Home grown wakesurf board skim style
 

It didn't take too long but here it is, I started with a 3/4" thick 4x8' sheet of xps as my core. I decided since it was going to be my first board I was doing it on a budget and try to find all the supplies locally hence the xps. Anyways I decided to go 50" long and 21" wide just to be different no real reason. I then traced a hyperlite broadcast and used a sharpie to make it my own. I think the tail section really came into its own after a ton of sanding, then I wanted to make an aggressive rail for cutting fast and aggressive, all in all it took quite a bit of sanding to get it symmetrical. I then realized I forgot to put a nose on the board so I took some left over foam and glued it on top, once dried I tried to make a lift but I just didn't have enough material so I basically pressed on. Once I was as happy as I could be I mixed water based rustoleum paint and used an hvlp gun to lay it on the foam. I then used 2-6 oz. Layers of fiberglass cloth on top and bottom and sanded all the high spots down, finally I used the epoxy resin to lay a gloss coat and spread it out with a paint brush. Once it was dry I wetsanded and polished the board and applied the traction pad.

Here are some pics of the build!

Sweet!!! Do you have any rocker?

On this board I didn't have any rocker. I think the lack of a rocker makes the board a little quicker? Maybe?

Looks good. After building two myself I have learned how hard it is to make them.

What's the middle material?

"epoxy resin to lay a gloss coat" Is that different from the resin you use to put the fiberglass cloth down with?

So, how's it ride?

Middle material as in pink stuff? Or the stringer?

Yes epoxy resin for the gloss coat. It's the same stuff as used when applying the fiber cloth

Well its surfable but i need to make a few adjustment on the next one. Biggest problem is with the nose it is just to low it want to go under water when too much pressure is on the front foot. Other than that being my first board built from scratch I think it turned out better than I expected!!! It is a little slower at the bottom of the wake but in the cuts it is lightning fast, I believe the slowness is due to the length at 50". Next board is going to be a copy of our soulcraft with some twists I'm going to try and use futures fin boxes as well as 1-2" thick material and make a surfer not a skimmer.

Sorry I was talking about the stringer what kind of wood did you use for that and how did you attach the two side I'm sure it was glued?

Yeah, I actually found 1/8"x1" pine that was 10 foot long figured it would be strong enough. I used gorilla glue to adhere it to the foam.

Ok thanks. I was wondering at first if you used the the resin to glue it in. That board looks awesome for a first time board it has inspired me to give it a try.

Yeah, its a super fun project, just to see if its something anybody can do. I think with a few more practice boards I could really get good at it. The biggest plus for me was cost to try. Roughly $75 from start to complete, if you have tools.

That's awesome. Nice work!!!

Right on Zach! That thing is sweet! I made my own board out of the same "pink stuff" xps foam and it rides great. Mine is a stringer-less surf style board around 4'10", 22"wide with a thrasher fin setup. I used future boxes. I'm gonna be making 2-3 more boards this winter. Can't wait to see your next board!

sweet! looks like it rides pretty well too!

Chris, how well did you board with no stringer hold up? I am planning on building one this winter with some leftover 2 inch thick foam board and was considering making the board without a stringer. and I wondering if adding a stringer was worth the trouble.

You don't need a stringer depending on thickness and glassing schedule. However, since you are likely working with flat 2" pieces, using a stringer allows you to bend a proper rocker into your glued up blank. That is how it is done, back in day before CNC shaping machines, every shaper had their own specific rocker templates over at Clark and other blank manufactures used to set the rocker from natural, when the stringer(s) were glued in placed the why the shaper wanted. This was one of the biggest beefs when Clark closed its doors, unless you scrambled done there, you lost all your rocker templates you have amassed over the years.

Additionally stringered boards have a tendency to keep their flex characteristic longer. New boards always flex great (quick spring back/responsiveness), however the flex (energy loading and unloading/spring back memory) starts to fade in time. This is why older boards are often referred to a dead feeling.

I will give you a tip, don't worry about your tail rocker since you will have plenty of leeway in the 2" for a wakesurfboard, however you will want to bend the nose up some.

A 2x4 is rideable, but it is not going to ride like a properly shaped board.

Nick

RonT. - So far so good, have been riding on it all year. I used two - 2" foam panels and then built a rocker table and gorilla glued them together while in the rocker table. This set the rocker for the noise and slight rocker for the tail. The next boards I build will have a stringer in them. I would try and build a fast board, because its easier to slow them down than it is to speed up a board. I actually removed some of the rocker from my board halfway through the year.

Nick was was a huge help in the build process and he knows his stuff.

Over the long haul, the stringer seems to be worth the trouble.