e.Balsa Compsand

I cut a round on the end of the nose block and matched that in the board. Then traced the rocker and outline on the material after fitting the material to the cutout.

I cut a round on the end of the nose block and matched that in the board. Then traced the rocker and outline on the material after fitting the material to the cutout.

Rough cut of the outline and rocker and test fitting the nose block...note the "fitment" tool in the right hand side of the picture.

...and epoxied in. I'm not a good e.wood worker, but I this this build gives an idea what COULD be accomplished by an accomplished e.wood worker that knew how to select appropriate shades of wood and match them.

I believe that when this is finished, I'll send it to Mike Walker of TWP to laminate it.

So my family got me a blank from this company.
http://ecuadortrek.com/logcabins/blanks.htm

It's roughly the size and of my ja mako and I am going to build a quad out of it. It's 2 solid pieces with a sinlge stringer. I guess it has a wakesurf style rocker(It's being shipped, I haven't seen it yet) and it's thick around 4 inches now. How thick does it need to be? How does it float compared to styrofoam? I plan on making a hybrid-comp1- ja mako that is a future fin quad. Any suggestions?

SWEET! Balsa blanks are not cheap, you scored. I know those folks sell a balsa wood skim style board, already shaped and glassed. I was unaware that they had a wakesurf sized blank.

They sell those blanks in two styles hollow chambered and solid. You mentioned it was a single stringer with two solid pieces, if it's not chambered then you can bring it down about the same dimensions of your Ja Mako, but read below. If it's chambered, you don't want to cut into a chamber so you'd probably only have 1" top and bottom, to shape away.

Balsa will be heavy, even chambered it will be...maybe three times heavier than your EPS boards. It floats great, but with the added weight you'll probably want to leave it a tad thicker than your Ja Mako. Maybe 1/8" to a 1/4".

What a GREAT project! I can't wait to see the progress. If you get a chance, can you post up some pictures for us.

It is solid. I guess my brother measured my ja mako and it's a blank that is modeled after it's shape. I will post some pictures when it comes. I'm excited, I know they spent a lot of money on the blank so I don't want to screw it up!

It sounds like they had the blank resawn to match the rocker on your Ja Mako. That's sweet, it'll make the shaping easier for you. Can't wait to see it!

So I talked to the guy that builds the board. I was wrong it's big enough to make a ja mako or? Basically it's just a big piece of balsa wood with a rocker. It's 5'X21"X2.5" with the rocker built it. The rocker now is a direct copy of the hyperlite broadcast. How is this rocker different from my boards? Seems like the 2.5 thick could allow me to change the rocker a little if needed?

You know, my guess is that the rocker is standard from the long boards. You're right, the 2.5" thickness will allow you to shape some extra nose and tail rocker, but if the rocker on the blank is already too much...you may have to get creative.

I'd bet you'll have enough material to get your rockers to match.

What I would do now, while you're waiting for your blank to arrive is get an accurate measure of the rocker on your Ja Mako.

Measure the exact mid point of your Ja Mako (something like 2' 5.5" ) and mark it on the stringer with a pencil dot. Then put your Ja Mako on a set of racks or sawhorses so that the middle of the board is level (use a carpenter's level). Find a piece of pipe or wood that is straight and flat - aluminum channel or angle works great - and longer than your Ja Mako. Put in on the dot and measure from the bottom of your "straight thing" to the board at various points. I like to measure at 1 foot intervals and then at the very end of the nose and tail.

Be careful on your Ja Mako at the tail, I believe it has a V in the last few inches. The center will be higher than the rails by a fraction, be sure to measure down the stringer.

Once you get your blank, you can transfer the measurements you noted above, to the blank and you should have a perfect match of the rocker.

I'm really looking forward to your build!

Should I do black future fin boxes or white boxes? Do you know where to find the fin box router jig? I already have a nice router so all I need is the jig. I can't seem to find it. I am thinking of using s glass to cut down on weight. What resin would you use?

why do you call it e.wood?

i looked it up and couldnt find anything

Jeff here is the rocker info that the balsa was shaped to. I hope it's not that far off from what I want.

Nose Rocker: 7.36 cm/2.90 in.
Tail Rocker: 2.03 cm/0.80 in.

@ Mitch e. = evil. See above for more details, you wakeskaters just don't read. Or try googling evil wood.

@ Duffy. For awhile there Futures was rumored to be switching to just natural because the dye to make either black or white "supposedly" affected the strength of the plastic boxes. I can still get both black or white, so really it's just personal preference in terms of asethetics.

The Futures Router jig is compatible with the Ryobi Router. I have a few higher end routers, but the base won't fit - basically it's a laminate trimmer and not a full on router. I've tried to attach a picture and you can see the large black collar, the router slips into that collar. Give Mark at Lakewakes a shout, he has an account with Futures and can get the jig, I'm not sure if they sell it without the router though. Alternatively, Foamez stocks the full kit, you can check with Grant they are very helpful.

http://www.lakewakes.com
http://www.foamez.com

I'm confused by your s glass comment. E or S is sold by weight, so 4 oz e or s will still weigh 4 oz / yard. Were you planning on using 4 oz S instead of 6 oz E? or using fewer layers?

I'm a big fan of Epoxy simply because it's much less toxic and you don't need a respirator (I like to call it a breathilator ). However, it's a pain to get a nice gloss with. On your wooden board, you're going to want to get a gorgeous gloss so the wood shows through. Personally I'd opt for Sylmar Polyester. If you go with Epoxy, the standard is Resin Research. I like Foamez.com for resin also, they are a bit more expensive, but super helpful.

Duffy, you're golden on the rocker. You'll need to mow some wood, but not much.

Thanks for all the help, I thought s-glass was stronger with less weight. IE using 4oz instead of 6oz. How many layers would you use? How strong is balsa compared to styrofoam? Can I get away with using less? Weight savings are a concern but so is keeping it strong. I think white boxes would look great with the balsa.

You're welcome, I'm very interested in your build. S isn't lighter than E - 4 oz or 6 oz is the same weight wether it's E, S, Warp, Impact or even Tex. S is stronger than E, you're right, but the physicals show it as only about 5 to 10% more. I won't bore you with dissertation, but in a nutshell: Most fabric is rated on tension, but that's principally meaningless in a wakesurfer. Compression is more important, but isn't rated because the resin has such a HUGE influence here.

Solid Balsa in the size you're getting will be plenty strong, that really isn't an issue. The biggest problem with balsa is that it sucks water like a sponge and if you get a ding, you have to fix it before getting it wet again. If allowed to stay wet the wood will turn black and gets soft. The difference between laminating with 4 oz and 6 oz, in this situation is probably about 10 to 12 oz in total, not very much in what this board will finally weigh. So...if I were you, I'd opt for the greater strength of 6 oz over 4 oz to help improve ding resistance. I'd have a hard time justifying the increased cost of S over E if you opt for Polyester resin. The Polyester will polish up giving you a mirror like shine, which I'd think is significant with this board, but it's a pretty soft "plastic". In my experience, the flexural strength of Polyester is weaker than S glass at 6 oz and so you don't gain anything except lightening of the wallet.

So...recapping, if this were my project:

1) I'd use Polyester resin so that I can get a perfect gloss finish

2) I'd go with 6 oz e glass to help provide solid ding resistance. - 6/6 top, 6 bottom.

I think I will listen to Surdads wisdom I wonder how much this thing is going to weight when done?

Well, lessons learned if not true wisdom! Balsa denisty varies wildly. The RC aircraft guys will sort through sticks to get 4-6 pound density wood...more typical is 6-8 pound density and higher. Your Ja Mako probably has between 2 and 3 pound density foam. My guess is it will weight between 8 and 12 pounds without traction or fins.

I could just the nose off, like my comp1 to save some weight (or just copy my comp1 but make it have more of a ja mako rear tail), I was also thinking about using a router to make the traction pads level with the finished surface. Has anyone ever done that? I thought it would look cool and save some lbs.

Darren's waveskate had those recesses, I'm not sure if he filled them with traction though. Darren's build.

I do believe the most effective way to lighten a solid balsa board is to chamber it. Perhaps something for you to consider, Duffy. I swiped some pictures of a chambered build, below. In a nutshell, the process would be to rip the blank lengthwise. into several sections. Tack glue them back together to shape the board down to the final thickness, length and outline, then pop the sections apart and cut chambers into the sections - leave enough meat on the deck and for "ribs". When that's done, glue it all back up and finish shaping.

Pictures:

Yeah that looks pretty crazy! I don't think I will go that extreme. I would be super affraid I would end up making expensive firewood out of the blank

I got to hold dad's wood creation today. SUUUUUUUPER light. Very impressive. Tried to talk Dennis into letting me drive over it with my car, but no luck.

WTH! Wait...it is e.wood, maybe...

I wish that thing was finished....I wanted to try it