Standup Zone Forum
General => The Shape Shack => Topic started by: tarquin on September 28, 2020, 03:52:11 AM
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The 14x25 board I built is so stable I am thinking about going narrower. It's also over built and heavy. So a lighter narrower board. How narrow though. I guess by going 1 inch narrower you loose a lot of stability. Do I risk going down to 23" ? It will just be for calm days obviously.
Has anyone gone from a 25" to 23" in a RS or blackfish style board. How big a difference was it.
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Demoed both mentioned boards on said widths on calm conditions. Pretty quick adjustment. You could always compensate with a good fin setup for different conditions.
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Yes I was thinking thruster. Maybe a small ventral ?
Have to decide if I want to do the hollow thing again or just get a CNC cut foam blank. I now know I can go much lighter on the panels if I go hollow again.
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If your going for a flatter water board I would look at the Clearwood V 14 in a 23 wide and change the rails so they are not as tucked in. I use my VLZ, the non-dugout version of this board, in every condition from flat to 4-5 foot wave downwinders now that I have gotten used to the rolling caused by those rounded and tucked in rails. I would also change the sides to be a little more parallel and increase the tail width a little as well.
I think a combination of the dugout and the rail change would make this a very stable board.
I have a ventral on my VLZ which does help with stability and tracking. I also had a Infinity Whiplash with the 4 fin and did not see a major speed increase vs a single fin. I mostly liked it for rivers as I was able to have much shorter fins which did not catch on things in the water as much as a single deep fin.
for all my fins I used 12 inch fin boxes to give me more adjustment room.
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Yes I was thinking thruster. Maybe a small ventral ?
Have to decide if I want to do the hollow thing again or just get a CNC cut foam blank. I now know I can go much lighter on the panels if I go hollow again.
4Drive system is the most versatile setup for race/touring boards imo. I have it on few of my boards.
More details on that thread: https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,22706.0.html
Based on your build post, the CNC blank way seems like a much easier/faster job?
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CNC a 1 pound EPS foam blank........... Wayyyyyyy less work.
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Yes SupSimco thats what put me off the Vlz14. I wanted a more allround board. And at 82 kgs I was worried the 23 would be too narrow in the bumpy conditions around here. It looks like a really fast board though. I am sure it would be faster on flat water than mine.
He now has it in different widths as well.
I am happy with my design. Maybe one or two little things I will change.
I know a foam bank is less work. I just like the hollow thing. I might even go back to wood.
Get the design done and get a quote for the blank then see. Its not going to be cheap here.
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You can also use 4x8 x 1 or 2" ridged EPS insulating sheets from HD or Lowes and Gorilla glue them together. Then just hand shape the laminated blank with templates and jigs. More hands on. I'm a carpenter so working with foam was new to me when I first started shaping. It's like shaping a piece of soap but softer. No grain direction or hardness to worry about. Do most of it low speed (non-powered) shaping and your shop won't turn into a foam mess. Put a power planer to it and you'll have a big mess. Router is ok with a vacuum attachment.
Here's a link to an old project of mine.
https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,14206.0.html
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Great work but I hate to think what a 14 ft block of foam would look like if I tried too shape it.
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I hand shaped my 18' unlimited with no power tools. I'll send a link on that build too. If I can find it?