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Originally posted by greenleader

none of them seem to go missing on the broadwater!

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Originally posted by Fitzy

Been busy Kitin. Sorry for the delay in answering.

To attach the footstraps and handles I use countersunk head stainless steel bolts and threadlock nuts. The holes for the bolt heads are countersunk and the bolt goes right through the board from the bottom up. When the pads are bolted on (with SS washers as well) I just fill in the slight depression on the bottom of the board where the bolt heads are with some epoxy. Makes a nice finish and reduces any drag.

I am currently building a super large size Tandem board with two sets of footstraps. I know a few girls who want to try out kiting and figure that taking them out on the board will give them the best idea of the experience and also let them experience a Jybe and the feeling of edging the board.

Will post some pics of the finished board and some pics of the smile on the chicks !!!

Regards - Fitzy Gold Coast OZ

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... and I'm busy sewing a waist harness built for two. [}:)]

a waist harness built for two!
surfers have always quoted "surfing is better than sex"
can we take kitesurfing to another level.

Thanks Fitzy - If I hit a brick wall I'll let you know lol - Pretty straight forward, but I'll keep my progress updated once I start (provided it's not windy)- Hope everyone got out on the weekend
Cheers
Elizabeth - Stoked Wello Kiter

Just on vaccuum bagging; I've found instructions on the web on how to build a vaccuum system using an old fridge compressor but a few people have mentioned using household vaccuum cleaners. This sounds much easier, do they work and how do you use them on boards?

Definitely don't use a vacuum cleaner - they rely on high volumes of air passing the motor for cooling. Running one with the very low flow rates that you'll get when vac bagging will overheat it.

I'm in the process of putting together a vac bagging set-up with plans to build a few boards this summer. I've got the pump, worked out the wiring and have got an old fire extinguisher to use a a vacuume reservoir. I haven't hooked up all the connections yet - anyonw got some advice on what tubing and fittings to use? Budget is the priority as always.

Brady - boards look good. What kind of weight were they coming out at? Have you seen the Yahoo boardbuilding group? Stacks of infor on there including a couple of Aussies.

Brady you need to put in a stringer or your boards will break no matter how much carbon you use . As to vacuum bag tape use Butyl tape .Vacuum hose try hydraulic hose ,it doesnt collapse . Vacuum pump Ebay. We are starting to make hollow wood boards ,and we are going back to make hollow carbon boards . Your boards look shweet!

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We are starting to make hollow wood boards ,and we are going back to make hollow carbon boards

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CARBONINIT how do you make hollow wooden boards?

Thanks for the feedback on my new board. Proud of it.

As far as tubing goes, I've found the best stuff is stuff I grabbed from a hospital. It's called bubble tubing - it's transparent plastic/rubber of some kind, similar consistency to garden hose, but non collapsible as it's used for suction tubing in hospitals. Even better, the one length of hose has its diameter increasing and decreasing along its length, so that whatever size bit you need to attach it it, you can find a way. You just need to cut it at the right point. If you've got a friend who's a doctor or a nurse, they should be able to grab some for you.

I haven't weighed my boards yet. I'm really not surprised that the first one broke. I really made it as a practice, just to get the hang of things. With all fittings on, I reckon it weighed about 1/2 that of my airrush switch. My second board feels much the same weight, but I can see plenty of ways to cut that down a bit.

Divynicel was from Fibreglass and Resin Sales in Welshpool. They routinely stock foam up to 10mm. You can get thicker foam, but they have to order it in. They will cut foam to half sheets, to save money if you're not making many boards, although when cut the longest dimension is 125cm, so for longer boards you need to glue bits together. Everyone there seems really knowledgable, and gave me lots of useful advice about what to do, and what to avoid doing. They are much better than the other place I've been - Kirksides.

I tried out my new one on Monday, but wasn't able to have much of a session. The old ribs are still much too sore, and I wasn't really able to go as hard as I liked, and certainly couldn't jump it. Felt pretty lively though. I'm probably going to give my ribs another week or two to settle down before I try going out again.

When you say it needs a stringer or it'll break, what exactly do you mean? Between the two layers of foam I put some more unidirectional carbon, probably most of it un-necessary. Next time I'll put a small amount in between the layers, running diagonal to give it some torsional strength, but not bother about running any lengthwise. Carbon is only strong under tension, so it makes more difference on the outside of the board than up the middle.

Haven't looked at the Yahoo board building groups, except at Eric's page. His idea about stapling the peel-ply to the foam when doing the rolled edges is brilliant, and very easy to do. I have looked in the boardbuilding section of kiteforum, but haven't found that to be very useful.

One thing I learnt the hard way. If you use car paint aerosol spray cans, don't try cleaning your board with acetone afterwards - it works as a paint stripper. I've always used marine paint before, which is completely impervious to everything. Also make certain you use undercoat, as the black carbon keeps showing through the paint even after multiple coats if you don't use it.

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Originally posted by CARBONINIT

Brady have you got the use of a router? If you have, rout along the length of the board and place a small carbon tube in the recess .This is the best stringer for kitesurf boards. Bond using epoxy and microfibres .It saves cutting the foam blank and is very light and strong.Kite strutt should do it around OD 6mm .

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Cool advice. Where would I get carbon tubing from? ALso, if 6mm is the extenral diameter, is this solid, or with a hole up the middle. If so, then what thickness should the wall be?

I use two pieces of foam glued together, so I was thinking about putting this in the middle, between the sheets. Does thies sound like the go?

Also, the load on the tips of the board is minimal, so I was thinking I might only put the stringer along the middle 2/3 of the length. That would then let the ends flex a lot more, for a better pop. Main problem then would be that the stringer might compress the surrounding foam with each time the board flexes, so some tapering Kevlar around it should stop that happening - good impact resistance to stpe the foam being crushed, and not producing a single point where it starts to flex, but spreads it over a distance. Any thoughts?

Also, there is some tension force on the top of the board, between your foot pads, particularly if the board is short, so the foot pads are near the end. I found that out the hard way.

wake skates are a gimmick...
if u really wanna build one i think they have more rocker, thicker ends, reasonably short and raised tips.

Skim boards work well as wakeskates if you wanna try that.

Sweet, what do you think if u just got footstraps and put them on :) u could have a cheap production board :)

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Originally posted by CARBONINIT

Brady are your graphics sprayed on using a stencil?

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Yeah. I downloaded tatoo designs from the intenet, printed them and glued them onto some pieces of plastic I found, then cut them out with a scalpel. Pretty straight forward, but need to take care not to spray too much paint in one go, or it seeps underneath the stencil and smudges.

I'll reply to your email

Thanks

B

Fitzy you have'nt got time to post here, get back to sanding those boards.
Wait until you see the Fitzy 2 model, nice. very nice.
Pitty he is getting on a bit, he would have finished em by now....

Hurry it up dude. Honeslty i won't blow in your mouth.

Fitzy
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