No wind for a long time so have been keeping distracted by trying some thing new in my latest twin tip project 'The Stubby'
Its short and wide at 130 x 43.5cm because in the local light conditions I find that its the width and not length has the biggest impact on early planing. Its 100% basalt fibre this time, 3 layers of 200 gm top and bottom. With a bit of elbow grease and clear coat at the end the metallic luster of the basalt really comes through.
Instead of thinning the core smoothly as you move towards the tips I staggered the lengths of planks in the balsa top deck to get the same net affect but with a pixelated look:) Rest of the core is 6mm Paulownia and 4mm ABS rails all inserts are 6mm stainless steel nuts encapsulated in epoxy.
40mm of rocker that follows an elliptical curve that matches the profile of a heavy flexible plank bending under its own weight. The same profile I used in the last board (but 50mm rocker in last one) and no complaints at all. Having a good helping of rocker saved me from digging the nose in countless times especially in the surf. The 50mm of rocker was awesome in the surf - could just ride straight at a wall of white water and the rocker worked like an elevator. The downside was when you jammed the rail in the board wanted to carve upwind instead of grip. Great for tricks where you can use lots of rotational speed but not good for most other things. Hoping that 40mm is a happy middle ground.
This was the major experiment - big mofo channels in the hope I can cut the fins way down and still grip in the surf. This was a real construction challenge because normally you lay the board up by vacuum pressing it onto the rocker table surface. Without channels or a mould to press the channels into, getting 3D shaping top and bottom is tough and blows out the time to make it. I ended up making the bottom skins with the channels and 2 layers of basalt first. Then in a separate step a few days later I put a foam support under the channels and layed up the rest of the board as normal. This basically doubled the time to finish it off. Next time round I'm going to try making the board with the top side on the rocker table.
Anyhow it turned out well and hoping that the 6mm exo-channel pieces can lock it in even without fins.
Anyhow, full build details at www.boardbuilders.co
[URL]boardbuilders-forum.1077691.n5.nabble.com/The-Stubby-130x43cm-freestyle-board-td1455.html[/URL]
Now just need some wind to put it through its paces.
Matt
i allways believed deep channels didnt help grip they just made the board more dragy (more slowing then hard edgeing) spoke to some fluid dynamics guru about it one day do you look at that sort of thing when designing your boards?
O for awesome!
Hows the flex? is basalt closer to glass than carbon for stiffness?
Does basalt give any performance advantage over glass or carbon? better wear resistance perhaps? or simply cool factor.
More than you wanted to know about Basalt.
" ... offer performance similar to S-2 glass fibers at a price point between S-2 glass and E-glass, and may offer manufacturers a less-expensive alternative to carbon fiber for products in which the latter represents over-engineering."
[URL]www.compositesworld.com/articles/basalt-fibers-alternative-to-glass[/URL]
Ultimately it should mean higher performance boards are cheaper to produce without compromising the strength where its actually needed. Remains to be seen if this translates into cheaper boards or more expensive booze at team rider parties