Building a Paddle Board

Great Links:

http://www.surfersteve.com/introduction.htm

Epoxy and Fiberlgass: http://www.uscomposites.com/

Fins, Finbox, Leash Plugs and Vents: http://www.surfsource.net/

Design: http://www.surfscience.com/topics/surfboard-design/

This guy is just amazing: http://www.sheldrake.net/cardboards/

I bought two sheets of Greenguard 8'x4'x2"Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) from Lowes.  The density (the important number for deck deformation characteristics) is 1.6 lbs.  This is not perfect, but it is good enough.

In order to make a 10' long board out of 8' sheets I have to piecemeal it together.  This means making sure the joints do not overlap.

 Here are all the parts.  These will be glued together to make the foam blank.  At this point $75 invested in foam and Gorilla glue.

 All the pieces stacked.  This should give me a 5" rocker at the nose and whatever I chose at the rear.

 I learned quickly that the smaller bottle of Gorilla Glue was way too small.  I was kind stuck and had to work with what I had but it was one step that I wish I had done better.  Get the biggest bottle you can get and make sure that you wet the surface otherwise it will not glue as well.  Then pile it with rocks to add pressure and put small blocks at the ends to help add a little more rocker to the board/

 The glued blank is ready for round two of shaping and cutting.  Each piece of work you do now saves you a ton of work at the end.

 The trickiest part is making the shape symmetrical.  I used some spare paper to make a template that I could flip over the centerline.  An un-symmetrical board will not go straight at all.

 So a full 8 hours of shaping with a hand rasp and 60 grit sand paper I have the basic shape.  The amount of dust and shavings produces is incredible.  And the dust is statically charged, it loves to cling to you.  Do not wear clothing you want to wear later in the day, or inside.  A shop-vac is your friend. 

 This was all done on my back porch.  Be sure to wear a mask, this dust should not be inhaled!  I tried to be safe as possible.  In the end you will end up with little gouges and glue joints that need to be cleaned up.  I bought some DAP Fast'n'Final Lightweight spackle.  from my research this may cause delimitation from the foam later on but time will tell.  I would rather have a solid shape for the first board.

 Lots of sanding and spackling later and it looks a little more like a board.  It is amazing how satisfying it is to shape this stuff.  Sure sometime the foam catches and rips chunks out but it is pretty cool to see it take shape.

 This give a much better view of the shape.  This is about 5 1/2" rocker in the front.  It is a thick board in the back and wide in the front but I want to put a dog up there so it makes some sort of sense.

 Again symmetry is very important.  After sanding off all my lines I had to recreate them.  I measure across the whole board and ran a center line with some string.  I took a T-square and marked 3 inches on it and put the line in from the rail (edge) of the board.  Then I compare the measurements from center on both sides to make sure it is the same and adjust as necessary.  It is amazing how close I was, maybe 1/4" off at the most.  This is important to take the time to make sure the shape is right.  

These are the hardware pieces you need.  This it the 10' FCS Dolphin fin, fin box, two leash plugs (front and back) and two vent plugs.  I also got an extra fin screw and plate on the chance that I loose them.  I have to say getting these made all of this a lot more real.

 So lacking a router I had to dig deep to put the leash plugs and carving the handle into the board.  I ended up using a razor and digging out the foam by hand.  Sorta works, a router with a template would make this so much cleaner.  Below is the handle roughly shaped out.

I finally get to play with the Kleer Coat Epoxy and the Fiberglass I bought.  A little fiberglass in the rear leash plug to make sure it is truly secure once fiberglass gets overlaid on top.

 I applied tape so the fiberglass doesn't drip down where I don't want it to.

Ready for the first layer of glass. 

Fiberglass layered out and cut. 

 You can see the weave.  I cut the rear corner so it could fold.

You have avery limited time to apply fiberglass so I had to move quickly.  First layer on, time for it to kick and start to harden before I can flip it for the second layer. 

 You can see how the overlap is left to hand down.  Once it starts to kick it is a lot easier to kick, but only use scissors you do not care about.

 Working outdoors is tricky, bugs are drawn to the chemicals from the process and picking them out of the epoxy is risky.  Some stayed.

 The corners are hard to reinforce, my next design would only have rounded edges for that reason.

 Time to do the top.

I knew the handle part was going to be hard, I had little clue just how difficult it would be.  I cut slits so it could be fitted down. 

 For these types of plugs you fiberglass over them.  I covered them with tape so nothing got into the leash cup itself.

 First layer on the top done.

 It was warm and I needed to get these done quickly so once the top coat was tacky, I did a second layer.

 USE PROTECTION.  Even outdoors gloves and breathing mask is vital.

 Second layer applied.

 I had it dry overnight so I could do the next piece: installing the finbox.

Draw around the box. 

I drilled just through the fiberglass and not into the foam. 

A box cutter blade and chisels made quick work of making a hole for the box. 

 Tested to make sure it fit before pouring epoxy.

 Now for doing it, I was nervous about this becuase if it is wrong it will have a great affect on it's handling.

 Final test before epoxy.

 I taped up everything to protect it from stray epoxy.

 Mix, pour, drop it in and tape it up so it is straight.

 Waiting for it to dry.

 It was at this point I realized that the board had warped a bit at some point.  No idea when.  Not something I can really fix.

 I had two vent plugs that I needed to install.  This is where a router would be much cleaner, using a chisel was a bit brutal.

 cover all holes with tape and glue it in.  If you take too much foam away for it, you will end up pouring a lot of epoxy into it to seal it in place.  I consider it a lesson learned. 

 First coats of paint.  White on top...

 Orange underneath.

 I originally put a black tip  on the board but in the sun it instantly started delaminating the board with gas bubbles.  Black is bad when you are using Lowes foam.  I painted it white as fast as I could.

 Painting finished.

 In my living room still tacky.

June 1, officially launched! 

 It looks proper in the water, even professional.

 I did not yet have a proper paddle so I used my kayak paddle which worked more or less.  It was weird, it took a while to find my balance on the board.  I was not sure what to expect as I had not been on a paddle board before.  

 Time for the painting to be completed.

 White to help the colors pop. then black lines by brush with acrylic.

slowly working my way up, I had to redo black line as I went along.

 Time to add background elements of lily pads and grass.

 Pretty much done. Now time for an expoy coat to protect the paint job.

 Ready for the waves!

Finally from start to finish, my own paddle board with my own artwork.  It was hard, I think if I am to do it again I would somehow find a foam blank, using Lowes foam works but I think caused a lot of problems.  Total cost was around $450 and probably 80 hours of labor.  Not bad in the end for something unique and earning an education in paddleboard shaping.