Salvage This!!

I was looking at the amount of nose rocker that I had on “Recycle This!!”, noting that I had only a little over 2 inches compared to the Walker F-18 model which had 4 ½ inches. I also noted that there was a little tail rocker on “Recycle This!!”. So I set the table back up and started to belt sand in a little tail rocker. The folding table has rings to slide over the supports for the legs. Well the rings weren’t in place and the table collapsed after a few passes with the belt sander. The board came crashing down on the concrete floor, landing on the nose. The nose shattered and broke off!!

Man that was a set back, I just walked back in the house and sat down for a bit. The more I thought about it I figured that this wasn’t a project killer, just a set back.. In addition to that it gave me an opportunity to reshape the nose, adding more rocker.

The board is made of cardboard stringers separated by cardboard spacers. The space between stringers provides an opportunity to insert nose-stringers between body stringers in place of spacers near the nose.

I trimmed what was left of the nose even. Then I care fully measured the Walker F-18 board and made a more precise model. I used the model to design nose stringers and a nose template. I cut the nose stringers from the remaining cardboard. Before I could install the nose stringers I had to slice out a few remnants of spacers near the nose. I inserted the nose stringers and placed small spacers along the edge of the nose between nose stringers. I glued the nose stringer in with resin last night.

I still need to add a few slices on each side and shape the nose. The fin boxes should be in soon I should wrap this up well before Christmas.

Disaster



Design



Cutting and fine shaping



Test fitting



Glued together

ED...on the nose rocker issue. I asked Mike to make me an F-18 with that HUGE nose rocker, it didn't work well. Then when he made all those boards for donations, he used my spec's. The 4+ inches of nose rocker is just TOO much. Effective range is in the 2 to 3 inch range.

Now you tell me, too late, unless I drop the board again It took me a while to warm up to the green F-18 demo that Mike sent, it’s too small for my weight. On one of my last rides of the season I slowed the boat down to about 9 mph, a speed at which I was able to stay in the pocket on the F-18. The rail to rail speed of the F-18 was much faster than anything else that I've ridden. I think the angled fins give it the rail speed. Also, it felt like it had pretty good drive up the wake but I was only able to Rocket, not Ollie, though I came closer to an Ollie on that board than anything else I've ridden.

I cut and sanded the nose last night, it's starting to look like a surf board once more. I had to break out a new can of epoxy but the hardener was missing so I’ll pickup where I left off this evening.

The rail to rail responsiveness is more a function of the extremely hard/sharp rails on that board than the fins.

Some pictures after reshaping the nose. Still need to add a little material in some of the corners and need to do a little fine shaping.

I thought I ordered fins and fin boxes and fins but only the fins made it, I must have messed up the order - there goes another week waiting for fin boxes.

I just went back and read your post - I am SO proud of your proper usage of the terms rocket and ollie. You rock!

Ya, I'm working on the 2007 Wakefest event plan now. I've been tweaking and rereading everything including wakesurfing judging. I can't help but learn a little from time to time. I've also learned to check the locking rings on the folding table.

I'm about back to where I was before the board fell and broke. The overall shape is an inch longer than before the break, there's more rocker at the nose, the new nose is smother, thinner and more uniform, and I've filled some voids with resin and micro balloons.

Here I'm vacuum bagging the skin over the top of the new nose. See the pvc piping helping to draw a better vacuum.

The vacuum bagging work even better this time, the skin is really attached to the stringers.

The bottom of the nose after the top skin was placed. The white areas are filled with micro balloons

The board sitting on top of the bottom skin.

The bottom skin, The "Wild Oats will be on the inside of the bottom and a sole Krogers logo on the center of the bottom.

A shot of the bottom of the board, I filled several places with micro balloons, especially where I'm going to router in fin boxes.

Vacuum bagging the bottom skin on. It;s so warm out side I can't believe this is December, I thought that I'd need to run the heater to get up to working temperatures.

Well, I tried to put a little DNA on this alternative materials wakesurf board, I put on stickers from Shred Stixx, the Walker Project, Inland Surfer that you can see below, then glass over these stickers. Well the stickers rolled up and had to be peels back off. I was going to glass in my receipts on the bottom of the board and a photo of a door knob, I guess the board will have to go naked. I thought that I had a Trick Boardz sticker but couldn't find one so I guess it all for the better that the stickers came off.

Here's the board before the stickers peeled them selves off

Just after adding the top coat of resin

Masking tape skirt to reduce drips.

Can't wait to see you ride it!!

My fin boxes came in!

Just after routering the deep fin box grove

Just after routering the flange for the fin box

Test fitting the fin and fin box

Looking down the line of the board with both fins in place

Gluing in the fin boxes in place

Ed, did you get the FUTURE'S router template? That would be WAY pricey for this challenge! It makes routing the step so much easier, if not cheaper.

Jeff Fuller, It's going to be a long winter. Making this board is one way to cope, boat show season starts in Cincinnati early in January. Looks like I'm going to the Dayton, Cleveland and both Columbus boat shows, that will keep me busy.

Jeff Walker, No templates shown in the picture, none used for fabrication. I did practice a little on a 2x4 before going after the surf board with a router. I drew a centerline for each fin placed similar to the Walker F-18. I traced the deep part of the router box and hand routered. I took my time and went little by little. The fin box had three pairs of side fins. After I completed the deep grove I cut six groves to fit the side fins. Then I pushed the fin box so the flange was flush with the top of the board so I could trace the flange outline. I changed the depth of the router to a shallow 1/8th inch and routered the flange by eye.

I'm way-way over budget, I'm not keeping track anymore

My router groves are clean enough, but the router groves on the F-18 are very clean what else would you expect for a quality production board.

One of the following pictures is my micro balloon filler for under filling the fin boxes and the other is my wife’s frosting for her Christmas cookies can anyone tell the difference?

Let me guess - the frosting DOESN'T have the cardboard spreader in it? How did I do?

The thing is they look the same both wet and dry.

Did you give them BOTH the taste test?

Taste, no I think I'll pass on the resin the smell is strong enough. The family is really looking forward to the end of this little project, the house won't smell like resin and I won't track dust in and out of the garage.