EPS sandwich experiment

Picked up a block of EPS foam at my favorite home improvement center in Sapporo ("Joyful AK", just around the corner from Costco), with the intention of trying to make myself an EPS/wood sandwich board. Most of these types of boards are built with thinner veneers vacuum bagged around the blank, but I don't have that gear, so I'm giving it a go with a low tech approach. I split the blank, put a stringer in it, then shaped the blank into the foil shape. I picked up some 5mm paulownia ply for the top and bottom, and have glued up the bottom sheet. For now, the goal is to get the top and bottom sheets on, clean up the outline, then build up solid paulownia rails, and finally glassing. This is a new process for me, so I have no idea if it'll work out, but it's interesting giving it a go. I throw up more pictures as I proceed...   

Ska Interlude

I don’t usually do music on my surf blog, but I just ran across this mighty mighty fine ska playlist. For those who are “Ska’d for life”, it’s a real treat:

http://ska4u.com/2014/02/27/for-ska-week-heres-the-worlds-best-ska-playlist/

Repost

Here's an entry from last week I failed to post correctly...it's out of order, but shows how the rebuild progressed.

Wow, it's been a while since I wrote on the old blog. Been real real busy, lots of waves over the last month, some really great days. Throw in the the beginning of the semester, and all the other stuff going on, and the schedule fills up pretty quick. I've finally got the rebuild sorted and glassed. Now just some sanding, a clear coat, add the vent, and its good to go. Looking forward to riding this one, should be ready go by next weekend. 

 sanding

 glassed

 Had a BBQ down at the beach last week with the Kako boys (a send off for one of the crew heading to Sudan for PKO). We said we'd do a bit of a parking lot clean up, and Chiba-san shows up with this! No messing around with these guys!

Another shot from Mark, I haven't taken any wave shots this last month...too busy surfing, time to dust off the camera.

Finished the rebuild

Finally got the rebuild done. Now instead of sitting in my office, this board is actually in my rotation. It was way more work than building one from scratch, but it feels good to rescue it. I took it out Saturday evening in some fun little beach break peaks and it went well, drawing nice single fin lines, but being a bit slow on the cut backs. Overall, very pleased with it.   

View from the kitchen window. Four of these little guys live in the mountain behind the house. This one is pretty bold, and is always munching the grass in the side yard.

End of March

It's the last day of March, the snow is pretty much gone, the sun is shining, and the waves are up. It finally feels like we made it out of winter. Here's some pics Mark took this morning, really fun, and only two of us out. Hopefully the swell lasts into tomorrow...I'm too tired out to write any more, so I'm off to have a beer and rest up for an April Fool's session..

Finished skate...

I just got the hardware for the skateboard deck, threw everything on, and enjoyed an hour riding the board. I haven't spent an evening on a skateboard in over 20 years, and it was a blast. I can't believe how the reverse kingpin trucks carve (I got Paris V2 180s), they're so much different than the old school Venture trucks I used to ride in the 80s. A great way to stay in rhythm for surfing. Here's a few shots of the finished board. I'll have to make a few more of these.

Spring is in the air...

Spring is in the air, or so it seems...despite snow still being on the ground, and occasional flurries, the days are warming up. We've had highs up around 5 or 6 this week, which feels downright balmy compared to what we were dealing with a few weeks back. And the waves have returned, I've been out 4 times in the last week. The best day was last Saturday at Kako, some really nicely lined up lefts peeling off the tetrapods. Fun stuff, but the low water temps really takes it of out of you...

 

I'm still busy with the board rebuilds, but took the time to build a jig and make a skateboard...the jig worked pretty well and the veneer I used glued up well and the tail kick came out OK. The mahogany strips on the bottom look pretty old school cool, really pleased with how that came out. I've got the hardware on order, and it should  arrive just in time for the snow to melt off the sidewalks.