very happy with the result.

 

 

Ride Report

Conditions: 2ft, light to moderate cross wind on a open beach break coming into a high tide.

 

Although surf conditions where a bit ordinary this board did come to light on a handful of waves. Easy to paddle and turns much better then my other mini simmons thanks to the Dick Van Straale ultra-modernised Fish Keel fins and diamond tail. It's super fast too and like the agile factor.

6'2" Plankish Whale - Compsand

This is one big bastard - a chunky machine which by rights will catch waves like a longboard. My first compsand build which has taken a back seat as I caught the crazy compsand build bug. Pretty typical of me having a couple of boards on the go.

Was a learning experience buying the foam, making the hotwire foam cutter and setting up a vac bag.

These pics tell the story ...

One big block of foam - that is all!

Made this foam cutter - it's a little slow but does the job. More omph (amps) would be most welcome to speed things up. I think I'll be talking to my neighbour, a sparky by trade, to spruce it up.

 Plane shape cut out. The blank looks pretty uninteresting but it's only a couple of hours away from being finished being shaped.

 Foam blank shaped, deck & hull prepped - 6mm thick skins made from Paulownia and Western Red Cedar.

 And none edible sandwich coming right up ...

 The vac bag clamping begins.

About 3hrs in the bag does the trick. I've been told 2hrs should do it but make extra sure the glue is cured before shutting off the pump.

 There are multiple options to glue on the rails. This is one of them. Thick masking tape would is a good option also.

 Looking raw. Ready for the nose and tail block.

 I love the grain in Western Red Cedar, you just can't beat it!

Pyography isn't my strength. You need a steady hand and lots of patience.

The deck on this board came out amazing. Once the glass hit it the colours really popped. Used sia Abrasives which can be purchased from Shapers here in Australia after dry sanding. Really chuffed with the outcome. 

Western Red Cedar fins came out amazing too - glade I went with the quad setup!

 

Ride Report

Fantastic ride. Paddles like a longboard. Very predictable and forgiving!

 

1930s Hotcurl

Thinking about my next board I figured I'd go a little wacky, a little different and something challenging. 

When I spotted Elliot Johnson's hotcurl I was frothing, the board was a pure work of art. Feeling weak at the knees and rolling my tongue back in my mouth it was a no brainer, I had to make one, add it to my collection of woody quiver and complete my life!

After doing some research online it revealed little info and only a dozen or so pics. One thing led to another and I started to draw some inspiration from Roger Hall, Roy Stuart and the boards Hobie among others out there. Roger Hall's Hotcurl YouTube clip sealed the deal & gave me a fantastic insight to riding these sexy beasts.

Many thanks goes to Fran Heath, Wally Frosieth and John Kelly, a group of surfers from Hawaii, who in 1934, started messing about with the square tails of the board, cutting them down to a narrow V tail. This gave the surfboard more maneuverability. These new boards were called ‘hot curl ‘ boards, named because the boards allowed the surfer to maneuver into the ‘curl’ of the wave as apposed to sliding out on the steeper walled stuff.

A lot can be drawn from these early designs - it's very inspiring and the journey in making this board has been thoroughly enjoyable. Many thanks to those who have posted their boards online and shared information.

With no further ado here are some pics I captured in assembling this board:

 Plan shape sorted and wrapped in timber inner rails.

Bottom and top laminate skins good to go. I took them down to 4mm.

The bottom skin was made from recycled western red cedar I salvaged for a small fee.

Slipped it into the vac bag for 3hrs to glue down the skins to the foam.

 Things got a little technical gluing on the V fin section. But after stuffing around for about 1hr I got it all clamped down.

 Rail build out went smoothly and ended up with 1 inner and three outer rail strips.

 Hand cut abalone to inlay - this was not easy using a Stanley knife. 3 hours later, a sore neck, & tennis elbow & I was good to go.

 My wood burning skills is comparable to a 2 year olds crayon drawings - I keep it to a limit. Respect to those artists out there who can first of all draw with these cumbersome tools and secondly do shading and textures within the wood!

Being 'fiberglass application challenged' or FACed I was surprised how well things went ;-)

 The end result. After final sanding, wet sanding and giving it the once over with polish - had a smile from ear to ear.

If your keen to understand the build process check out Grant Newby's blog. It provides a very thorough run down. Go-on give it a whirl - you'll get hooked!

A short vid surfing the hotcurl at Burleigh Heads, Queensland. Small day but fun waves.