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New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Here you can exchange your experience and datas about your home build boards
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edt
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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby edt » Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:26 pm

Wicker wrote:I'm likely going to go with round rails then, just for ease of construction. Just picked up some 1/2" birch ply so hopefully I'll make some progress this weekend.
with 1/2 inch ply glass will make it too heavy you should to go back to 3/8 if you wanna glass it. with 1/2 inch just paint and/or varnish it

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby Wicker » Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:16 pm

Would it still be too heavy if I just do an expoxy coat and skip the glass? Just want to make sure that it's sealed.

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby edt » Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:31 pm

It's up to you but, I would go thinner plywood if you are using epoxy glass or no.

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby zob » Sat Mar 24, 2012 7:51 am

Wicker wrote: try to throw in some rocker using zob's setup.
This is not my setup! I don't like to take shortcuts. I made a decent rocker table, which gives a decent board.
I found this picture on the net (there was another with car wheels, but I like this one better :) ), to show you, what you were asking for, without having to describe it.

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby zfennell » Sat Mar 24, 2012 1:47 pm

Wicker wrote:Would it still be too heavy if I just do an expoxy coat and skip the glass? Just want to make sure that it's sealed.
dont worry about "too heavy"
or too big
or too much rocker.

......its just a piece of plywood.

it you dont speend too much time or money on it , you'll give yourself of luxury or trying a few different shapes and sizes for the low cost of a single sheet of plywood.

depending on your weight and wind the board may be too flexible.
however, flex is a good way to soften the ride and helps to 'dig your heels' in when you get over powered. Instant rocker
if you decide on stiffer...make it thicker, make it shorter, add some glass to the top and bottom.
(once its dry)
sun and water will help you 'morph' the shape ( sometimes good, sometimes bad)
fiberglass is effective in locking the shape you finially decide on as well as adding strength and stiffness.

as long as the board floats, it will plane and go up wind and even jump.
when you get to the point that you want more it will be an easy decision.
too heavy is never an issue until your repetoire of tricks is too good for plywood

sharp (including square) rails will release water.
round rails allow the water to cling to the edge.
the bottom still does most of the work, regardless of rail shape.
in a short time you'll be able to tell where you want one or the other.
in the meantime i doubt you can tell the difference
if you do figure it out on day 'one' you can easily fix your plywood board on day 'two'.

a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood will easily net 3-4 prototype boards that you can literally rip out in a couple of hours, total effort.
get to it, have fun and see for yourself what works.

no worries.
-bill

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby Wicker » Sat Mar 24, 2012 7:14 pm

Thanks bill, I'll plow ahead with my current plan and take stock at the end. Starting to get really excited for the season to start. Thanks again for the help guys it's really helped me get started.

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby Wicker » Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:08 pm

I'm now looking at fin location and can't seem to find much. I'm planning on the five fin set-up, two toe edge and three heel edge. Any advice on how far in to set the fins from the ends and rails?

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby matthepp » Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:16 pm

Wicker,
I agree with the above advice. Consider it an experiment. Here's what I did for my first board:
viewtopic.php?f=107&t=2352039
It was big and heavy. Mucho eEoxy can add a lot of weight too. Two years later, I just cut the outline own a bit. Shorter and fatter is good. Say 140x40. Find some old windsurfer straps and screw them on (cheap). Don't worry if the first board sucks. You can later make a bench out of it, use it for a raft frame seat, let learning friends use it and get hooked, screw it to the wall in your man-cave for old-time's sake, etc.

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby Wicker » Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:17 pm

Just by eyeballing I'm thinking 6 cm or so in from the heel edge. I think I am going to forgo the toe side fins for now as I don't see them getting much use. I've got the board cut and just did a couple test patches of stain. Just need to round the railes and set the rocker.
IMG_1113.JPG
Rough cut of the board

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Re: New to Kiteboarding and building a board

Postby Windrider » Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:27 pm

You took lessons?


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