12'-6" Round Two

[jrandy]

the 'old' one: http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,27288.0.html

Progress:
-I tried a round-over bit on the deck recess.  Better than nothing, not as pretty as I hoped, still needs to be sanded.
-I had my 13' sidelights hanging as overheads while glassing the twin-stringer surfboard earlier in the thread. I got them lowered and back on stands today.
-I cut the tail off on the board. Started with the Skilsaw to make a groove then finished  by hand.
-I made a 45 degree hot wire chamfer cutter using a guitar tuner for tension. I took the chamfer from tail to just past the cockpit thinking I might try something different with the nose. I should have kept going, no worries, try again tomorrow.

Tomorrow I hope to get out the planer and vac and hopefully get the the top roughed in and maybe even some of the bottom.

Sidelights...They tell the truth that overheads try to wash out.  I like the way the edges seem to glow and the small defects are easier to see.

[TallDude]

Light placement is key. I haven't tried LED'S yet for shaping.  I am wondering if they would be better than florescent lights?

[PonoBill]

Probably, the light is steadier and evenly distributed. There are direct replacement bulbs for flourescents that don't require bypassing the ballast, and there's rewire replacement that need a little minor snipping and splicing. I'd go for the rewire ones since the ballast still hums a little on the direct replacement ones. Nice even light though.

[jrandy]

I use LED strip lights for side lights.
The light is more directional and the ones I have are portable, plug right into the wall 120VAC and are armored in silicone.

http://www.menards.com/main/lighting-ceiling-fans/outdoor-lighting/rope-string-lights/13-cool-white-led-strip-light-120v/p-1444424034193-c-14318.htm?tid=-7745960554483540596

[jrandy]

I banded out the top today and was feeling pretty good about stuff and then I went to flip the board over. I picked it up to have a look down the stringer and I noticed that the 'rocker' seemed to be going the wrong way...Fishsticks!

I looked at the side of the board and it looks like I did have top for top and bottom for bottom. I got out a template and stretched a thread down the side to measure rocker. I did the same thing to the blank.

My numbers seem to be an indication that the glue-up went south and I basically flattened the blank and then some.

My son who has built a board was over and I showed him the situation. It seems like there are a few options:

1. Leave as is, try to zero or add rocker with the planer, take a volume loss
2. Flip top for bottom, patch new bottom (deck hole and rearward rails), live with the smaller nose and tail rocker or try to shape in some more rocker. Allows for another chance to make a prettier deck recess...
3. Cut stringer out, rig up a rocker table, re-glue, try to get intended rocker and volume.
4. Scrap out current effort, start over, maybe use this one as a blank for something else

Curious to see what the crew has to say about this, thanks for your thoughts.

[TallDude]

Glue a thin sheet (what you need ) to the bottom and flip the tail like you show.

[TallDude]

Plane the deck as needed and re-rout the foot well deeper .

[SUPflorida]

Jrandy...I vote for option #4. Don't continue with your planned race board with this blank. Re-purposes it...Do you have enough volume in that blank to make a surf shape? Or an all around for wife/son/daughter/friend. Get some more foam for your 12-6" . Any way you try to make this one work is going to be a compromise.

While your at it (for your 12-6) you may want to reconsider your rocker line...unless you already have this on existing board and it's working great for you.

 I just like to point out that there seems to be a trend going towards very little nose rocker, with just a bit of upsweep in the first foot of the nose. The majority of rocker is in the tail, starting 60-70% of the length from the nose. If you have access to any of the latest boards you might find it advantageous to measure them. Look at the rocker line of the SIC FX for an example of what I'm trying to convey.

[TallDude]

Florida might be right. I was looking at your post on my phone and couldn't see your sections clearly. I think it's going to be something else.

[jrandy]

Thanks for the input.
Nearest SUP dealer that isn't roto-molded is 50 miles.
'Race' is a very loose term, I just wanted apples to apples with last year's board.
Still wondering about flipping top for bottom or popping out the stringer and gluing up stringerless with attention to rocker.

Adding some pics, maybe they are better to describe the 'situation'?

[jrandy]

Autopsy is complete, stringer has been removed and compared to the template.
It looks like I just plain finished the bottom as the top.

[TallDude]

Get'r dun.....

[jrandy]

Rocker templates are permanently 'fixed' to sled cut in telltale chamfers nose and tail and oh by-the-way if that is not enough how about the entire deck recess...making the big 'L' symbol on my forehead...

So I now have two halves, full deck recess (no rail strips) on both sides, no stringer. Plan is to patch in the foam cut from the top onto the bottom.

Let's talk about stringer/no stringer/stringer alternatives.  I have never built a stringer-less board, let alone something this long.

Right now if I push on the blank it is easy to deflect an inch or more in the middle. Will a foaming PU glue line down the middle be enough to dampen the 'flop' during shaping? Do folks adjust the rocker during the lamination to counteract any sag or movement in the foam during shaping? Or would a layer or cloth and some epoxy be a better glue-up for this?

I also thought about router cutting in a spot for a piece of wood to make a buried stringer and then using PU glue fill in the cracks at the surface of the blank and plane everything flush.  The 'I-beam' effect would be less pronounced but also the chance for failure between dissimilar materials would be reduced.

Also, for stand-up, would a couple of mini-stringers placed under the normal standing position where the feet would go be more effective than the big one down the middle, if one was trying to tie the top to bottom at the points of greatest load?

Stuff to ponder. Here are some pics:

[jrandy]

-Rigged a third 'horse' to maintain the altitude of the middle of the board during glue-up, accounting for missing foam.
- Covered the floor under the board and laid out the clamps, foam, plywood pieces ahead of time, threw some waxed paper on the horses too.
-Checked nose, middle, and tail for rocker numbers. Penciled target numbers on board.
-Sanded hot wire cuts to open pores and removed lip from old deck rail.
-Dampened foam with rag and tap water
-Used last of old bottle of Gorilla Glue, maybe 8 oz, spread out thin on one side with scrap piece of wood. I cut off the nozzle so it would exit the bottle faster.
-Set middle clamp, weighted board to rest on 3rd horse.
-Screwed in plywood 'cleats' to keep board together while I wrangled the clamps.
-Used extra foam and pieces of ply to distribute clamping pressure to board.
-Checked the assembly for alignment, squeeze out, rocker, and level. Added shims to horses where needed. Looks good, even better than the first attempt.
-Called it quits. Time for a beverage, fruit, photo shoot, and posting.

[surfcowboy]

Man, just caught up with this one. You beat me to the LED strip shaping lights. I am doing that for my next board. I'm making mine on 1 X wood strips so I can mount them wherever I want and then store them but your method is cool on the table edge.

Good luck with this epic! You look to be working it out.