Paper Chaser - First Board - Thanks to the list!!!

[ddeville]

Hello gang. This is the first board that I've made. I have experience with composites in building large model rockets, but it was thanks to the information I learned on this list that I was able to make such a great first attempt. I'm really excited about making more.

The board is 138 x 41 cm made from two layers of 1/4" AirCell Polyester foam sheets from Polyumac. The bottom skin is 3 layers of 5 oz glass with a fabric layer skinned by a layer of 1.5 oz. glass. The top is 4 layers of 5 oz with fabric and skin glass. There is about 4-5 cm of rocker and a single concave on the bottom. The handle is free hand cut from a sheet of 1 inch thick foam and covered with a carbon/glass braided sleeve.

The inserts are 3/8" aluminum that I drilled with a tap hole and back filled with candle wax. After the board was finished I drilled out the wax and tapped the threads in place. I filled the fin support holes with thickened glass filled epoxy and drilled them once the board was complete.

The first step was to lay up the bottom skin and first foam sheet against the rocker table (which I covered with a mylar sheet). Then epoxied the top foam layer in place. Then filled the edges with thickened epoxy and layed up the top glass layers. This filled in the gaps between the layers creating the rail.

Thanks again for all the great input here.
Derek

[kitehok]

That board is money!!

How did you do the graphics, rice paper? 1 piece or sections? Without spending a fortune at a print shop, I've yet to find a method to print a full board graphic.

[ddeville]

The graphic is printed fabric (cotton I assume) that is trapped under a thin layer of fiberglass. I just went to the fabric store and found patterns that I liked.

BTW, the board rides real nice. I only got about an hour on it, but it felt real good. Tracked upwind nice and the flex really ate up landings.

Derek

[liv2surf]

impressive.

[schmoe]

That is one cool looking board. Can you please explain how you did the rail again?

[Toby]

very cool job!

I guess now you will do every month a new one just so your design ideas can become reality?

Funny, in the beginning of the shaping process it reminded me of the good old pickle fork