I decided to make a travel kiteboard. Waiting on the epoxy and fiberglass, should arrive tomorrow. Here is my progress so far. If it turns out well (doesn't break, etc), I'll write the steps I took. It's my first time making a board. Still not sure how to make the screw holes waterproof, if anyone has any suggestions. I will be using stainless t nuts, 4 along the overlap between the two bottom pieces and 4 for the foot pad screws that will go through the entire thickness of the board.



1/4 inch birch plywood. Bottom is made of 2 sheets with 3 inch overlap in the center. The top is one sheet. I will reinforce the top one with fiberglass and leave the bottom with epoxy only to avoid increasing the weight too much.


30 inches or less, might shorten it another inch if it doesnt fit in the suitcase I ordered.


Also not sure if I need some kind of mask/respirator when dealing with epoxy? I will be using the US composites 3 to 1 method. They said the epoxy is non-toxic but that seems strange.

Any suggestions are welcome!

I think that is a great looking job.

Doesn't matter if it does break; as long as you Learn from the possible mistake.
Just keep the passion going !!
Your work looks Really Good !!!

On the Epoxy thing...
It's mostly the MDA (a known liver toxin and carcinogen) that most people are alergic
to.
I wasn't too careful with epoxy so now i got an alergy and can only use the Really
expensive ones like :
Aeropoxy
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/c ... ropoxy.php

or MGS
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/c ... sresin.php

SO-- to reduce the odds of developing an allergy, you can :

** Always wear rubber or Latex gloves, & keep the uncured epoxy Off your Skin.

** Always use an Exhaust fan, along with a small fan blowing over your work.
the air supplied to the smaller fan should be from an uncontaminated source.

** Sanding epoxy that is NOT fully cured is as bad as breathing the vapors directly
from the container, perhaps worst because there are now solids that introduce
directly to the lungs and don't flush out as fast as the vapors.

** repeated exposure could eventually force you to use an external breathing
source such as a Hookah rig for diving , along with that expensive stuff i now
gotta use cause i Wasn't careful in the past.

I now use an activated charcoal mask when laminating and a Really Good
dust respirator when sanding ; along with the fans.

Bille

Thanks! I used a dust respirator for everything and tried to keep the room as ventilated as possible, although Im sure I could have used more ventilation, especially when it got cold and I had to close the windows (but left the room too). Maybe I'll get a charcoal mask next time. Lots of learning came out of it! I'll post pictures of the final product today or tomorrow. I still have tons of epoxy left so I'll have to make a few more boards. Next board will be much better. Things to improve next time:

hole waterproofing - I made big holes, poured epoxy, cured, and made smaller holes in the epoxy to leave an epoxy protection in the hole, but the smaller holes ended up being bigger than expected so not all the places were protected. Holes should be drilled last, then epoxy poured, cured, and then smaller holes are drilled to avoid mismatch in hole lineups due to the epoxy layer.

reduce weight - take some wood off of the outside of the top layer of the bottom of the board. Use very thin fiberglass on the bottom boards only to ensure board doesnt suck in the epoxy and leave dry spots.

add rocker - no rocker on this one due to a mistake in gluing... I shouldnt have added epoxy to the middle overlapping layers so I could overlap them while putting the rocker in while gluing the two botom layers together... I knew this, but autopilot took over...

add epoxy rail - my rail was too rough, I added silicone and now its softer and smother, but silicone can peel off somewhat easily.

How did this board work out for you? Would love to hear more about it -- just got dinged $200 by US Air for my "golf" bag.

Greg Loren of Resin Reasurch fame also recomends not using any acentone. It transports the iritants into your body leading to allergy.

I actually haven't tried it yet. I traveled with it, the conditions were unfavorable and I just left the board there for my return. I'll try it next time. If I were to do it again I would try to reduce the weight by using less wood by cutting off some of the top layer of the bottom 2 pieces (towards the end of the board and the sides). It weighed around 10 to 12 pounds if I remember correctly. It was definitely heavier than the board I was copying.