Thanks Brownfish. The pics came from Hugo while he was building the board. Would have like to have more to show the nuances of the process...maybe next one. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.
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XPS foam and Eco friendly Paulownia/cork: no fibreglass board build.
- Thread starter Retropete
- Start date
Beautiful build. Love the paulownia. What thickness is it? I wish I could find milled paulownia here in California. Thickness of cork? Does it take on any water after a long surf session?
Why do you say XPS is environmentally friendly? I thought builders had given up on that because of gassing?
Anyways, thanks for sharing a beauty.
Why do you say XPS is environmentally friendly? I thought builders had given up on that because of gassing?
Anyways, thanks for sharing a beauty.
Altered the thread title to be more accurate.Beautiful build. Love the paulownia. What thickness is it? I wish I could find milled paulownia here in California. Thickness of cork? Does it take on any water after a long surf session?
Why do you say XPS is environmentally friendly? I thought builders had given up on that because of gassing?
Anyways, thanks for sharing a beauty.
My board has 3mm Paulownia sheets but his usual sheets are 2mm. The cork is 6mm. It doesn't take on water due to the application of lanolin which has to be re-applied monthly or so (dependent upon amount of use/conditions). You can use the liquid lanolin (not cheap) and apply with a small paint roller or I am going to buy a spray on can from the hardware shop.
The thread title was a quick blanket sentence so I didn't mean to write it as the xps being eco friendly so much as the skins and no fibreglass aspect. I did choose xps so that if the skins are dinged water ingress isn't going to be as potentially damaging as if an eps blank was used.
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When I dropped by Hugo's place to ask him about the board details I spied a nice looking 7' fish in his rack.
It was one of his personal boards. A bit of friendly persuasion/coercion and its now mine.
Could qualify as a YOLO I suppose, I mean being a shapers personal and all.
He'll make himself a slightly shorter and thinner one. This one is a little wider and thicker than his stock 7'er he makes which suits me just fine. Should be good for some decent sized beachbreaks and the points.
7' x 21&1/4" x 2&3/4" with eps core, 2 x 3mm Paulownia on the deck and 1 x 3mm on the bottom. Un-glassed and marine varnish. I'll run it with the Rasta keels that are currently in the diamond tail but slotted the big flex twins in for the pic.
It was one of his personal boards. A bit of friendly persuasion/coercion and its now mine.
Could qualify as a YOLO I suppose, I mean being a shapers personal and all.
He'll make himself a slightly shorter and thinner one. This one is a little wider and thicker than his stock 7'er he makes which suits me just fine. Should be good for some decent sized beachbreaks and the points.
7' x 21&1/4" x 2&3/4" with eps core, 2 x 3mm Paulownia on the deck and 1 x 3mm on the bottom. Un-glassed and marine varnish. I'll run it with the Rasta keels that are currently in the diamond tail but slotted the big flex twins in for the pic.
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Just picked up a lightly used shovel nosed Simmons by Hugo. 5'5" X 22" X 2&3/4". Flax bottom, cork rails and Paulownia deck. This one is glassed. Tri plane bottom with chines like my 6'6". Going to be interesting. It's next to a DMS Gherkin 5'10" for comparison.
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Took the board to the beach. No waves to ride standing up when it's shin high so I paddled it around to get a feel for it. Rode some ankle snappers on my guts. Water was great. No one out surfing the entire stretch of beach on a warm spring day. Just swimmers. 
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Dropped in to see how my new 5'10" twin keel fish was going. Shaped blank was on the stands in the bay when I got there. A couple of hours later he sent me this pic of the board in the vac bag after having the paulownia deck skin and cork rails done. Another couple of hours went by and got another pic of the flax bottom being glassed.
Absolutely. Hugo learnt how to build boards with the help of Grant Newby (he did the Aussie fish Fry's and wooden board meets) and Tom Wegener to name a couple .
this might be a cool material for boards
newatlas.com
New shock-absorbing material as strong as metal but light as foam
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a new shock-absorbing material that is super lightweight, yet offers the protection of metal. The stuff could make for helmets, armor and vehicle parts that are lighter, stronger and, importantly, reusable.
newatlas.com
this might be a cool material for boards
New shock-absorbing material as strong as metal but light as foam
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a new shock-absorbing material that is super lightweight, yet offers the protection of metal. The stuff could make for helmets, armor and vehicle parts that are lighter, stronger and, importantly, reusable.
Am still waiting for the aerogel blanks to come down in price.
By the way, anyone want to share their thoughts on the best wood surfboard kit for home builders? You know, who makes the best kit and/or easiest-to-build kit?
The 7' fish I posted pics of further up in the thread I was about ready to sell. I'd ridden it in the peak of Cyclone Seth's swell at my local point with K2's in it. Felt good but still a bit tight. Tried a set of more upright hybrid keels in it and it still didn't feel as good as I was expecting of it. Even put my Webber flex twins in it and it still was ok but not responsive enough.
So figured I would give it one last shot and borrowed the red S-wings from Hugo. At my weight (89kgs) should be on the G10 purple ones but figured these would give me a feel for what the S-wings were like.
The waves were clean but only knee-thigh high and soft on a dead high tide beach break. As soon as I started paddling I could feel the absence of appreciable drag from the fins. Basically the fins felt really nice and loose but with plenty of drive. Nail on the head. Board is staying and I've already asked Hugo if he will sell the fins to me and he said yes...yeeew!
JaM71 has always said they are his fave twins ever and I should try his and buy a set. I've almost bought them online a few times. Reckon the red ones will be fine for "normal" sized waves which I will ride the 7'er in and I do have other boards to ride when its solid.
Worth keeping an open mind (and wallet) about crazy looking fins like these.
www.s-wings.surf
So figured I would give it one last shot and borrowed the red S-wings from Hugo. At my weight (89kgs) should be on the G10 purple ones but figured these would give me a feel for what the S-wings were like.
The waves were clean but only knee-thigh high and soft on a dead high tide beach break. As soon as I started paddling I could feel the absence of appreciable drag from the fins. Basically the fins felt really nice and loose but with plenty of drive. Nail on the head. Board is staying and I've already asked Hugo if he will sell the fins to me and he said yes...yeeew!
JaM71 has always said they are his fave twins ever and I should try his and buy a set. I've almost bought them online a few times. Reckon the red ones will be fine for "normal" sized waves which I will ride the 7'er in and I do have other boards to ride when its solid.
Worth keeping an open mind (and wallet) about crazy looking fins like these.
Twin 520 Red Carbon - S-Wings
Our best seller: this Twin520 model designed with the carbon fibers in the axis of the trailing arm to have a stiffer coil effect an d a lively feeling during the carves. It suits the Performance Twins. (We also have the Keel480 model) With 5.20" trailing arm to have great control…
www.s-wings.surf
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S wings are a band aid for fin boxes to forward - hate me now ! ;-)
All good. The S-wings are just what the doctor ordered and have stopped the haemorrhaging.
How did that Simmons go? I notice he’s got some nicely priced secondhand stuff..
I like riding it when its small and un-crowded as I find I have to sit close to any peaks to catch waves easily and those sitting further out will be already paddling on. The un-crowded part means I rarely choose to ride it but its fun with its excellent planing area under foot.
All the used/demo boards are sold now. Within 30 mins or so of his recent announcement on insta that he was taking a sabbatical to go travelling all the available new board spots were filled.
5'10" fish not far off now. A few more days.
Board is done and ready to ride.
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Beauty.
I thought I spied a channel bottom in the racks behind the 7' fish. I'm curious how he does the channels? Maybe like Hess, he only does them when there is no wood skin on the bottom?
Also is he the guy with the tattoos? There was a guy on Sways named Hughie but I always figured he was an old-timer that had worked in the industry for decades. The tatted guy here looks young.