mexi-blanket nose rider

This is the new longboard I made for Zoe, but I didnt get any photo's before she took it out tonight, so here it is covered in wax and dirt.

9'1 x 22" x 2.75"

Its a slimmed down version of her last one I made, with a pulled in tail and harder rail in the back. First ride report from her this evening was good! The waves lacked any power and real size at Watergate tonight, but the board glides, trims and surfs quite smoothly off the tail.

6oz + fin box patch / 6oz & 6oz

It was also my first try at putting on a gloss coat. Unfortunately I stupidly tried to do the bottom using a 1" brush and the resin gelled too quickly, so after 2 hours sanding that mess back it has just become a sanded finish. The deck came out very nicely using a 4" brush and plenty of gloss, but I only wet & dry sanded it to 240 seeing as the bottom was sanded and the deck would soon be covered in wax.

Another lesson learned anyway

Gloss polish

Okay, I've had enough of rough lap lines, sanding through to cloth etc etc, and I'm going to finish Zoes' new log with a gloss polish.

Since I began making boards last year I have always had it in my head that gloss polishes were expensive and a whole lot of labor.

 After a bit of research it seems it isn't too much further effort, especially as involves less sanding with the hotcoat, so I will invest in some taupo gloss, and a buffer pad and see how it goes.

Figured if i'm going to make any progress I need to learn, and be prepared to invest in a few more bits of equipment. Hopefully photo's soon to follow

thruster

My latest foam & fiberglass creation is this beauty.

One drawback of the mini simmons that I usually ride is that in slightly bigger surf the 'loose' tail becomes more and more unpredictable, with bottom turns increasingly difficult, usually ending in accidental 180's and even 360 spin outs.

I made this for the less frequent 'good days', and its as close to a typical shortboard as I've ever built.

6'0 x 21.75 x 2.25

However, its still undeniably lovely fin co! at 21.75 inches wide it has a good amount of foam, but is only just 2.25 at the thickest point, and has very narrow pinched rails. Low nose rocker complements the board making wave catching so easy.

The first test on this board was perfect! I had initially had some doubts about the wide round tail and thruster fin placements, but after just 1 wave they vanished from my mind. This thing absolutely flies, it still super loose going from rail to rail and very snappy. The added bonus of a centre fin to my surfing just made laying into turns so comfortable.

Paipo

A few months ago i came across a really old longboard blank.

It was hideously brown and probably about 10' 2, but after a bit of a scratch with sandpaper i found that under the surface it was still nice and white. I had to cut it down to 9'4 to even get into our little flat, with the intention of making a low rocker log.

However, one night I impulsively took a saw to the middle and cut it, giving me a nice 5'2 blank and a not so nicely rockered 4'2. In hindsight if I knew I was going to chop it up I would have done that first and saved those precious 8 inches I initially sawed off!

Anyway, the 5'2 became the white mini simmons a few posts below, and I've had this 4'2 block of foam lying around for a while.

Luckily it was so thick that I could plane it flat, and then plane in a whole new rocker profile, and the end result is this little paipo for my son Mawgan. Dimensions are 4'2 x 22 x 2.75, so plenty of volume!

4'2 stand up paipo

It will have FCS plugs giving the option of going finless too.

Unfortunatly I'm not allowed to ride it until he does!

log for zoe

here's a little preview of my girlfriends new board...

Just laminated yesterday eve, front 1/3rd fluoro mexican blanket to free lap rose tint bottom.

9'1 x 22 x 2.75

performance midlength

I finished this board a couple of weeks ago; its a slim-line type of midlength board.

 Dimensions are 6'10 x 21 x 2.25, with a rocker profile almost similiar to a noserider (low nose and big tail kick).

I created it for myself, after getting a lot of inspiration from these 2 boards from Canvas, and aiming to make something between the 2.

Sano Free

5'12 mini noserider

After riding wide-tailed, twin fin mini simmons for the last 12 months it was great to actually have some control through turns, and lay into bottom turns with confidence knowing the fins will hold!

Although not initially as fast as the mini simmons, with any wave over 1ft and a little face to work with board quickly picks up pace.

The board functions great but I've decided to sell it now as for me it is just slightly inbetween preferred lengths; it lacks the effortless glide of a longer board, but is also just a bit too long to quickly launch into waves with momentum.

Its currently in watershed shop, Newquay, I'll accept anything over £220

Previous boards..

Here's a sample of some of the boards I've made in the last year.

9'3 fabric inlay noserider; 7'2 fun board; 5'9 mini simmons; 9'0 performance log

5'9, 5'5 and 5'2

5'9 diamond tail single fin and 5'8 square tail thruster

I have improved since the first board, but what annoys me looking back at these boards is that I make the same mistakes over and over again. Simple tasks such as sanding all laps and corners before the hot coat, and not using enough resin. I also have a tendency to leave too much volume in the boards with regards to thickness; only the last 2 boards have been much more foiled and an overall slimmer profile.

Hopefully by documenting progress with each board I can avoid mistakes, and not rush into the next step.

With our new baby in the house I definitely will have less time in the garage to make boards, so perhaps I can think things through and plan a little better!