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Danydan
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Kitesurfboard

Postby Danydan » Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:14 pm

Hello everyone,
I was thinking of building a surfkiteboard for lightwind conditions... It seems that not a whole lot of you guys are building surfboard type of boards but for light wind, I think that it is one the best option to use as there is not a whole lot of jumping, more cruising and even though I never tried one with my kites, it looks like a comfortable style of riding (always on a light wind kind of perspective)... I will use boardCAD for dimensions and try to replicate it manually, meaning I don't have all the sophisticated tools to make it the exact dimensions. I guess I will have to use my sixth sense!!! Also, having no board construction experiences, I am planning of doing some tests of shaping and glassing on piece of scrap styrofoam as I will not be happy to make a big mistake on my first shaped board.

I watched a small video of how to do a skimboard and thought it might be a good idea to use the same kind of method for a surfkiteboard... You can watch it here the video called ''Home made Skimboard, making a foam blank(PART1 OF 3)'':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z4x67dhw-s

My question is then do I really have to make the center of the board with wood or just styrofoam (like the one for insulation a home depot) will be strong enough. It seems that the rocker could be easier to do with a piece of wood in the middle but at the same time if it's not necessary to add some strengh to the foam, I don't think I would bother doing it... I guess that a big piece of styrofoam would be harder to shape but might me stronger than cuting it in the middle on the whole lenght!!!

My other reference for my project will be the book that can be found on of surfersteve.com (there is also some videos on youtube) even though I am planning to use lower quality material (in particular for the core; insulation foam).

Any comments or suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help guys.

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Bigdog
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Re: Kitesurfboard

Postby Bigdog » Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:46 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Iy3Y5h7Ww


This method works really well. Without a stringer is fine but you need a rocker table to keep if from warping under vacuum. If you google Greg loehr there are several videos which will help.

Good luck.
Stan

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foam-n-fibre
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Re: Kitesurfboard

Postby foam-n-fibre » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:52 am

If you do use the construction (extruded) foam, check to see if they have more than one compression strength. Often they can be found in 20 psi and 30 psi weights. Get the heavier stronger stuff. Whether you need a stringer for board strength depends on how thick it is too. Also, as has been said before, that foam does have issues with delam sometimes (but not always). Don't sand it super smooth, leave it a touch rough to get a good mechanical bond, and don't cook it in the car.

Peter

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Re: Kitesurfboard

Postby handy » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:11 am

if you do a full carbon rail wrap, this will work as a parabolic ( perimeter ) stringer.
With this construction you will not need any wood in the middle and btw. boards tend to break from the rails to the middle.
this is a picture of my standard lay up : http://www.ahcustoms.ch/page12.php


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