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I got my hands on a decent foil but do not want to shell out $1000 for a board. Has anyone built their own board and if so can you give me some tips. Thanks

You get a lot more reasonably priced boards than that.
I have this: http://www.mackiteboarding.com/2018-nai ... oil-board/

I've seen other boards in the same price class-ish.

Start with an axe handle and some plywood..

..this survived for about a minute, but we did get it up foiling briefly

I have the foil, I just need the board. Can I just get plywood and cut out a board shape. I see that is what clearwater foils sells - I think

The picture I posted above was a joke. It is of a plywood board and wooden wings made by my buddy Grey B (who is actually an experienced foiler) and who clearly had too much time on his hands in his wood shop. He was able to ride it for a few moments, but a beginner would not stand a chance. Learning to foil is challenging enough without trying to use bad equipment like a flat plywood board.

CG

https://youtu.be/SMXMVkreeSM

you can check this for pics of the build... pretty simple! http://kitefoil.forumactif.org/t5681p25 ... ro-bricolo
But the guy is really good.

There are few ways you can go:
- Buy used foilboard that fits your foil or is easy to mod to fit.
- Modify old surf or wakesurf or skim board - I modded one myself using Slingshot Space Pickle. It is a good size board even for a beginner



- build your own. You can build simple board from plywood, but making a nose rocker can be tricky. A bit of styrofoam, glass and epoxy and some labor works as well.
Here is a simple board I built for my Spitfire foil the last year. Used 1 inch thick insulation foam board, foot strap inserts, Garolite tubes for reinforcement of mounting holes, fiberglass and some carbon patches (stuff I had in my garage at the time). This one is too small for a beginner though.




Lines on the front deck are cuts (~3/4" deep) to allow for nose scoop build.

A couple older threads on this.

I built my board with a piece of baltic birch plywood bent with 1 inch of rocker by rolling a car onto it with 1 end on the curb and then glassed with fiberglass and epoxy. Foil has plate connection bolted straight through the board with glassed holes. 1 year later and still going strong. It's very heavy compared to production boards, but it's bullet proof. Deck pad is a $10 EVA foam kid's play mat glued on with contact cement and that gives it the bouyancy to not sink. I learned strapless. Might have progressed faster on a more expensive board but if you don't have the $$, it's possible. Cost me about $75 total but I bought more epoxy than I needed.

old topic:
http://kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10 ... od#p989583

Njrider, does your foil have a tuttle or plate mount?

If it's a plate mount it's really easy to do a plywood one, or modifying a surfboard. If it's a tuttle one either modifying a surfboard, or building your own isn't that hard if you are handy.

Also there is always buying one second hand.

Stick an adapter on an existing board?

http://americankiteboarding.com/product ... =Hydrofoil