I make surfboards, and threads

steezysteezeWhat is that software you're using though? There are files for this sort of thing already available but I want to come up with the shape myself.

Also you may or may not need to vent something like that. They make vented leash plugs with goretex membranes in them, or you can use the screw style ones. I don't know if it needs a vent, but it seems like a good idea. The air expanding on the inside upon heating could delam it. I think another common issue is the air contracting once you put it in the water and it cools. That sucks water in through any sort of damage or hole, which would probably quickly ruin a cardboard core.

Also I've seen a few people talking about being chem majors in post what's on your mind so...

That's kevlar, a para aramid. Technora is also a para aramid so the structure is probably similar. Look at all dat h bonding tho... Beta sheets in proteins have a similar hydrogen bonding thing going on too. So I'm thinking this is, at least in part, why aramid fibers are highly resistant to abrasion and cutting. I haven't looked into it beyond the structure, but it sounds reasonable to me.

If you don't speak chemistry then there's a whole lot of intramolecular bullshit going on that makes these fibers difficult to cut, and so very annoying. /rant

DrZoidbergAlso you may or may not need to vent something like that. They make vented leash plugs with goretex membranes in them, or you can use the screw style ones. I don't know if it needs a vent, but it seems like a good idea. The air expanding on the inside upon heating could delam it. I think another common issue is the air contracting once you put it in the water and it cools. That sucks water in through any sort of damage or hole, which would probably quickly ruin a cardboard core.

Hmm yeah I didn't think about that. I'll definitely look into some goretex options because the water that I surf in the winter can get in and around 0c. Thanks for the boardCAD link btw.

Today was a good day. I did the fill coat on the top then went surfing. I managed to fit my 8ft board, the red one, in a honda fit. I also forgot to pull the tape off before I left, so I was lucky it wasn't just permanently stuck in the board or something. Surf was fun for longboards, which I haven't done in a while.

The tape dam at the back gathers resin at the rails. This is how you create the 90 degree edge required for water release, which you'll find on most modern boards.

I free lapped the vector net cause I give no fucks... But really, it doesn't look crooked and if i were going for a cut lap clean look I wouldn't have done a resin swirl... Stripe, whichever.

Gonna let it cure for a bit then sand it, at which point it'll be finished. Sanding too early means trying to sand gummy resin, which sucks. It clogs the paper and is just really annoying.

Things are lining up for the best Christmas gift of all: testing this Christmas morning. The tide will be pretty high with a full moon but I'll take what I can get.

one of the best threads i've ever read on NS. i'm a chem major so it's cool seeing some stuff i'll learn more about with polymers and such. /threads to see your board on christmas

Got to surf it this morning. Super fun waves, if a little fat because of the high tide. Got fun as the tide dropped. Review of board:

Seriously, it's great. It's basically like the other board but with none of the drawbacks. It's livelier and the concave feels great, but it's more controlled and I made a few things I feel like I wouldn't have on the other. It's super fast. Several people told me how quick the board looks. Super fun going both left and right. It's nice and light, at least a pound lighter than the other which is a lot considering we're talking 8 or 7 pounds. Super happy with it. Also the water is insanely warm right now. There were people in 3mm suits with hoods. Crazy fog before 9am too.

Merry Christmas NS.

I'm back! This one's been taking a while because of work and, luckily enough, surf. We had a run, which seems to have ended as of late, so I've been not surfing and making this thing.

Anyway, this is intended to replace that orange and white striped one. It's based off it but with some changes. Firstly, I've added a deeeeeeeeep single concave. I do better with deep concaves, it seems. I hop around a lot. The concave isn't asym like it looks, which is due to having only one light source at an angle, I promise. The bottom rails are much harder than the predecessor's and the top will be more finely foiled than before.

I've increased the length by two inches to accommodate more rocker, as it's kinda weird to blend a lot of curves in a short shape. It's only two inches, but you have to think of it as two inches to the whole board, not just two right on the end of the nose or something. The nose and tail skinny up a bit quicker than its predecessor and terminate in skinnier ends.

I've added both nose and tail rocker compared to the original more akin to a performance shortboard.

Rails are still cut in bands here, like this:

I think I'll be taking the deck down a bit more so it's about 2 1/8" thick. The rails will be screened and rounded eventually, and so much better blended into whatever deck thickness I choose.

Keep in mind I'm 5'5" and a featherweight 120lbs, so this board is about 2" taller than me and I can get away with a very low volume board if I'd like to. With the 19" width, 15" across the 1' mark at the back and 13" or so at the front I should be fine. It's not as skinny as an hpsb, but it's got the rest of the characteristics in common. Should be good in chest to however big I want to go, as I'm fine riding the 5'5" in winter barrels. Here you need something short and stubby to tuck into them very quickly, as they're generally fast moving waves hitting shallow sand that pitch over quickly. It's not one of those smooth roll in barrels.

And... I wasn't done.

A: one man NSG revival?

B: Stringerless 2 lbs/cuft EPS which will have undirectional carbon strip nose to tail along the bottom, along with one layer of 6oz glass; and vector net over the entire top along with 6 and a 4s layer, if you were curious. Not trying to have this thing snap, but for once I want to try to do something a bit lighter than I usually do. 3 fins. I don't really like how quads go backhand through turns, nor do they seem to have that skateboard thrust action 3 finners do. They flow, but I'm not really a flow guy, which is probably why I derp on my single fin at times.

new board looks super sick

Did a bit more foam mowing the other day. It's pretty much ready for glass.

The board is like somewhere between 2 1/18 and 2.25, so the boxy rails aren't all that thick.

The tail gets very thin. It should be nice and sensitive, suited to my light footed approach and low weight build.

Curvy rocker. I really want to get into airs and such, plus I'd like something with a bit more rocker overall for once. So this should do the trick. The tail kinda flips out the end, which may aid in airs and smashing the lip on my forehand. It should help my pivots off the bottom get a little sharper on my backhand as well, in addition to practice, of course.

Concave starts far up.

It gets very deep between the stance. As a lightweight, jumpy skateboarder turned surfer I seem to do better on deep concaves. Hoping it'll have the jet propulsion effect these sorts of contours can produce. The concave fades out to flat in front of the rear fin. There's no vees or anything since I added tail rocker.

The concave is the only extreme feature of this board. It's rather plain otherwise. At 5'7"x19", it's two inches taller than me and should have a reasonably wide range of application. You can think of this as an enhanced version of the orange and white striped one a few pages back. Here in NJ we kinda see everything as far as waves go, so this should cover a lot of it. It's aimed at chest to however big I feel like I won't die in. Basically if the wave has some kick to it, whether it's waist high or overhead, I can ride this. If it's flatter or slower I'll grab the purple one.

Threw some glass and color on. Top is vector net and 6e+4s. Bottom is 6oz and a carbon strip. It's a sort of transparent peachy orange and cream color paired with opaque white. I just threw on an opaque white fill coat over the back for maximum opaque-ness, so it'll contrast nicely with the sort of transparent front. Hasn't been more than waist high in a while but when we get something I'll have this thing ready.

Gotta go pull the tape off the fill coat before it's permanently affixed to the board. Things go at a nice pace when it's 85 degrees.

Damn man new board looks sick

Anyway... Motivation reach and all time low with the rather long flat spell we've been stuck in here in jersey. However, things a looking much better for next week so I decided I'd bang out all the sanding and whatever to get this thing seaworthy.

-5'7"x19x2.25", probably like 24 or 25 liters.
-Stringerless 2lbs/cu ft EPS core.
-6+4s top with vectornet (technora, an aramid) under all that, and 6oz bottom with carbon strip. Should stay in one piece.
-More rocker than 3#, the predecessor to this board, but still not potato chip level rocker. The tail flips a bit to let me pick the front end out of the water easier.
-Deeeeeeeep single concave starting at the front, becoming deepest between my feet and fading to flat at the rear fin.
-90 degree edge behind the fins and hard rails elsewhere with a tight tuck. No slow oldschool rails here.
-3 fin futures. Probably gonna use my EA blackstix set. Might pick up flat foiled ones in the winter.
-Tasty creamsicle colorway done in the resin. #paintsux

Fall better be good because I haven't seen anything bigger than a waist high wave in a month, and I'm short so that's not even a very big wave.

Alright NSG, prepare to be saved. I'm back at it. As with most things I make, there's always a "what if?" I've been riding that purple and white resin striped board for a while now. It's a great board, but there's been a few questions I've had about it. This will be the third (real) iteration of this design, so I've learned a lot since the first one, plus I've thought a lot about it.

Firstly, what's it like as a quad? I'd never ridden a quad I liked until like two weeks ago, when I rode a 5'9" or 5'7" lost/libtech puddle jumper. All the other quads were too big for me to fairly judge them, and even the PJ could have been smaller. Either way, I got one backhand hit, hit the lip so hard and it just felt right. It goes where I point it and just seems to have drive all the time, with none of that auto centering effect a thruster has. It seems great for destroying small waves and lots of tight turns.

Secondly, what's it like with less rail volume? The rails are quite thick on the purple one. I can probably redistribute the foam to keep a similar but lightly lower volume while also thinning the rails.

Third: it could be lighter, which is a statement ,but it's true. This'll get 2x 4s on top and 6oz bottom. Less overall weight will permit a slightly thinner board to keep the same float, since the density will be lower. I've noticed this effect in a board I just made for my brother, which is similar to the purple one but substantially lighter, as well as other boards that are light and appear to be thinner than mine.

Fourth: it needs a skinnier tail. I've gotten a lot of lefts (my forehand) recently and I've realized that it'd help.

So I'll be changing that stuff, but some stuff I'll keep. The bottom contour, a deep double to vee, will remain the same. The template will gain wings to break up the massive tail reduce surface area. The blank is now a 5'3", rather than taking a 5'4" out of a 5'8" or whatever blank. The overall rocker will be a bit more curvy but still pretty low this way.

The real template is actually a bit different, but this is close. I made the tail wider in real life by a bit, but it's still overall skinnier than the previous iteration.

5'3" EPS blank with a high density foam stringer.

This is a rough idea of how the tail area is being reduced. I've killed the diamond tail too, in favor of the squash. I think the added rail line will help on my forehand. The surface area gained shouldn't outdo the area lost by the wings.

I made a nice masonite template for this one. If you template is shit then you're gonna have a hard time. I tried a paper one at first, traced it on and all and it just looked off. So I sanded that off and did it again with this new one.

I made little holes to poke a fine tip sharpie through to mark the fins. 11.25" fronts, 5" up rears, and I think I'll do 3 or 3.125" up center. The purple one has it at 3", 11" fronts. That board has a surprising range for it's shape, and I think it's partly due to the fin placement keeping it under control. I've gotten some great barrels in a 5mm on it.

I cut the outline with a handheld jigsaw and a long, wide and thick blade, which doesn't deflect or bend as much as a thin, skinny one. the marks are quickly scrubbed off, as are the little stringy bits from melting foam.

These are reference marks for the double concaves.

The fins aren't that long, they'll just fall on that line starting from the back of it.

I cut the bottom band the other night, after a great post-work 3 hour surf session. I rode the orange board in the posts above. It's a fun board. I wasn't even gonna go, but I stuffed my shit in my car before I went to work and said fuck it, I'll see how it is. time from desk/lab to water was about 55 minutes, which isn't bad. Would have been less if I parked closer. It got glassy, the swell built and I caught so many fun waves.

Had to post on insta. How are people gonna know I do cool shit if I don't?

Threads. This is so cool.

So I did bunch of stuff. I don't think people read anyway so I'll dump some pictures.

So the purple board is the predecessor to this. It was at this point that I realized the rails were too thick on the new one. So I thinned them carefully with the surform.

For those who don't know, the rails are cut as flat surfaces and then blended to make a round one. It's similar to how a polygon with equal side lengths approaches a circle as the number of sides approaches infinity.

So you can see the second surface in this photo. Afterwards you make a new surface that joins the midpoints of those two and destroys the intersection of them.

They were out of front fin boxes, which are deeper than quad rears and the center box for those who don't know. Unfortunately greenlight goofed and sent me one front and one center/rear, when I ordered 2 fronts. They also only have black. I probably should have just ordered from foamez but they're literally across the country. We'll see how long this takes to sort out.

As you can see, I don't fuck with shallow concaves. For those who don't know what's going on here, the side lights reveal contours in the surface. My lights are uneven because the setup is ghetto as hell. Still, the shadows are depressions in the middle of the board called double concave. Technically it's more like a double in a single, since the stringer is lower than the rails but, whatever... At the back there's what is called vee, which is unsurprisingly called that because it's v shaped. The lighting on reveals the right side of it.

I changed the concave to be deeper in the front than it was on the last board. The board's 5'3" and I surf very front foot heavy when driving down the line, so I need it more forward than just between my stance. With it being so short, I can control the whole thing without having to shuffle my feet all that much. So I should have a gas pedal effect with the front, then the bladed out tail with vee will turn nicely, especially with the wings and overall less width and surface area than the previous version.

I just went ahead and did a full tail patch. Seems like a better way to patch the fin boxes with not too much weight penalty. For the uninitiated, it's cut with the triangle to avoid having any stress on the seam across one line, or to spread it out over a larger surface area.

It's really cool in real life. The pictures don't do it justice. That MKIII logo up front ends up getting covered by the glass that wraps around the rails. I should have foreseen that.

Here's the back end. My signature, the made in usa lam and the dimensions got covered up by the black and white, or mostly gray. I didn't do that quite as well as I wanted, but the top is more black and white than gray.

I just did the fill coat. It's nice and shiny at the moment.

With my old logos covered, I printed some new gradient fill retro style ones and another made in usa lam. I also added that black messy stripe between the gray and purple. With some careful sanding the logos will stay where they're at.

Did you shape the new one to be more of a groveler?

gapersarefriendsDid you shape the new one to be more of a groveler?

It's a take on the purple/white stripes groveler a page or two back, so yes. That purple/white board was and still is great. This should be an improvement as far as weight, rocker and rail thickness are concerned. The volume will probably drop a bit too but I think the density (taken as a whole) will be lower than its predecessor. This also has a quad option, revised (.25" further up) center fin placement and the tail is a bit skinnier. Still a groveler though, but it should be fine with shoulder to head high waves if the pilot is.

I just weighed myself and I'm 116lbs somehow. So I can basically grovel on whatever I want.

DrZoidbergIt's a take on the purple/white stripes groveler a page or two back, so yes. That purple/white board was and still is great. This should be an improvement as far as weight, rocker and rail thickness are concerned. The volume will probably drop a bit too but I think the density (taken as a whole) will be lower than its predecessor. This also has a quad option, revised (.25" further up) center fin placement and the tail is a bit skinnier. Still a groveler though, but it should be fine with shoulder to head high waves if the pilot is.

I just weighed myself and I'm 116lbs somehow. So I can basically grovel on whatever I want.

How many liters is it? Also i feel like that would work as a 2+1 too, it looks super fun

gapersarefriendsHow many liters is it? Also i feel like that would work as a 2+1 too, it looks super fun

I'd say around 30. I never modeled it precisely on the computer so I'm not entirely sure. If I can find some boards of known volume I can get a better estimate.

It's more or less done. I have to wetsand at 800 grit then it should be good. And clean the dust off. So dusty.

Bit of a distressed look to it, which actually looks kinda cool.

Looking at fin setups. I'll probably start with this, EA blacksix fronts and qd 3.75 rears.

Might try this though, huggggeee T1 fronts from the twin and trailer set with the qd 3/75 rears. Definitely drivey, but I want to see how it turns and releases. I'm guessing okay on the back hand and with some difficulty on my forehand. But I don't know. The brief time I spend on quads doesn't really clue me in.

I need a picture outside once it's clean. The color is nice and the gray has a nice bluish tone to it. I'll do glamour shots eventually, maybe if it rains this week.

Alright, it's done. If all goes well I'll be testing in chest high waves thursday night, as long as the high tide doesn't kill it. Better be waves over the long weekend too. Enjoy these slightly grainy, possibly motion blurred photos.

Yes, I got white resin on the rail. I'm not happy about it but whatever.

It does look pretty cool as a quad.

Ride report whenever. Did I save NSG?

I'm just gonna copy/paste what I wrote on swaylocks. Here you go NSG. tldr for NS; it's fast as fuck, I've never made or had a board this quick. It reminds me of skating a tight bowl and I made forehand waves I wouldn't have made on the predecessor to this. The top speed is much higher than the old board and it seems to flow more quickly and efficiently than the old one. The tail releases easier on my forehand and it has that "speed and drive in any direction" quads seem to have. I didn't get to test it much on my backhand so we'll have to wait on that. Here's the long version.

I got out after work today. It was like waist high, some chest high sets (on me, I'm short) with smaller waves between. Plenty of waves and the size was there, but the quality sort of wasn't. Lots of closeouts, but also some racetracks for speed. I think the swell direction wasn't optimal for this spot, plus a the winds probably cycled through 180 degrees of direction changes for the two hours or so I was there. Still a few fun waves to be had. Here's some observations:

1: Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed. Easily the fastest board I've done. I don't know if it's related to it being a quad or the bottom contours but it's so fast. I made fast running lefts I wouldn't have gotten around on the other board. Before I got out I got a few lefts where I was consistently surprised not only that I made the sections, but that I kept that speed and kept going faster still. It flows so quickly, like a skateboard in a tight bowl corner. I have to surf it more, but it seems better under heavy front foot loading than the old version. The whole thing just feels a bit more efficient when pumping and making speed.

2: It's easier to release on my forehand, which was one of my goals. It also flows between turns more quickly and fluidly, which is how the libtech puddle jumper felt, so I think this is an attribute of quads of this style that I like. I had a small hit on a small lip and to my surprise I was able to quickly set it off the bottom and come up to hit the whitewash, where the board released and I felt like I was on a skateboard again. I think the lighter weight makes it feel a bit more lively too. If any of you skate, you know how you board can have all the traction you want, but even going slow over a roller or hump you can easily unweight the tail and drift it out then bring it back under you. This board reacts quicker than the old one.

3: Buoyancy seems about the same. It duckdives slightly better since I made the nose a bit thinner.

4: It paddles strangely well? I'm not sure if this is the case and further evaluation is needed. I don't know if there were just no currents to fight or what, but it seems to paddle more efficiently than the other one. It just seems to slide though the water easier, but then again that could be due to currents or lack thereof. I'll find out after a few more rides.

5: The more curvy bottom rocker definitely helped. This came out of a 5'3" blank. The other was a 5'4" out of a 5'9". This is a 5'3" out of a blank that was like 5'3.25" on a straight tape pull or so, aka I used the entire blank. There's not exactly more rocker, it's just not as flat.

6: I can see how this won't be as good in bigger waves. I think this has better smaller wave performance for sure, but I think it'll be quite loose in more powerful, faster moving waves. Maybe not as a 3 fin though, I'll have to try. I've had the old version out in overhead barrels, and honestly the best barrel I've gotten was on that board. I'll keep that board in the rotation as a toy for winter for sure, but even after this short test I can conclude this new one will be my new everyday ride.

7: It seems easier to stay attached to this board when hitting the lip and leaning over a lot, on my forehand at least. I think this is related to the board but also the fin setup. I think the quad allows it to pivot as quickly as I want it to so it doesn't get away from me so much, whereas the 3 fin arrangement had a longer turn radius without being forced. Could be the board is lighter or something else. Who knows...

Been a while... Had to make another one.

This is a replacement for my creamsicle shortboard, which was decent, but, needed more tail rocker and less nose rocker among other things. So the plan here was similar dims, but a tad wider with a tad skinnier tail to add more outline curve. I used a different blank with less nose rocker and more in the tail, which is more inline with modern shortboards. I also made the single concave a bit less extreme because that got kinda ridiculous in bigger surf in the winter. The added width over a standard comp shorty will help when it's 5mm season.

I went with a tucked edge on the bottom, which is not pictured here. Actually a lot of things are not pictured this time...

Anyway I went for sorbet flavor this time. All colorwork in the resin. No fucking paint.

Happy 4th NS. Get some waves. Just got back from testing it and it's real fun. Definitely an improvement over the old version and you can feel the added tail rocker. It's also a tad thinner overall, which always feels nice. Also it's a 3 fin, also not pictured.

DrZoidberg

I just went ahead and did a full tail patch. Seems like a better way to patch the fin boxes with not too much weight penalty. For the uninitiated, it's cut with the triangle to avoid having any stress on the seam across one line, or to spread it out over a larger surface area.

It's really cool in real life. The pictures don't do it justice. That MKIII logo up front ends up getting covered by the glass that wraps around the rails. I should have foreseen that.

Here's the back end. My signature, the made in usa lam and the dimensions got covered up by the black and white, or mostly gray. I didn't do that quite as well as I wanted, but the top is more black and white than gray.

I just did the fill coat. It's nice and shiny at the moment.

With my old logos covered, I printed some new gradient fill retro style ones and another made in usa lam. I also added that black messy stripe between the gray and purple. With some careful sanding the logos will stay where they're at.

Thats so sick, what material do you use for the stringer? Is it a carbon band like Lost has?

little1337Thats so sick, what material do you use for the stringer? Is it a carbon band like Lost has?

Yeah it’s standard unidirectional carbon.