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-   -   Building a wakeboard, need advice (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=800982)

wakeboardguy123 01-26-2014 1:54 AM

Building a wakeboard, need advice
 
So I'd like to start a late winter project. I have a bunch of fiberglass/carbon fiber and thought it would be fun to make my own board. I'd like to build it as a "beginners" board but have no idea what all the specs are for these boards. I will be putting quite a bit of effort and time into the design/build but I need to know some specifics first.

Planning on doing a continuous rocker at 142cm.

What I don't know:
a) Thickness of the average wakeboard
b) Curve height from bottom to tip of the rocker (how deep is the curve)

Anyone know of a site where I can get schematics or other builds people have done? I have found very little and scarce material on this subject so far.

My goal is to tweak the design and ergonomics of the board 1st then make a mold to start experimenting with different fiberglass layups.

Keep in mind. I am doing this as a project, not to try and save money on a board.

Thanks!

brett33 01-26-2014 5:50 PM

Contact Da Moose. I hear his 5.5lb fiberglass/carbon fiber hy~energy rip sticks are the worlds foremost in beginner boards. Last I knew, he was looking to pass on "Da Secrets" of board building..

awakewilson 01-28-2014 8:25 AM

I would say the average wakeboard is between 1/2 and 3/4. I have seen some as thin as 1/4

phathom 01-28-2014 2:29 PM

I wouldn't know where to start. But I definitely want to see how it goes. Please post up status updates and of course pictures. I love projects like this.

team_o 01-28-2014 2:32 PM

(wakeboardguy123) This is Chris Johnson, I've been designing wakeboards for Obrien since 2001 and would be glad to help you out with whatever you need. To answer the thickness question, I need to know more about the core material you are planning on using. For instance, if it is a lightweight foam core the thickness would be greater than say solid wood. For Rocker, honestly I would stay away from continuous rockers - you can get so much better performance with a progressive rocker with no loss in rideability. Let me know more about your project, lets keep this going...!

wakeboardguy123 02-01-2014 1:21 AM

Okay guys so yall have been a great inspiration. I got a little overwhelmed at first when I said I wanted to do this just because of how little experience I have with this sort of thing. But even my wife has been asking me about my progress and wants me to go through with it (:

So I have been researching this stuff day and night. I must admit there is not much out there on building wakeboards or their designs at allllll! However there is a lot of kiteboard stuff and it is pretty much the same premise. I have refined my idea somewhat and it is not how I imagined it. Now I will be going with a foam core. Shaping this foam core until I get my desired shape. Once this is achieved I will be using a vaccum bag. Lay the bottom glass layers down then foam then glass for the top. The vacuum bag will sand-which this all together and voila after some trimming a wakeboard is born.

I have no doubt that my methods will be crude and "dirty" but I plan on refining the process as I build more. My biggest interest is going to be experimenting with different fibers.

This weekend I plan on starting the official build. I am going to pour some foam sheets and cut/shave them down to my desired shape. I think I'll start with 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 and see where that leads me. Any insight on the shapes and profiles within the board would really help me and give these things some character.

If anyone knows the radius of the outside edge of the boards curve (or difference between tip and middle) that would also help.

TEAM_O: Thanks for the help. For now I plan on using the continuous rocker for simplicity. However if I can get a progressive rocker shaped up on my table I will defiantly give it a go over the continuous. I will be using polyurethane foam for now. I'm not sure what type of wood to use and foam is cheaper at this stage.

Here is what I have for a design so far...
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...8239E11AA3.jpg

Hoping to get the foam shaped up before the Superbowl so I can take some pictures for you guys.

hyperliquidliteforce 02-02-2014 11:10 AM

I'm definitely following this


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awakewilson 02-03-2014 6:21 AM

One more thing to think about is the binding mounting plates. Not sure if those go in during the build or after everything is done.

wakeboardguy123 02-03-2014 11:13 PM

UPDATE!

So I got the foam poured this weekend and the first attempt wasn't very pretty. I learned a lesson the hard way but the foam is cheap and I have got a good system setup for future builds. At first I made my mold for the foam closed it up and drilled holes into the mold so I could shoot it in there through the holes. Needless to say the foam was not as viscous as I had hoped and just balled up at the holes and did no disperse. I also put newspaper and Vaseline down because some yahoo on the inter-webs said it would prevent the foam from sticking to the sheets, well it made a giant mess and the foam didn't end up sticking to anything without it, plus I don't want my board to look like a Harbor freight pinata. So on my second attempt I kept the top off the mold poured the foam evenly on the surface then closed it up. This resulted in a very nice board and consistency. However I also learned something along the way, and that is don't use a staple gun to hold compressed foam. After about 20 min it sounded like the neighbors were throwing stuff in my garage and I turned around and the dam staples were popping out. Long story short a few 2x4's screwed down to the table kept it from exploding.

The board turned out a little thicker then I had liked, coming in at 1/2" in the middle tapering down to just over a 1/4" at the tips. This was because the mold popped open and leaked foam into the seams. Oh well, I have already got some good ideas for the next pour.

I shaped all my lines into the board and cut it down to look like a real wakeboard. Next step is to install the mounting hardware for the boots followed by the glass layup. Can't wait...

Here are some pics for you guys.

1st pour, you can see where the 4 holes were on each side where I shot the foam in from.
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...D376698A09.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...E01EFAA021.jpg

And the 2nd pour...not quite perfection but dam good:cool:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...9844F49440.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...ED34E0831B.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...4C3A2200F3.jpg

wakeboardguy123 02-20-2014 10:21 PM

Update
 
Its been hard to get time aside from work and the family to go outside in the freezing cold and work on this.

So the 1st layup of fiberglass has passed. Much to my surprise it turned out a little better then I imagined (its pretty ugly, not winning any prizes on this one). I was expecting the foam to melt...when I installed the hardware for the bindings the resin got so hot that it melted the foam and distorted the angle for the screws. Which added a few days to the project since I had to cut the hardware out and re-foam the old holes.

So after that mumbo-jumbo I got to the fiberglass layup. I am using what I thought was 7.5oz fabric but must be more because there is not near enough resin embedded on this 1st coat. There are some soft spots. However I am planning on going over this with a second layup one side at a time so it gets a nice even coat and I don't have to scramble to get both sides before it hardens. Another thing that went wrong was the vaccum bag. I did not want to spend 100+ bucks on a vacuum pump at this stage so I jerry-rigged a large fish tank pump and inverted the motor to create suction. This did work on my smaller scale vacuum bag but it did not have the air flow to keep up with the large bag for the wakeboard. So I'l be laying up the boards one side at a time now to get a cleaner surface and more effiecnt layup.

Even though I just started this build I have already got big plans for the next board!

here are some picks...
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...AE00FF7DB6.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...010B32AA16.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...BA59AA6584.jpg

phathom 02-21-2014 7:19 AM

Nice job. It definitely is looking like a wakeboard.


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