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How EH kites builds there boards

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EH
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How EH kites builds there boards

Postby EH » Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:44 pm

Here is an article on how EH kiteboarding builds there boards.
http://www.cabareteairforce.com/news/14 ... 08-02.html. I bought one of there boards and love it, I also tried making a board after talking to these guys. I followed there model, and changed a few steps, buy the board came out great.

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Postby trogie » Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:48 am

Better url: http://www.cabareteairforce.com/news/14 ... 08-02.html

Nice board, Eric!

I'm coming back to Cabarete by mid november and I'll need a new board :-)

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Postby gbgreen59 » Fri Sep 23, 2005 2:27 pm

I browsed the article and have a few question that I hope you guys can provide help:

1. Are there three cloth plys on top and bottom: 1 x 6 oz uni, 2 x 9 oz biaxial (except for extra layer for foot pad cloth)?

2. Is the core cell foam flat until vacuum bagging? Is rocker put in the board during vacuum bagging. I thought about thermal forming the core cell before applying the cloth.

3. Are microballoons used when soaking the cloth or just when filling the core cell and filling the cloth after bagging?

Thanks for your help,

Gary

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Postby kiteboardingcentral.com » Sat Sep 24, 2005 4:00 am

1: I don't know, my construction is different.
2: If you really want the shape to stay, yes. Only PU and EPS are shaped before glassing, and that's usually for surfboards.
3: Microballoons? I don't use those, maybe for inserts but that's it. Do you mean Microspheres? I also don't use those, but in what he did, it's just to smooth the foam out, which I don't understand why he did that. The glass will stick better to a perforated surface rather then a smooth one. Maybe it's incase of any gasses in the foam? But that shouldn't happen with Corecell, only EPS, balsa, etc. Strange.

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Postby not annonymous » Sat Sep 24, 2005 5:15 am

The microballoons or whatever you want to call them are used to fill the pores in the foam to save weight. It can make a big difference.

Make the epoxy/ balloon mixture really thick (like peanut butter), squeegee it on and then scrape off as much as possible. Then you do the lamination before the epoxy/microballons cures. You get a chemical bond between the lamination and the filler coat so you're not bonding to a smooth surface, the microballons/epoxy is stronger then the foam and lighter than using resin alone.

Even though it's stronger than the foam, microballoon/epoxy is not very strong. For that reason you don't want to put any in your laminating resin (not to mention it would make it much harder to saturate the fiber reinforcement). It's also generally not a good choice for doing inserts - there are much stronger fillers available for that.

If your foam core is 12mm (3/4") thick or less there is no need to thermoform it to get the rocker, it will easily conform to the rocker table when you vacuum bag it. It is also possible to mould concave or other simple bottom shapes into the core when you vacuum bag it.

Generally you can get away with using one layer 9 oz/yd biaxial and one layer 6oz/yd on the bottom, as long as you do not abuse the board too much (sliders/riding on the beach,etc.). Glass is much stronger in tension than it is in compression. In most foam-core kiteboards, when they break, the deck fails under compression, usually under or right next to your back foot on a hard landing - thererfore the deck needs to be built more heavily than the bottom.

Trent Hink

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Postby gbgreen59 » Sat Sep 24, 2005 1:57 pm

Thanks Trent,
This is good info that is hard to come by.

Gary


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