Homemade split boards

[darippah]

Big shoutout to loco4viento! Completed my board today and it looks great

[loco4viento]

Great looking job!

[darippah]

Great looking job!

[matthepp]

Hey darripah, loco4viento,
Any ride reports on the split boards? I'm looking for confidence to cut my TT in half for an upcoming trip...

[darippah]

Just rode mine for the first time , really sweet. Couldnt tell the difference - i recommend you use duct tape on the top of the board- i put it underneath and it started peeling.. Too bad my line snapped and had to end my first session early

[loco4viento]

I've got a few hours on each of mine. They ride well and I don't notice any wobble or flex along the struts. Agree with darippah on the duct tape (that's what I use) on the split to keep water from spraying up. Next time I'm going to use a strip of tear-aid on the bottom surface. That stuff sticks great and doesn't peel like duct tape (I use it to cover fin holes when riding finless). Might be a hassle to remove though. I liked the ride so well I swapped the cheap pine for some sanded and urethane sealed bamboo struts. I will try it out again in a week.

Darippah, glad you're liking yours. Hope you get lots of great riding this week.

[bounce]

All,

I first built a home-made one, using parts of an old Nobile 666 to strengthen another Nobile 666. The board works sort-of, but got too heavy, so I then bought their SplitBoard.

I did a review of the Nobile Splitboard here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2383511

Frode.

[matthepp]

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen. I'm going to go for it, and will report back. I'm a 200 pounder and have snapped previous homemade ply-woodies so it'll be a good test. I think I'm going to build the 3 struts onto a one-piece joiner plate, which can cover the gap. As for the cut, I can't decide whether the bottom would end up more smooth with a normal square cut or a beveled cut. Tear-Aid sounds like a great idea.

[matthepp]

So I did it. Cut a perfectly good Decosse Customs TT in half. I built a monolithic splice plate of 1/4" birch ply with 3 mangaris hardwood stringers, all covered with 3 coats of spar urethane 'for a yacht-like look'. The splice plate uses (8) 1/4" thru-bolts with washers plus the handle inserts to tie the two board halves together. I overdrilled the top sheet and filled the holes with epoxy to improve the foam crush resistance at the bolt connection. Also, epoxy on the cut to seal the foam. The splice plate adds maybe 2 pounds. If the connections were to fail, I think it would be due to the washers shearing right through the bottom sheet...

I'll give it a test on family vacation next week and will report. I'm over hauling golf bags and dealing with check-in.

[BWD]

Sounds like it should be ok if the epoxy in the holes goes all the way through to bottom sheet, otherwise the foam will probably crush.