RealSurf Surfers' Forum

what does Gaz weigh ? is this one thinner due to different fosm to his standard boards with PU ?
...keen to hear how it goes for him.....

Heya Mark,
My weight goes up and down a bit but i'm usually in the 83-88 range
I like boards that are thin and narrow and this one is a bit bigger width and thickness wise than my usual at 18.5 x 2.25 but in saying that, Tim shaped my last one with a bit extra in it and the extra kegs i'm carrying helped me to surf with more rail and less flail (if you know what i mean). Even my older boards weemed better with my extra weight so maybe they had too much foam maybe
The Polystyrene core is lighter so being thin should even out the extra bouyancy (fingers X'd)

Yeah the polystyrene foam has a little more bouyancy than PU. But in reality I woulda liked to sneak a bit more thickness in there. Thing is I bought a sheet of 50mm thick polystyrene which I got this board and the 1 I made for me. It was all I could get out of it after the skins, but I left the decks flat to get the most out of it.

These 1st couple have been to get a handle on the methods of construction. It's very different to regular shaping, there's a lot of manipulating to form the rocker and concaves etc. I'm pretty stoked with how my rocker table works, and putting the theories into practice.

I'll be cutting my blanks from a big block of foam from now on, so I'll have any thickness I need at hand. Gaz'll need to get down to his fighting weight to get the full benefit of this one. But if it is too small we'll just make another, and use this one as a demo.

For that are interested I've put another one in the bag. It's gunna end up 7' X 20 1/2" X 2 3/4". For a bigger, older bloke who still likes to ride a "shortboard" when the waves are decent. He plays around on a mini-mal when the waves are junky. Here's a look at it getting it's bottom skin on.



I've also pieced together some offcuts of the skin foam, and some strips of 3mm balsa, to make up an entire skin for another board I'm gunna make. It'll be 6'1" X 19 1/2" X 2 3/8". I'll lend it out to crew who wanna have a try.

Hey tiger, im up for a paddle for sure, just to see how it floats compared to pu

No worries Digg's, I've gotta get this other one out of the way 1st. Here's a look at the skin.

The demo board is finished. Ended up doing it 5'11" X 19 3/4" X 2 7/16". The skins ended up looking pretty cool, so I didn't spray over them. The rocker table works like a dream. I didn't preglass the skins, just taped them together on the outside and laminated them onto the eps core, chucked them in the bag and they pulled together nicely. I'm gunna have a couple of surfs on it, and there's a few crew lined up for a go. Digger and anyone else who are keen to have a blast on it, just let me know, and we'll organise it. I'll take some better pics and put them up soon, but here's a couple planshape shots.





The 7' er for my mate is almost ready too. Just glossed it today, as he likes his boards finish coated and polished.

Good looking stuff Tiger.

looks the goods tiger, will pm you soon to organize something

Here's a couple more pics of the boards finished for those interested.

Hey Tim,
Got back the other day and am delighted to say that the newy went well, very well actually.
I'll fill you in when i get a chance, suffice to say the new one has passed the last one as my fave shorty of all time! (big call I know but there is something about a board that shows little bits of brilliance every time you paddle out on it)

sorry I missed ya monday tiger, my net was down and had no way of contacting you, hopefully soon mate

No worries Digg's, I was busy monday and didn't surf .

Boards out on loan ATM, but I'll prob grab it back over the weekend.

I'll PM ya if I'm surfing this monday.

Just knocked another 1 out for a bloke that wanted to fill a gap between his fish and regular shorty. 6'2 X 19 1/2" X 2 3/8".

Starting to get a handle on the construction and streamlining the process a bit. Frothing to do another!!

now that you are getting this construction method down do you think you will ever go back to pu boards much.

tiger wrote:For that are interested I've put another one in the bag. It's gunna end up 7' X 20 1/2" X 2 3/4". For a bigger, older bloke who still likes to ride a "shortboard" when the waves are decent. He plays around on a mini-mal when the waves are junky. Here's a look at it getting it's bottom skin on.

.

interesting construction.....would u say it's more time than using pu

I wouldn't rule out PU Digg's, but I'm having heaps more fun doing them this way.

Fong they are way more labor intensive than regular construction. I can make a new PU/PE board in a day easy, and still probably fit a surf and a fish in. But I can make a board lighter and stronger, that as far as I can tell works just as well or better this way. So I don't care if it takes a bit longer, the end result is whats important. My 2 boards have had plenty of use, the 1st one is 10mths old, and if you scraped the wax off them you will not find even the hint of a depression.

Lightweight PU boards fall apart, I don't care who's blanks people use, they are disposable.

ok....not everyone wants surf the same board foreva
but lightness is good

i'm so heavily sold on my demsey turbo channels/concaves, they look strange but work like u wouldn't believe...for me anyways....and i'm a kook so who too believe


does this/your construction method allow you create that sort concave

does it limit what you can shape on the bottom in any way

p.s awesome looking boards tiger like i'll love nothin better give u shit....but really nice looking boards