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[AM_Glass]

So I was walking down the beach to a peak that looked good early Sunday morning and I spied an abandoned skimboard in the sand. It was plywood with the top and bottom laminate peeling off. This likely kept it from skiming and was the reason it was left behind. Considering that the waves were breaking too suddenly for the shortboard I had brought (as soon as you catch the wave and try to stand the lip would run off under you) I took the skim into the waves. The shape was a typical skim outline with wings or a stinger tail. Don't know if that helped or what. It was originaly thicker that 1/4" but with the outer layers almost all gone it was close. I took off on a few and made more than my share. The thinness of the wood allowed me to torque it on bottom turns but keep it flat when driveing across the face. I even got close to an in and out tube, dang shortboarder got in the way. The pealing layers sliced up my hands a bit as I repositioned during riding. I brought it home and I'm going to fix it up and ride it. All I need to do is find a supplier for some resin and glass.

[baidarka]

Hello AM__Glass,

Nice find. If it were me, I would skip the glass and resin. Epoxy is expensive and Polyester smells bad (it also might not bond well with the wood). Since the board is wooden and you like how it rides, there is probably no reason to reinforce it with glass.

Glue up the loose pieces with a waterproof glue, sand the rough edges, and paint/varnish to seal.

[AM_Glass]

The skim is just standard ply, not marine, so I'm afraid it wont hold together. I thought the fiberglass would provide some strength but still allow flex, I'm afraid I'll break it in half in a decent wave. I'll try your idea though, it should be cheaper to go that route and what the hell, easy come easy go.

Any suggestions on Glue, Varnish, and cleanup chemicals for the varnish?

[Nels]

AM_Glas,

Roger Wayland told me he uses Evercoat Formula 27 filler for everything from sealing the porous sides of ply to adhesive for fins on his wooden paipos. I have a small can sitting next to me but it's too dark to read the label well - I'm pretty sure it's epoxy. He says it dries quick and is sandable. Once that is done he usually puts on acrylic paint and clear polyurethane sealer.

I had to go to a marine hardware/boaat supply store to find it, but hardware stores in "boaty" areas might carry it too. Circumstances have prevented me from actually using it yet, but I have a 2'x4' sheet of regular 1/4" ply in the garage waiting for opportunity.

Not sure about where the ply is peeling up through layers - you might consider cutting some of that away and filling with this stuff and sanding into configuration.

Take some photos if you have a chance - fun project!

Nels

[baidarka]

You are correct. The glass will add some strength and allow the board to flex. It is just a more involved/expensive process. None of my plywood boards are marine grade either. So far they have held together fine, however, I do not use mine on a daily (or even weekly) basis.

I have gotten used to Gorilla glue diluted with water. This is probably adhesive overkill and is definately not the cheapest product out there. I use it to laminate skateboards as well, and have never had a delamination. Since going this route, I've never had much to clean up.

Check back posts by Solo and others on the topic. Like you, I am learning as I go along.

-Seamus

[Jon Davey]

This sounds like a great find. If the worst comes to the worst you could always trace out the shape onto a marine ply off-cut and make a new board. How long is this skimboard? Does it have a great deal of rocker? From what I have read there is a great tradition of crossover between skim and paipoboarding. I've seen Poobah's Johnny Rocco and Soylent Green on the league of Lamaroos and would be interested to know how well they ride.

[Phantom]

Couple rolls of Duct Tape and your stylin!

[Poobah]

[baidarka]

Poobah,

Yeah, 'dilute' might not have been the best choice of words. I moisten the surfaces to be glued, as per the instructions. Besides aiding the bonding process, the glue is easier to spead. This procedure allows me to use less glue than if the wood was dry.

Thanks for the varnish link.

[AM_Glass]

I bought Elmer's brand glue that's obviously a Gorilla Glue substitute. (Instead of a Gorilla they had a Blue Bull which subconciously reminded me of Shlitz Malt Liquor which made me think strong and cheap and getting the job done quick.) You have to wet down the surface just like Gorilla and the glue starts like honney. I was suprized when after filling the space between ply layers and stacking bricks on top to see foamy glue oozzing out and onto the bricks/concrete. A quick change of plans with carboard separating the board from everything and all I had to do was wait. In the morning the glue was hard and I just broke off the overflowed glue. A bit of sanding and another 12hours to cure and I'll be able to varnish. I got some marine varnish from a friend who wasn't using it. I think it was called Mortons? I'm taking pictures so I'll post them once everything is done.

P.S. Is there somewhere on this server that can host the pics or do I have to use Ofoto or something?

[Poobah]

I can host photos for you. Send me a PM to get my current e-mail address.

[AM_Glass]

Almost finished, one coat of varnish left to go. I took a few pics and I'll post them once I get the last coat on and the project is "finished." (HaHa) It's a rainy day in the Atlantic North East and I don't know if I'll be able to varnish today but I'll do my best. It seems that we'll be getting onshore winds for a few days but the offshores will turn (maybe) Friday AM so I'm hoping to get the thing in the water then. I'll report back with my results.

[Poobah]

Morning Glass,
your post the other day reminded me that I had a similar project in my garage. A 1/4" thick wooden skimboard with minor delams on the nose, and some gouges on the bottom of the tail. So I got busy with the gluing, sanding and varnishing. I think I'm just one coat of varnish from being done. I'ts humid here today by San Diego standards. I'll varnish tomorrow maybe. I've got other projects to keep me busy. Yesterday I rough cut some 3 inch diameter lexan orbulators on my friends lathe. I started wet sanding them today. Pictures soon...

[AM_Glass]

I got the Stinger wet today. We had a mixed up weak 3-4' windswell with sideshore winds. There were barrels out there and I wanted one. The first thing I have to say is that I love the ease of ducking waves on a nearly neutral bouyancy board. The only thing keeping me from avoiding the pitching lip was the sandbar. Since I was riding a piece of plywood I found on the beach and it has no fins I wasn't bothered when I ducked under a wave and hit the sand. Once out I was able to catch any wave I wanted. The flex of the board allowed me to push the nose down so that the board was flat to the face of the lifting wave. I dont' know if that really helps to catch the wave but I like to think it does. (It may have just been my UDeeTs.) Once I caught the wave I could pull myself forward to riding position and flex or not. If I wanted to stall I just pulled up on the nose which increased the rocker and slowed me down somewhat. (Note: I remember when I used to ride a bodyboard that doing this would stop your momentum much quicker, probably because I was digging in the tail more than flexing the board.) When I was ready to go I leaned forward releasing the flex and accelerating across the wave. I took mostly high lines as I tried to go as fast as I could. I pulled into some closeouts (actually every closeout I could get under the lip on) and was suprised that the board was flexing but not breaking. I lost the handle on one and swam around looking for the board in the impact zone. I couldn't find it until I drifted all the way in and there it was, right next to me. (I need to paint it some color that contrasts the ocean, like red or yellow.) Once I was confident with the way the board felt I tried some stalling. The waves were only tubing right at the first throw so when I stalled on the face I just stalled into the foam ball. I then tried to stall right at the top when I first caught the wave. I stayed at the top too long on one and went over the falls hard. I guess the impact was too much because when I came up the board had come apart alittle. Two layers had delaminated in a large section. The rails were now razors on my hands and I had to go in. I felt like throwing the board in the trash right there but I soon calmed down. I realized how far modern board builders have come that in the 15+ years I've been surfing I've only had equipment failure 3 times. I decided I'll just glue it back together and if it happens again, glue again until the whole board is glued with "Gorillar Glue." So I went back out on my 6'4" shortboard to contrast the two experiences. The shortboard was harder to duckdive, dropped in much later with less control, and I can't hardly go left standing up. (Thats what happens when you grow up surfing Santa Cruz.) I mostly did a drop and flop on the few waves I was able to get down the face on. I had a crappy session and I was reminded of why I started thinking about alternative wave craft. Granted a better surfer or better waves would have made things different but since the waves around here are crappy so often I'll never be a better surfer while living here. My time at the beach is precious so I'll be spending it OFF the shortboard until I can surf waves that last a bit longer or are easier to drop into.

P.S. I'll get the few pics I have up this weekend.

[Jon Davey]

A great description and a pity about the end result. Low tech as it is, thin ply has amazing flexibility and memory. Apart from getting into hideously complicated manufacturing processes, how many other commonly available materials would allow you to build a board with a variable rocker, yet still be hard, thin and slick enough to give you the great planing speed which you describe. Just look at Roger Wayland's designs to see what can be achieved. I've nearly finished a traditional stlye paipo based roughly on Mike Klick's board in the Honolulu Adertiser feature which I'm sure we have all seen. Basically it is two differently sized circles joined by their tangents. I've tried this design before and it absolutely flew. Incidently, one of the guys there is holding a Victoria Skimboard!