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[xylem]

Just thought I'd share some shots of my most recent build:







It's 6'2" x 20" x 2 3/4". 2 +1 setup. the top and bottom skins are made of cedar and redwood and the rails are poplar and cedar. no center stringer. final weight w/o fins is 9 lbs. bottom is double concave to just south of the the center then flat and trasitioning to slight v in the nose.

Been riding the board for a few weeks and i'm definitely pleased with the results. has a lot more flex than my last board which had a center stinger. i'm new to board building. this is my #4 and #3 hws so i'm really just stoked to have something that rides decent.

downside - board doesnt ride well in choppy conditions. not sure why. maybe the double concave or increased flex or the hollow factor.

been pouring though the forum trying to wrap my brain around the compsand approach. definitely some pretty complex concepts to digest. looks like there is not much margin for error, but i'm willing to give it a go.

cd

[xylem]

Forgot a shot of the deck

[Sparrow]

Hey Welcome Xylem,
Very very nice looking board you have there!
If you can build hollow boards that are looking that nice, I'm positive you'll find the compsand approach a piece of cake!
There's a lot of different approaches mentioned on the forum, try and find the best one suited to you and go for it.

Personally, I find the easiest approach to vacuum the skins on to your core with rails already attached, then once it is outta the bag, shape it up nice, and glass by hand.

[xylem]

Hey Sparrow -

Thanks for the compliments!
The vacuum bagging aspect of the compsand definitely makes me a bit nervous. It is a tool I have no experience with. But then that's half the fun.
I'm really impressed with the boards folks have produce in this forum. The board weights that people are achieving is definitely impressive. I think if you were to make an all wood board this light you would definitely compromise on strength. Yet the compsand boards seem to be very strong.
Now I just need to figure out how to get a cheap vacuum pump. Looks like there are some great suggestions in the beginners guide.

cd

[jeff matsuno]

Beauty!  Looks like a fun ride too.  Thanks for posting that up.

[Sparrow]

Kit has built a hollow wooden board, at 6.25 pounds i think. Light weight and strength is definitely achievable. Just gotta think outside the square!
The vac bag is a tool that could really help with hollow wooden boards but i rarely see them being used - even clamping pressure over the entire piece - saves a lot of clamps!
An old fridge compressor will get you started for a vac pump but if you're more serious a proper one is worth it. Try ebay?
Do a few dry runs with different materials and different pressures, you'll soon sort a few things out. There's heaps of info on here about what pressure to use for certain foams etc.

[xylem]

Wow 6.25 lbs! That's amazing! I guess I could see that possible with balsa composite skins. Did he post a thread here for that build? I would love to learn more about it. For a hws it all comes down to reducing weight in the skins. My skins are 4.5 mm thick and glassed with 0.6 oz cloth on the inside and 1.5 oz on the outside. To go thinner I think I would have to either go with heavier cloth which if not done property would add more weight or use a different material such as kevlar. I considered trying kevlar, but opted out due to the cost.

Thanks for the advice on the vac pump. Joe Woodworker seems to have some good options. I haven't checked e-bay yet. Thanks for the tip.

cd

[Huck]

Hello.  I'm a 54 yr. old fart getting back into surfing after a 23 yr. hiatus, hence, a grom all over again.  Home-builder of one hws.  Resident of Sway's and T2S for a few months or weeks or something like that.  Just learned what "compsand" means yesterday.  Trying to keep the stoke up, despite aging body, being a grom again, 2.5 hr. drive to crowded coast with packed surfing spots, and extremely limited budget, LOL!

Here to learn about compsand, love to build one someday.  And share my wooden rail-building method, if anyone's interested.  Seems like it would work well with compsand boards.

me:


my homebuilt hws (6'8" x 22", 17.75 lbs.):


my "Bahrman Rails" system:

[Huck]

couple more shots of the rails during construction

[Kit Sidwell]

I noticed you board over on sways! Really nice!

Hollows and compsand have a lot in common, in fact a hollow I just made has more sandwich panels than one of my compsands....
Still trying to get the hollows really light though, thats the challenge!

Welcome to compsand!

Kit

[Sparrow]

gday Huck,

I've been quietly admiring your work on the other forums, nice to have you on board (so to speak!)

[Huck]

Thanks!  Quick newbie dumb question - is there any way to veneer over foam without the vacuum bag?

[Sparrow]

I've heard of people using sand before!
Dig a hole, put in plastic, put board in, make sure the rocker is supported, plastic over the top, bury with sand. Primitive but you get even-ish pressure.

The vac bag is the best way to get even clamping pressure over the entire piece.

[dougirwin13]

I've also heard of people using water!  Either lots of little bags of water or one great big one.

[shunter]

g'day compsand crew,

Just joined up as my interest in building boards has been rekindled again.  I have built a couple of HWS (6'6" fish and a 12'6" pinnie) and one comp sand 6'2" fish out of paulownia, WRC and balsa.  I use to post on sways a bit a few years ago (kiricore).

Currently living in the naki but due to work am about to return to Perth so would like to build a compsand SUP to help me deal with the transition from taradise to swall wave perth....   Hope you will all still speak to me when I am SUPn... and not call me a janitor sweeping the ocean mess up

Looks like a lot of really good boards have been built over the last few years, some really sweet looking timber boards that have me drooling

couple of photos of the boards I have built.

 



Interested in what's happening with developments to the compsands and any techniques i can apply to the SUP build