I bit the bullet and decided to make this, posting pictures and snippets of info because i found other posts on this topic very extremely helpful! mostly info on fibre types and resin rations, vacuum pressures and general windsurf nonsense!!
Ive had this board in my head for a few years, i think boards are to long, Ive taken parts i have liked off the many freestyle boards ive owned, and a few ideas of my own for the sake of it!! maximum volume, minimum length, heel gutters and completely flat deck to the nose for maximum volume.
rocker is copied directly from dads naish hybrid slalom thing, i figure rocker is to important to mess with and this board is also 215ish
vacuum pump following designs on seabreeze, its a modern fridge motor which has a time delayed relay so it will put itself to sleep for 3min if it turns on to frequently, not a problem with good vacbag
rocker table is two old chairs screwed together, perfect.
3mm kleegercell and carbon on with zero stress
I cant see the point of mast tracks, I always screw it in the middle and deal with it, never have any problems. so i have glued the nut straight into the deck with plenty of carbon, a strip of meranti hardwood.., This board is not over engineered.
I didnt want to subscribe to the awful finbox systems and expensive fins which i cut down anyway, so i made some out of marine ply, laminated in carbon and fibreglass.. they are also weedfins because lake illawarra has loads of weed in the shallow bits.
inside vacuum bag under loads of vacuum
I snap alot of fin screws, and rip inserts out and crack boards across the weak insert area.. so this is the only part of the board over engineered, These are finbolts set upside down into the deck, with washers to spread the load.. minor holes drilled into the deck, which is alot less than the hole required for inserts.. epic
the fins are glued into the board, there ws no reinforcements in this aerea apart from an extra layer of carbon on the bottom, the fins go all the way up to the deck so the whole structure of the board is used.. they are only about 13cm so should be strong enough. 
I was out today!!, where were u chris? have u got your joker yet?
was planning on epic paintwork because i fancy myself as an artist but the forecast changed everything, so a la Copperhead Road, no paint except this daft red stripe.. I have used clear acrylic and caster sugar.. because the forecast was closing, it was that or surfboard wax!!
with the suger washed off
padz are high density PVA pool tyles from clark rubber, with a pretty drunk pattern with the router!
a few shots from
[todayimg]
board works as good as i expected (awesome).. the final weight with straps,fins,pads and UJ was 5.7kg!! was underpowerd on a 4.7 landed all my move incuding some of my best air funnels and a few neat shakas.. its got some damn sharp slalom rails so i didnt try any double spocks because..
feel free to ask any questions as i am now an expert!
Noice work Barn!
Have you been weighing the board after each stage?
I am interested on how much you end up saving...
Edit: just saw your final weight, kool pads!
it goes fine, as expected, its heavily influenced from the F2 rodeo and tabou 90 and skate.. its 10cm shorter than the rodeo and the rocker line is from the naish hybrid.. there was no reason to think it wouldnent work..
The only thing m worried about is if i had enough resin under the pvc foam, it was all wetted out but the board is really really light.. I will probably snap it but thats a really easy fix.
I forgot to list prices!
because i used no store bought inserts like mast track an finbox the price was pretty low for the board itself, about $400 i reckon on materials actually used IN teh board (lots of carbon)..
but i spent a fair bit more on stuff like resin and carbon and fibreglass which i still have plenty of left for the next board, I got the foam blank (4 boards worth) from a local supplier and the rest from FGI in sydney, they deliver everything next day.. also tools like the vacuum compressor and hotwire cutter and vacuum bagging stuff adds up.
^ i wasn't so worried about the design but more whether your footstrap crews will pull out of the board or let water in.
you've come up with a cheap and new way of looking at it. so i'd be keen to know how it goes.
feel free to ask any questions as i am now an expert!
this sums it up for me.O.K. first questions. where do you get the carbon and resin and what are the steps to make those fins since i wouldn't mind making some myself considering how much hey cost.
awsome post otherwise
Insane project, insane board, lots of pure freestyle spirit. I´ve really enjoyed your pics.
the fins were easy!, I bought some 6mm marine ply from bunnings, 1200x600x6. And the carbon and epoxy I bought from FGI composites in sydney, the carbon I used was bi weave 200g, but in a longer fin it might be worth playing with the unidirectional stuff. Its all about $45 per meter. I also used some fiberglass 130g. The resin I used for the whole project was FGIs own brand. I bought 5L resin and 1L hardener for $90ish but there were smaller volumes available.
I shaped the fins with a belt sander for the rough stuff, and a hand sanded the rest, making them a little narrower than I needed, Ive shaped a lot of fins so this bit was easy, but on a longer fin a little extra attention to accuracy wouldn't hurt. Then I laminated everything together, after that I sanded them back and filled over the fins again with micro spheres mixed with epoxy which sands really well. (that was $30 for half a kilo! which is fairly excessive amount I now have a life supply)
I also used a vacuum bag to set the fins some plastic, tackey tape, peelply, breather fabric were used, all available from FGI.
I followed the instructions on seabreeze for the vacuum pump from a fridge compressor, I found a pile of fridges at the local revolve, $5 for the motor, and the vac advance and pressure gauge from a wrecker. all under $50 just as the article says.
vacuum bagging affect could be achieved with sandbags or something simmilar. But I already had it for the board, Its a pretty neat piece of equipment, there are videos on Youtube about vacbagging model airplane wings which are worth a look.
hope that helps!
thanks for all of that. might get into making some fins now. Just have to make some time though
Nice work! Is there carbon/glass between the klegecell and the core? How did you go about shaping the core?
That is an original approach. You're not just a pretty face Barn.
It's probably worth doing a bit of cosmetic work on the beast. Something along the lines of industrial chic with graffiti spray? Or were you thinking more slick and gorgeous?
You have some nice coordination going on with your sail.
Hi Barn,
good job, final weight is real good.
I guess you saved a bit by avoiding mast tracks, strap inserts and fin boxes....good sideways thinking there!
What density polystyrene did you use for the blank?
A money saving tip for any other home buildrs out there.
I use gardeners shade cloth for breather and rip stop nylon for peel ply.
I get rip stop from a dress makers store, they use it for the lining in suits etc.....just make sure you can breathe thru it and that it doesn't rip easily.
Lots cheaper than buying the real deal from the marine industry and works great.
yes there is 130g fiber glass between the PVC and the foam. Also under the PVC foam there is 200g carbon around the straps and up to the 'mast nut' for extra strength. And also a double layer of glass on the bottom between the straps.
the foam blank was 13kg/m3.. I bought a huge block from a local distributors, It felt heavy so I weighed the block when I got it home with accurate scales and it was spot on.
I cut the blank using a hotwire cutter for the deck and rocker, using two templates. Hotwire cutter was made from guitar string, (the heaviest duty plain string at music shop), an ARC welder for power supply and a 'drop down resistor' made by setting up six 50W down lights in series. The old man worked out the circuit on paper and I just followed instructions, pretty much perfect settings 1st attempt.
hotwire cutter frame $8, guitar string $2.50 and disco box resistor (8 down lights 50W, $11)
vintage arc welder I found in the shed, priceless!
I cut the outline first using AKU shaper to give me the outline, and the rest of shaping was done with a surform, a belt sander, and some gauze stuff from bunnings.
the consumables weren't that expensive, peelply is $3 a meter, vacuum bag film is $5pm for a 90mm wide tube. And breather fabric is $2.50 for 1x1.5m2. Are the fabrics from dressmakers much cheaper? always happy to save more dollars
I am considering finishing the paint work, one day, but I kinda like the carbon finnish tho, it feels like a soviet military prototype.
Well done Barn, very satisfying and each board you make will just get better and better.
If you need any board making tips just post away.
Hey there,
I have a desire to make my own freestyle board as well...
As it would be my first board I got some questions regarding shaping and laminating...
regarding shape of the blank: - thinking of tail rocker about 2-3mm
- nose rocker is a question for me... would arround
15cm be to high?
- viewing full length rocker line... would it mean
earlier planing whether I move lowest point of the
curve more forward?
- thinking of making elypse shape when viewing from
top (opinions?)
Laminating: my Idea was --> blank, 1 layer of 110g/m^2 fiberglass, Airex foam-
3mm thick, 1 layer of 110g fiberglass, 1 layer of 160g
carbon fiber, strengthening nose, rails with kevlar
fiber (of course also reinforcing the mast and
footpad area with kevlar directly on the blank
Now... I am not sure whether the fiberglass under the Airex foam is necessary or not...
Regarding inserts, I can get them all for about 50€ (70$)...just for information, I would like to have carbon fiber on top, and just put transparent protection, so the fabric would be seen through...
I seek your opinions and advice, thank you in advance guys.
BTW... good job barn...
I couldnt comment on rocker, this one has a rocker off a slalom board, and its similar to my flare which has an Isonic rocker.. would I move the 2mm point forward or back? I dunno, I figure the boys in maui have got that bit sorted...
the elliptical outline would work, but there is no reason the front should look same as the back (think slalom boards and surfboards... and fish, horses and birds for that matter!)
your materials sound good, I have no experience with kevlar, Im not even sure its superior to carbon?? others may know this??
I wouldnt skip the fibre glass under the 3mm PVC.. its creates a composite construction out of the 3mm.. If u left it out there would be no extra strength in the skin... It is integral for strength, if u want to save weight loose more off the top layer..
kinda hard to explain, I had a freestyle that had the fibreglass under the 3mm crack and the deck collapsed..
heres a diagram i prepared earlier!!
hope that helps
10/10 for research, ingenuity and effort, and another 10/10 for the sailing demo.
IMO more attention to the paintwork/finish would make it even better, even if you do want to keep the soviet prototype theme. eg some stencilled stats, model numbers, radioactivity symbols, 'top secret' etc. (along with the CCCP Notwal suggested)
