Who in here has tried making their own boards?
 

I've been watching some videos online. Seems like it would be a fun, but likely really frustrating effort. Can anyone share their successes or failures, and where they got their supplies?

I havent watched the videos yet on how you anchor the fin boxes, or how you glass the board. Just shaping to this point.

I built my own wakeboard over the winter. It wasn't hard. I'm gonna be trying it out this weekend at hexagon. I enjoyed building it though

I built two. Had a blast and learned a lot. Do it!!

IVe built a ton. I've been building surfboards for 10 years and started building wake surfs. That really helped. There are subtle differences but its mainly the same.
http://http://www.wakeworld.com/foru...d.php?t=797138

Is there any where to go to get wakesurf specific blanks?

just buy a surfboard blank, and shape into a wakesurfer

You first need to know what you want to shape. For instance, your average shortboard blank, particularly polyurethanes are too narrow and have too much rocker. Secondly they are designed with close tolerances, so if you thin it out and make the changes needed for a typical wake surfers you have basically ruined the structural integrity of the blank. A lot of wake surfers are made of with EPS cores, some are made of polyurethane, some with EPE (well only me) and some with structural PVC foams (skim boards like p5, etc.,). They make 'solid density' poly for blanks and sheet foam but it is harder to find these days, since the surfboard industry demands a lighter core material. Virtually all polyurethane blanks are 'blown' and molded with resins/process that as the foam expands in the outer layer is the most dense leaving larger bubbles/cells in the center forming ideally a sort of honeycomb like structure. If you cut too deep, the whole structure is severely weakened, and the board will sustain endless dings and will eventually just delam and fail. Polyurethane is the easiest to shape, and polyester resin is the easiest to laminate and sand. Epoxy/EPS is more time consuming, but the end reward is arguably greater.

If you really want to go about this, I can send you one of my close to shape shred stixx blanks, and all the materials you need, from epoxy, fiberglass, fin boxes, fins, etc. A close to shape blank will allow you to learn some basics in smoothing and cutting foam without having all the tools that traditional shaping requires. Fin boxes will be your greatest challenge without the 'right' tools. Most boxes are designed to go under the lamination, and therefore are cut into the blank with close tolerance gigs, a router, specific bits, and plates. Each box company has its own jig, plate, and generally requires a different bit.

Chaos what is EPE?

Expanded polyethylene I'm assuming.

Expanded polyethylene. It is used for electronic packaging, and behind the plastic shell for vehicle bumpers mostly. It is sort of like EPS, but has very improve memory and rapid flex characteristics. It springs back much quicker than poly and EPS, thus giving a board a more lively feel. Also, heal dents and pressure dings basically pop back out over a 24 hour period or so. Heal dent/pressure dings on ploy/pvc stay compressed and eventually delam; on EPS they will spring back some and will virtually totally come back with a little heat (too much heat cam delam/damage with foam); EPE will just spring back by itself. There are very few surfboard manufactures using it. It is difficult to shape and doesn't smooth out well, so airbrushing the foam is difficult. However, it makes a great longer lasting board. The board Chase won the 2011 Worlds on and rode for a good portion of 2012 was and EPE based board. I have been using it for about 6 years, when it first made it's appearance in the industry.

Very interesting Chaos. I hadn't heard about that. I'll def have to try it. What does it run from the manufacturer? I know I pay about $16 a blank for eps when I buy in bulk.

Thanks for these awesome replies. I am going to come back to this thread tomorrow. Today I'm running around with my head cut off.

There is a company that will make wakesurf specific blanks to any file you have or they can help you with your file. They are still dialing in their machine but it should be fully online soon. for now send me a pm and I will be able to get you a little more info. Stay tuned for a bigger anouncement.

Tmill details please!

If you need traction for new boards or want to replace your old stuff Agenda Surf is making some pretty rad stuff.

Here are some pics of the traction pad sets. There are a bunch of color options to choose from.

Hey Trevor, thanks for the mention.

Hey WakeWorld - we do, in fact, provide wakesurf blanks. We can either send you a standard template (contact us for specs) or you can download one of the 3D shape programs and send us over a file to shape from. If you are aiming to shape and glass your own board, one of our standard blanks would work really well (we typically run a stringerless blank which is different than your standard ocean surf blank). If you want something a bit more custom with less sanding involved, we can shape from your file.

Of course, we would love to build you a custom board from scratch all the way through glassing, but totally understand the DIY passion that many of us have. If you have questions, feel free to post them here or send me a PM. You can also call us at 206.280.6223.

Also, to back another post, we too believe in the Agenda traction pad. We've been testing them all winter and love the results.

Hey Bryce,
Looks like you are pretty close by!... I live in Bellingham and would like more info about what you are going to be able to offer.
I'd probly be interested in a few blanks.

to the OP... I would take Nick up on his offer! you could learn a ton without spending a bunch of time shaping your blank.
I have one of Nicks boards and the craftsmanship is beautiful!!!... He also gave me a few pointers when I started shaping that really helped.

Here is my latest board

Hey Corson,

Feel free to call, PM, or email (bryce@Day1Wake.com) any time. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

BTW, your board looks great. Have you had a chance to get it out and ride?

-Bryce

Corson, thanks for the kind words. Did you get the parabolic direct from Marko or did you have Jeff send you one up?

Custom ($$$) from US blanks... through Fiberglass supply.

Hey Nick... you wanna sell me an EPE blank with some shaping tips???? ;)

Hey Corson. That was my next guess..... EPE is pretty expensive. I do not have any raw blanks only 'High def" milled blanks. A high def milling is two passes by the machine which really smooths out all the cuts. I can get you what ever you want, but all I actually have in stock right now is stringerless 4'8" pros.

Are you using carbon to reinforce a stringerless blank?... Shoot me an e-mail with the $$$ for an EPE blank that you have kicking around... I'd just be into playing around with the material a bit.

Yes and no... In some cases i will cut my own parabolic stringers/struts and insert them internally made out of glues ups of bamboo and carbon fiber. I sometimes supplement this with carbon rails or what I termed the iBeam package. Which is surface laminated carbon in different arrays. Sometimes, a full carbon deck or bottom, just depends on what I feel like and the customer wants.

you have email!

I too have been using Agenda traction. Looks sharp.
About to throw some on this board I'm finishing up this week.

For some reason I love the way the board looks before the hot coat. Seeing the grain of the weave.

I love the way it looks when it's finished and out in the water. Lol just bustin balls.