my home depot board

[jay cagney]

a few people thought it would be a good idea to post the home depot process of making a board, so here is mine

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3697.jpg
bought some sheets of eps foam from home depot, 3/4" was the thickest, not really ideal. came in 4'x8' pieces, so i cut them in half is it was 2'x8' slices.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3698.jpg
peel off the layering on both sides of the foam

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3701.jpg
use elmers glue, holds good enough to work but you can still sand through it when shaping. these panels would also work well as light modifiers for photography... see that light bounce.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3709.jpg
after all the foams pieces were glued and taped, i layed them over a lost speed demon II board, to get a similar rocker. it won't hold the exact rocker, it will bounce back a bit, but its a good start.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3714.jpg
glue drying overnight

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3719.jpg
cut my foam in half down the middle

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3723.jpg
smoothed the cut edges a little bit to get a nice bond.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3724.jpg
glued in the stringer. this is where the bumps started happening in the road. i used hardboard for the stringer, because i had it in my garage and didn't want to buy anything. this stuff does not sand well, at all. dont do it. again, elmers glue

[jay cagney]

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3728.jpg
took one pallet from the backyard

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3733.jpg
couple screws and a skill saw later, shaping stand

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3718.jpg
template of the lost board i traced, and the rough stringer. the stringer will help lock in the amount of rocker you want, since the foam is glued to it.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3734.jpg
also traced out some fcs m5 fins

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3735.jpg
i think i cut the foam down to under 7' before i made the blank, but since this boards end result is 6'3", you can play with your rocker a little bit here by positioning the template forwards or back before tracing

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3739.jpg
cut out with a standard straight wood saw. foam is much softer than the standard pu foam.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3741.jpg
little rough around the edges. i left room for error.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3742.jpg
shaped it up a little, thats a lot of foam to remove. at least its soft

[jay cagney]

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3744.jpg
starting to take shape. don't let the excitement overtake you, and rush

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3746.jpg
another huge mistake, i already had the rocker i wanted on the bottom, so why did i take away foam from the bottom, rather than the top? still kicking myself. oh well, i have a board with super rocker. its fun, just doesn't paddle quite as fast.

(need to fix this image when photobucket works again)
pain in the ass not sandable hardboard. cutting it like this was a little easier, but still not fun.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3751.jpg
you can see on the deck where one layer of foam ends and the other begins. the disadvantage of using thin foam. oh well

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3753.jpg
this angle makes the rocker look worse than it is, the nose is lower when resting on fins. its still pretty bad though

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3756.jpg
not exact but a good shape to work off of

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3871.jpg
i decided to go resin research, because that is what was used in the thread i was reading. you are supposed to get more resin than this for a surfboard, but my order was messed up. they sent me the rest that i was supposed to get no problem

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3872.jpg
i should have put more time into the blank, but i was anxious. here i am taping off the rails for the first layer of glass. i figured its my first board, ill learn as much as possible, so i tinted the top and bottom different colors.

[jay cagney]

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3875.jpg
put magazine pages over the deck to protect it from resin dripping. would look cool just to glass over it

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3878.jpg
had a scale to measure out the resin pretty exactly

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3882.jpg
two layers of cloth, the first layer pretty much gets cut to the edges of the rails. the second layer is long enough to wrap around the rails on overlap onto the tape.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3883.jpg
made a dark green color. had my dad help me out since he has experience with fiberglass, and i had none. always good to make extra, i forgot all my amounts though

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3885.jpg
brushing some resin onto the rails so the cloth sticks, and pasting cloth to wrap around the rails.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3887.jpg
my stringer looks black, i like it. letting it harden

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3893.jpg
dried, laps are all looking pretty good

this is where i start getting lazy with the photos. i then cut with a razor blade along the edge of the tape to get a nice clean line. this was often at 2am when i had work early the next morning, so it was often rushed

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3899.jpg
only one layer on the deck, since im doing an inlay. you don't have to cut it to shape, since its just going to be cut out anyway. i think i taped along the edge of the fiberglass that was already there, and let the tape hang over the rails so the new resin didn't get on the board.

[jay cagney]

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3903.jpg
cut out the inlay with a razor blade along the line of the other color

i think i added two more sheets of cloth over the deck, and at least one wrapped around the rails to strengthen them. they came out clear so you don't have to be so exact with cutting it out, you can just paste it onto the bottom of the rails. if you weren't doing resin tints, you could do all three layers of cloth on the deck at once.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3926.jpg
after all the layers are on there, painted on a layer of resin with a 99c brush

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3928.jpg
drilled out holes for the leash plug, and vent plug (since its eps)

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3930.jpg
heres my vent, some cloth to firmly attach it, some tape to make sure no resin gets on the threads

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB3933.jpg
drying. this thing will need some sanding

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4855.jpg
bought a board of oak, planed it down to about the right thickness, then used a table jigsaw to cut out the shape of these, and then put a belt sander in a vice to sand the right curves into the fins. i love the look of wood fins and decided to do glass on instead of a fin system

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4856.jpg
mmmmm, oak

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4860.jpg
i taped off both sides of where the seem meets, and used black acrylic paint to make a pin line, to hide the imperfections. matches the stringer.

[jay cagney]

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4876.jpg
first layer of glass over the fins

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4879.jpg
cut off the excess with a razorblade. leave some extra, 1/4"?

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4883.jpg
found two pieces of scrap wood, and hot glued them together to match the fin angle of an existing shortboard.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4891.jpg
tacked the fins on at the right angle with hot glue. as far as fin placement, i copied the placement from the lost board. more attention went into these fins, but im only going off of what i have photos of. ill post the thread i got all my info from at the end, don't worry

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4897.jpg
used a dremel to sand down the extra. you want to leave some though so you can drag the fins across that sandbar.

yada yada yada..... resin.... sanding.... other stuff

surfboard!
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4903.jpg
looks like it works

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4904.jpg
like how the colors came out. different from most of the usual boards.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/JayCagney/surf%20board%20project/6FDB4907.jpg
fins are my favorite part. you can see i didn't do final sanding yet to get the back right, but i coudln't wait any longer to try it out. i forgot to mention how i taped up the back and poured in some extra resin so it created that hard line, when it was all sanded and finished up. its mentioned in the other thread


so as far as how it surfs, the first swell i really got to surf it in was danny. little slow to paddle, doesn't float as much as other epoxy boards, but once you get going on a wave, this thing turns on a dime (thanks super rocker) and is actually really fun. i haven't been surfing that long or anything but i sure am addicted and it was neat to ride something i made.

these boards are more delicate (home depot) than your average board. i left it in my car while at work, in the sun, without unscrewing the vent plug (that was smart) so i do have some delamination. its still water tight as far as i know, but it stills works. i wouldn't recommend a shortboard as a first board, my next one this spring will be a retro twinzer fish shape sort of thing. you can really screw up one of those and it will still be fun.

http://www2.swaylocks.com/node/1020650

this thread, is what i followed religiously to make it. he has many more photos and much more detail on every step of the way. read it

[njsurfer42]

this is awesome!! i'm guessing this was your first board, since you said you had no experience w/ fiberglass prior to this...if that's right, well done! not a bad looking first attempt for sure.

i love following the build threads on sways & surfer...one of the most entertaining things on most surf websites. if i have time this summer, i may have to give this a go...i liked how you got the rocker set in the blank...i never would've thought of that. i'd have been measuring $#!t & trying to hotwire it out. your way seems much easier.

[brandx]

Great thread - possibly the best I've seen on the forum
keep us updated as to the longevity of the board

what was your approximate overall cost ? and time ?

[Aguaholic]

Nice man! Not bad for your first.

[stoneybaloney]

Great thread - possibly the best I've seen on the forum


+1, that was awesome. Being able to ride something you made is so cool. Other than the time invested, its cheap if you get what you want.

[rgnsup]

Very nice job dude!!! Practice makes perfect!!

This one dude from CA that posted in a surfing thread on this other forum started out just like you and over the past year or so he kept just putting up more and new boards he was making... got super good at them and has done some crazy designs with the tails and what not..

Just keep at it and you'll get it dialed!

[CSB]

awesome stuff...

[mitchell]

Very cool project. Nice job documenting with photos...

One question:

"drilled out holes for the leash plug, and vent plug (since its eps)"

Since lots of EPS boards are built w/o vent plugs why did you decide to install one?

[aka pumpmaster]

This is one of the coolest freakin threads I've ever seen on this site!!

[MATT JOHNSON]

Kool thread thanks for sharing that with us . For your first board that looks really good.

What tools did you use? Did you use all hand tools or did you buy a planer for the shaping

[Captainstoke]

I am totally impressed and inspired. It takes a lot of self-confidence and patience to make such a thing. Get a good respirator/mask for working with fiberglass and use it, so you can surf for many more years.

[GoodVibes]

Very cool thread,Awsome job man,let us know how it rides.

[jay cagney]

Great thread - possibly the best I've seen on the forum
keep us updated as to the longevity of the board

what was your approximate overall cost ? and time ?

hard to judge time since i had to try to fit in time around work. you could do it in a week if you have the time, easily.


Very cool project. Nice job documenting with photos...

One question:

"drilled out holes for the leash plug, and vent plug (since its eps)"

Since lots of EPS boards are built w/o vent plugs why did you decide to install one?
thanks, i guess since the foam that i used is so porous, i wanted to make sure i didn't get delamination since these boards are a bit more delicate than a conventional board.


Kool thread thanks for sharing that with us . For your first board that looks really good.

What tools did you use? Did you use all hand tools or did you buy a planer for the shaping

i used a wood saw to cut the blank, and a block cheese grater type of thing, can't remember the exact name for it. you can see it in a photo or two sitting on the blank. this foam is much softer than PU blanks so it was easy enough to remove the foam. i didn't mind putting in the extra time. then just sand paper and stuff


I am totally impressed and inspired. It takes a lot of self-confidence and patience to make such a thing. Get a good respirator/mask for working with fiberglass and use it, so you can surf for many more years.

yeah respirators are a good idea. epoxy is much less harmful than glassing PU boards though

for my next board, there is a good possibility i will just buy a blank, unless i can find some better foam to use

[Retzlaff44]

Way late to this, but an absolutely inspiring thread! Fantastic stuff. I got online this morning to shoot off some e-mails, but they didn't get done. The 15 minutes I was supposed to be working were spent going over all your photos. Wow.

I think it's really cool that your dad helped out. Was he able to appreciate your inspiration, ingenuity, and focus, or was he more concerned about the mess you were making on the deck?;)

Love the dog bowl in the background too. A true backyard board. But don't let Home Depot get wind of this. The last thing our local surf shops need is competition from a corporate behemoth!

"Now on sale in aisle 35, the Home Depot Surfboard Kit..."

[wallysurfr]

What was the cost?

[Aguaholic]

Haha I have the feeling we are gonna start seeing homebrew surfboards in the water soon.

[billabongmoney]

man the fins i give you a ton of credit for that fins are super hard

[jay cagney]

Thanks I really like how they came out, and in the spring I'm going to experiment with making some to fit the fcs system

the overall cost was around the 200 mark. Will be cheaper next time now that I have the resin tints already

[surfde]

thanks man i think i may do it over spring break when i have some time. and good work with the fins, i would rather just buy some for all that

[Db2k5]

This is sick!!! Makes me want to make my own surfboard!! And I am a boogie!!! Really dope man, super impressed. Great job.

[mitchell]

in the spring I'm going to experiment with making some to fit the fcs system



Once you've glassed a couple boards you have enough cloth scraps left you will easily have enough fiberglass to start making fins, and the resin tint makes really REALLY pretty fins. Making the futures fin wasnt that hard, and my guess is making fins with the fcs tabs cut wouldnt be any different, especially since with FCS the plugs have the angle, for side fins, not the fin itself if i remember right.

[jay cagney]

Yeah my only issue I'm predicting is the strength of the tabs for the fcs slots. I've considered drilling holes through the tab and into the fin body and glueing in some metal for support. We'll see they'll be cheap enough to experiment with.

[mitchell]

Yeah my only issue I'm predicting is the strength of the tabs for the fcs slots. I've considered drilling holes through the tab and into the fin body and glueing in some metal for support. We'll see they'll be cheap enough to experiment with.

Why would your fins be any weaker than any other FCS fins...

Here are two futures trailer fins i made...a 3.5" trailer fin to loosen up a tri-fin fish and a 6.5" trailer fin to stiffen up a shortboard to hold in big surf...just for fun...i mean the cloth is all just scrappy corner pieces. 35-40 slivers of 4 oz cloth will be thick enough to foil out a fin.

http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab124/michaelscottpowell/fins.jpg

[jay cagney]

oh, well i plan on making the fins out of wood and glassing over the surface, i assumed the wood would be more brittle than pure cloth

[mitchell]

oh, well i plan on making the fins out of wood and glassing over the surface, i assumed the wood would be more brittle than pure cloth

thats what i figured you meant ...as long you build the fins with grain is vertical (running from the fin tabs up towards the tips) i think the wood design will be strong enough..i really dont think you need the reinforcement pins...

unless you surf like Occy....:)

[Zippy]

Mitchell,

That's really cool! So those fins are just layered glass? Pretty awesome. BTW the new board rides great, feels really small but that could be because i was riding a bulky fish right before I tried it. The quad set up was way better than slipping in the center fin but that's no surprise since a 5 fin on anything but a bonzer is bound to be stiff. On the quad it was fast and loose.

[mitchell]

Mitchell,

That's really cool! So those fins are just layered glass? Pretty awesome. BTW the new board rides great, feels really small but that could be because i was riding a bulky fish right before I tried it. The quad set up was way better than slipping in the center fin but that's no surprise since a 5 fin on anything but a bonzer is bound to be stiff. On the quad it was fast and loose.

yeah I tape wax paper down flat on a flat piece of wood to make a flat surface that the hardened resin wont stick to. You kick off about 1/2 cup epoxy resin and whatever pigment or tint you want to you and then wet out about 5 layers at a time, building up thickness, until you have a thick enough panel to build a fin. Then its mostly jigsaw and foiling work.

Nice to hear the new board is working...

[stoneybaloney]

yeah I tape wax paper down flat on a flat piece of wood to make a flat surface that the hardened resin wont stick to. You kick off about 1/2 cup epoxy resin and whatever pigment or tint you want to you and then wet out about 5 layers at a time, building up thickness, until you have a thick enough panel to build a fin. Then its mostly jigsaw and foiling work.

Nice to hear the new board is working...

Those fins are legit. Nice job!

[mexsurfer]

Why would your fins be any weaker than any other FCS fins...

Here are two futures trailer fins i made...a 3.5" trailer fin to loosen up a tri-fin fish and a 6.5" trailer fin to stiffen up a shortboard to hold in big surf...just for fun...i mean the cloth is all just scrappy corner pieces. 35-40 slivers of 4 oz cloth will be thick enough to foil out a fin.

http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab124/michaelscottpowell/fins.jpg

would you ever consider making fcs fins?? and make them off other fcs templates... And best of all sell them!?!?!?!

[jimmyg]

Hey man, the board looks great! What did you use for the vent plug? I was recently building and just finished a chambered wooden board and was debating what to use on a plug. I finally settled on a brass insert with a screw and washer. Just wondering if you had a better idea for you plug and where you got it from for my next board that I build. Thanks for the insight man.

[mitchell]

would you ever consider making fcs fins?? and make them off other fcs templates... And best of all sell them!?!?!?!

naa..all my boards are futures and i just do it for fun and to see the effect different fins has on a particular board. its way too time consuming for even think about doing for $$

[mexsurfer]

naa..all my boards are futures and i just do it for fun and to see the effect different fins has on a particular board. its way too time consuming for even think about doing for $$

ya thats true.. Its sick how you can get the future fin box shape! You should post a thread on making fins one day...or the next time you do it :cool:
both yours and jay's fins are sick!

[Driftingalong]

How are the oak fins? Pretty stiff right...too stiff?

[wallysurfr]

how's that board holding up?

[DaMook]

Jay, i followed your post on swaylocks. Good work, but i think you know why shapers charge the amount they do now right?

It looks like the hardest part of your job was making sure that both rails of the board are totally symmetrical right?

[cgrizzard]

Very nice man... A lot of people talk about doing things like this, but you actually did!

[surfcosta.com]

awesome write up, can only hope for more stuff like this on the forum. great stuff!

[jay cagney]

how's that board holding up?

its doesn't have a lot of float to it so i don't surf it in anything thicker than a 3/2. its delaming a little bit on the deck since i left it int he car a couple hot days over the summer while at work. I want to make another one this summer, fish or egg out of PU and see how that goes. would love to make a longboard if the material cost wasn't so much higher. still want to make oak fcs fins, maybe later this spring

[DaMook]

its doesn't have a lot of float to it so i don't surf it in anything thicker than a 3/2. its delaming a little bit on the deck since i left it int he car a couple hot days over the summer while at work. I want to make another one this summer, fish or egg out of PU and see how that goes. would love to make a longboard if the material cost wasn't so much higher. still want to make oak fcs fins, maybe later this spring

how hard was it to keep both sides of the board symmetrical?

[wontonwonton]

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?id=1566305730&aid=147054

I did this a month ago with NJ shaper Tom Mahady for my grad project for HS. He taught and guided me through all the steps and for my first board it turned out amazing. Rides so well and it is pretty to even look at. Its a hell of alot of work and it makes you appreciate and respect the 600-800 dollar boards. I reccomend trying it.

Or....Get a board custom made from Tom Mahady because he knows his stuff.

[mitchell]

how hard was it to keep both sides of the board symmetrical?

If you use the same template on both sides of the board (lined up with the stringer) to cut the outline, symmetry isnt a problem. Especially if you cut just outside the line you drew, and then use sandpaper on a block of 2x4 wood to sand back to the line and smooth out little irregularities in the sawing.

[Sterling]

Good job, this is the best thread

[MDSurfer]

One thing building your own board will give you, a real appreciation of what goes into the retail boards that we buy. Interesting that I chose that same color combo (Blue/Green) when I tried making a board back in 1967. It was a really ugly attempt at a Nat Young water displacement hull design. Maybe I'll have to drag it out of my attic and take a picture of it.

Then again, I don't think I need that kind of personal flagellation.

I actually cut down an old pop-out board and attempted both a surfboard, and a belly board (Boggie Boards hadn't been invented yet, and single fin short boards were just being experimented with.)

[johhnyutah]

very cool thread. I learned a lot and it was quite entertaining to go through your thread while I"m supposed to be working.;)

[darippah]

what did it cost you?

[420]

Congrats on your first board build! You have the right attitude and dont hold it against urself about the delamming. I have worked in the industry a long time and even major labels have that problem and STILL are, even with vent plugs. It is something that seems hit or miss and hasnt been ironed out . You will find the PU much more stable. Dont give up on the eps though cause it has come leaps and bounds over the past ten years, well actually the past five even. I prefer PU cause of the feel riding it but for those of you that like that eps, ur making it happen. This thread is what surfing is all about, comraderie, sharing, no ego, and all about the ride.

[wrg291]

That's pretty awesome man. I tried to do that a few years ago, but the resin just ate through the foam I bought from Home Depot.

[ripthegnar]

this is a little late but i love how u used elmers glue in the beginning i woulda thought gorilla or krazy glue.
but great thread man, i got a real kick out of it. id love to see the next project.

[420]

That's pretty awesome man. I tried to do that a few years ago, but the resin just ate through the foam I bought from Home Depot.

that type of foam (polystyrene) can only be glassed with epoxy. Polyester resin will melt polystyrene. When you hear of a board being epoxy, it is a generalized label. The main difference in the board is the foam core. They call them epoxies only because they are all glassed using epoxy because that is the only option.

[dave]

Nice! At the barest minimum it looks pretty sweet

[zim]

This thread is what surfing is all about, comraderie, sharing, no ego, and all about the ride.
this thread needs to be stickied at the top of the page as the best thead ever on swellinfo

[420]

this thread needs to be stickied at the top of the page as the best thead ever on swellinfo

You said it!