Shaping the blank

Blank is out of the bag and shaped to outline

Tapering down the nose area to 15mm thickness with planer

All the rails shaped

The rocker will be formed in V-bag

Race Board - Making the Blank

Outline of Race Board 5´8"

2 layers of H80 Divnycell 15mm

Ready to bond them together

In the V-bag. Epoxy with glass balloons for glue and 2 layers of 6oz glass between around fin-box area for sheer strength.

Finished Woody

The Deck

Massive concave

My custom handle

Constant Rocker

150x 42

Blank out and cut to shape

I pulled the blank out the of bag with 4 layers and decided that i needed to add another layer and an additional decorative layer on the deck.

Here i am cutting out the outline with a jigsaw.


The rough cut. I then sanded it on my home-made beltsander table. Look at earlier posts if you want to see it.
Those layers are totally glued and homogenous. Could not get the cutoffs to delam.
The blank weighs 1980 grams. Quite heavy- but will only need 1-2 layers glass each side.

Woody in the V-bag

A broken furnace and replacement got in the way of this project. But now the 4 layers are in the bag. Hope there is enough epoxy- I went and did it without a test.
Down hard onto form.
The little wonder.
Massive concave and constant rocker.

Wood Board 1

Starting a new board using Abachi veneers 1,5mm thick in the core.
2 longitudinal layers and 2 45degree layers in the middle. I plan on putting a final top and bottom layer of Western Red Cedar as a cosmetic finish. Then a thin glassfiber laminate.

I´m starting by using a board form i already have. Massive concave and a moderate and constant rocker. Its a Ocean Rodeo knock-off and i have a Mako 150x34 that is my favorite board.

Previously i made a shorter and narrow version to see if it would be better in high winds- but the OR Mako is till better and more forgiving in high winds and chop.

This time i´ll be making a wider version to see if it will have better lowend and still work in the high end. The Mako Wide 150x40 has had so many positive reviews, so its worth a try.

Mostly i enjoy the building process, its not an economical exercise.

This fist pic shows how i have the first layer which will be the bottom. I have "fit" the edge of the veneer.



You can see that there is a gap at the ends due to the curvature of the board. This is why it necessary to fit the edges.Its very simple to sand the edge to fit.
The 45 degree layers are easy to fit.
The 2nd 45 degree layer
The last layer

Next step is to glue it all together by vacuum bagging it all to the form with a one-sided V-bag.

The Final Board

Final Paint

Paint is International Perfection 2 component polyurethane. Mix it according to instructions, pour it on.Roll it out with a foam roller- i use diagonal and longitudinal directions to even out the paint. About 8 teaspoons paint and 4 teaspoons hardener cover one side. Oh- don´t forget to mask the edge of the board and paint one side at a time. Use the red "waterline" tape you can buy at the store you buy the paint.
Finish off by lightly brushing the surface- see all the little air bubbles? the brush breaks them and allow the paint to smooth out. Don´t over do it- do fast and 2 times over.

Finishing the board

At this stage i have sanded the raw laminate lightly and then painted a surfacing primer onto each side with a foam roller.

I use SP Systems Hi-Build 302. Supplier is DIAB in Halmstad. I buy a 5-6 liter can- it costs a lot, forgot how much, but it covers about 10 boards.

It´s nasty stuff. Dangerous solvents.

But it gives a good finish if you put in the work. On this board i only coated and sanded once- too lazy on this experiment. Sanding is with 80 grit, then down to 180 grit.

If you want a good finish, you will need to re-coat at this stage and sand it all again ending with 220 grit. Its a hell of a job and a workout. I don´t use a machine because the dust is insane- if you have a dedicated dust shop, a machine will make quicker work.