Tuesday, July 1, 2014

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!
 

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