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A Big Door - 166x50

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:52 pm
by duartemv
So... after some friendly discussions with kite buddies, I finally got to the conclusion that what I need is not a big kite, but a big board!!

I'm 1,78m and 73Kg, and the biggest kite I have is an Advance Kaiman 10m, and the board is a 133x38.

After a weekend of 12kn, where my board proofed itself insufficient, while a Spleene Door of 145x45 was more than enough to make it upwind, I decided to make my own, but using the outline of the Spleene Monster Door, of 166x50!! :D

Me and a friend bought some ply wood 6,5mm thick and put ourselves to work!
Each of us is making a different approach, we I've decided to cut the plank into several planks, and glue them together, while he is making it from the complete plank.

After a few weeks of on and off due to time issues, I finally got the board ready for lamination.

As you'll be able to see from the pics, I don't even have a garage to work in, so everything was done on the balcony of my building! :D

Here are a few pics of its current state!
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Selection of plank orders!
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Gluing the planks.
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Drying the glue.
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Drawing the outline.
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Shape cut out and starting to sand down the thickness.
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No router available... took a little bit of extra time with this one...
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After a few hours, the top side!
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And the bottom side!
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Detail of the bottom central and lateral channels.
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Detail of the top side.
Next steps will consist of making a poured epoxy rail. I've saved the exterior outline of the wood, and after that, lamination. 2 layers of 6 ounce fiber glass on top and bottom sides, with some carbon strips along the length of the board, especially through the heel positions and side channels.

Re: A Big Door - 166x50

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:45 pm
by Hubbs
:thumb: Looks sweet man, nice pics too, really helps with learning

Im just starting to look at board building for a little something to do on the side, and making a Door was JUST what I was thinking, i a nice low wind board to help me out,

looking forward to checking out the updates, gonna book mark this to help me get started on mine

Good luck man cant wait to see the results
:jump:

Re: A Big Door - 166x50

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:05 am
by duartemv
Just a little update... After cutting the board, its weight was around 2,6Kg. After removing all that volume, the wood core is around 2Kg.

Re: A Big Door - 166x50

Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 5:00 pm
by duartemv
A little big problem occurred with the core, due to excessive humidity...

Basically, it's split in half along the length, and it's a bit twisted... Because it's nearly impossible to put it back together with my skills and tools, I've decided to put it aside and start a new core, with a different approach, not so time consuming.

I'll start working on it next and update this post as soon as I have it up and running!

Re: A Big Door - 166x50

Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 10:10 pm
by Pablo
why did you cut it into strips?

Re: A Big Door - 166x50

Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:01 pm
by duartemv
This technique is used to limit the damage to the board in case it brakes inside. If one of the strips brakes, it wont propagate through the entire board. This way, the board will last a little bit longer. :)

Re: A Big Door - 166x50

Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:04 pm
by duartemv
I got a question regarding the epoxy resin.

Does the epoxy resin sticks to plastic bags if I don't use that special unmolding wax?!

In a few days I'll start the lamination of the board, without vacuum bagging, so I'm thinking in covering the table with a plastic for protection, I to prevent the board from gluing to the table. Can I do this?!

Re: A Big Door - 166x50

Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:45 pm
by zob
I do it, with ordinary PVC sheet.