Friday, January 22, 2010

fin trifecta


so i compeleted the trifecta of fins this afternoon. I love the smell of Cedar dust....the middle fin was taken from a smaller template and still needs a bit of meat taken off it, but i'm stoked with the other two fins. Almost identical and foiled almost to perfection....


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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Fins!




Started on the fins today and happy with my first attempt at shaping these. I used a snapped FCS G5 as the template and Western Red Cedar cladding board which is soft enough to work with and gives a beautiful contrasting color to the Plywood decks we have been using. The color in the wood will stand out nicely after being glassed. The inside edge needs a bit of work, but i'm happy with first attempt. The hardest part will be shaping one more exactly like it. Stay tuned...

Monday, January 18, 2010

the deck is on

For those interested i forgot to post a photo of the completed deck. So here it is. I was quietly impressed by the grain in the wood and the final shape of the fish. Now to get the bottom skin on. Had a slight blow out on the rails as i add too much weight to the skin when glueing it, but will be able to repair it so hopefully wont show at the completion

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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Duncs - board update

There has been a bit of action on the board front of late from me, so I figure it is time for an update. Since my last post I have checked the gluing of the deck and fixed up any little spots that didn't fully glue up like I wanted. I have also put in a block of balsa under the deck for where the leash plug will be put in when the board goes to be glassed. But perhaps the biggest achievement is successfully inlaying my piece of wood from the Morning of the Earth house into the deck (see photos for position etc). I have also sanded back the overhang of the deck to meet flush with the railband. Continuing to sand the fins (4). Grant tells us that from here on in we really show our hand in terms of care and skill. Everything now is visible on the final piece, a bit daunting. Anyway check out how things are looking so far.




PS: Got some nice sliders this morning with Scotty and a couple of other mates at a perfect little lefthand beachie bank not too far from where I live. But like any good little rip bank that forms it won't be around for ever and I am not telling anyone but mates that I surf with where it is :) Hope you are getting waves in your part of the world. Peace.


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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

leash plug




The leash plug we are using has a gortex vent which allow the board to breath, but not let any water in. Handy little piece of plastic. I have set the plug into a block of paulownia and will then glue this piece to the inside of the deck and drill a hole through to it. The plug should sit flush with the deck...thats the theory anyway!....

time to skin up





So i made my first attempt to glue the deck on. A whole lot of clamps and weighty objects lying around the garage were used to hold the deck in place. Probably could of used more clamps but overall happy with the way it has taken.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Skinning...

So today I glued on my first skin. Check the photos. Now just a nervous wait to see if it takes.



This shot is a test of the clamps prior to glueing. The skin was trimmed down and small holes drilled on the outside to thread cable ties through to add pulling power onto the skeleton. (see shots below)




After applying glue to all ribs, rails, supports and tail pieces I then flipped the board over and clamped it to the skin. After clamping it up I put a fair bit of weight on it to push the stringer down onto the deck.



After a bit of additional spot glueing and some small running repairs and extra support I'll now sit back with crossed fingers and hope it all holds. I think tomorrow when I take the weight off I'll add a bit more glue along the ribs and stringer to increase the strength of the hold.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

same same , but different





Heres the two fish next to each other , same blue prints used , but different interpretation of what can be achieved. The tails are the big difference.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Adding a piece of surf history.




Happy New Year.

Did a bit more gluing today and now have put in all the tail supports and finished gluing all ribs to railbands. Caught up with Scott yesterday and discussed our next moves over a couple of cold refreshments. He has cut out one of the skins and I too am close to that stage.

Now that we are dealing with parts of the board that will be visible things become a bit more pressured. I want to add a personalised feature to the board and have been looking at a couple of options. One of them in its early stages is pictured above. In picture 1 there is the nose of the board, the fins and a crusty old sliver of timber. That piece of timber is actually from an old decking board from the house used during the filming of the classic surf film Morning of the Earth. For details of how I happened to acquire some timber from here check out the Baddy Treloar photo at www.freelifecreations.blogspot.com.

Anyway my idea is to inlay a strip of this timber into the deck of the board. Not sure if I've got the skills to do it but I think it is worth having a go.