So whats being built .Fitzy any new boards ? Bring it on .Lets see whats happening.

fitzy, you should really try to look after your boards.
smashing them is such a waste.
grow up why don't ya.

with 5 days of wind fitzy, it might be a bit of a mixed bag!
choices, choices,

Hi Malfi

Boards passed the test with flying colours. The new ones weigh just under 2 Kg with all fittings.

Terri, Patrick and I gave them a good hiding and couldn't break them so I guess I have found the ideal combination of strength and weight.

I built a bit more flex into my 133 than Terri's board (128) and my knees are thanking me for it today after a full day up at The Pin in very gusty winds on Sunday.

Klegicell interior laminated between two layers of 2.5ml ply. Joined with epoxy resin and vacuum bagged. Light and very strong due to the concave under the feet.

You don't need to glass them, it just adds unnecessary weight. Coated with four coats (sprayed) of Cabots clear water based flooring urethane. Quick to dry and very tough.

Fitzy Gold Coast OZ

Second that one Damo

Fitzy Gold Coast OZ

Two pieces of 2.5mm ply laminated together with a shaped core of Klegicell 10mm centre tapering to zero about 50mm in from the rails and about 150mm from the tips.

Ply is actually very strong and by joining the pieces together with epoxy and then vacuum bagging the epoxy permeates the ply and any excess is squeezed out thus saving weight.

The board also gains strength by forcing a concave into the board under your feet. Curve = strength.

No glass is required and this saves weight.

Very strong, very light and VERY inexpensive.

Just spray with a few coats of water based gloss urethane. (Cabots)

www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=2131

Fitzy Gold Coast OZ

fitzy, i clicked on that link but i keep getting an old piece of packing crate!
you might have to check that address!!

What do you need to vacuum bag and how does this help? I've had trouble getting concave as well as rocker in past attempts when using ply. Any clues.

fitzy,

how much rocker do you use say on your new 133?

MAX.... I use 10mm of Rocker, starting from just outside where your foot is placed on the board.

These light ply boards have a sort of progressive rocker built in due to the flex of the ply, mainly in the tips.

The harder it blows the more rocker (tip flex) you wil get. This is just what you want to control the power of a kite in high wind gusts. Also very good to counter the effects of chop on your knees.

I made a 128x37 for my mate Terese who is a very experienced kiter. She rode it on Sunday in winds gusting up to more than 30 knots and was stoked with the performance.

Fitzy Gold Coast Oz

FITZY, Where will i find klegicell and what sort of epoxy do you use?
Also what have you found is the best method of securing foot straps?
Vacuum bagging? what do you need? Obviuosly some sort of heavy duty vacuum, but is it specialist equipment or can i rig something up in the garage? Thanx 4 your help

a vacuum pump is the easiest thing you will ever make . get a old fridge and take the motor out , get the smallest motor you can find you wil see that there are two sizes , the big one leaks oil , you will need to put an air bleed on the suction inlet , this will control the vacuum you can also fit your vac guage there . the best material is F.G.I they have it . one thing you should make is a rocker jig with concave on it . this way you can make all the boards the same and can make small adjustments it takes all the guestamating out of the project . foot plug you need treaded inserts ( stainless steel te nuts about $3 each ) it takes longer to make all these tools then to make the board but when you have theses simple tools you will be flyin . i made a board blank ( out line , kelgi, rocker , concave, glass ,carbon on the jig and vac in 1.5 hrs these boards are a tripple sandsawich and weigh 2kg with pads and straps so with tools its very efficient way to make boards . becareful when vacuuming that you dont take off to much epoxy this will reduce the epoxy to glass ratio and make the the board brittle and you will end up having to do a fill coate of epoxy to fill the million pin holes . the weight saved is only grams .
the best way to tell how much epoxy you need wet out the glass is,weigh the piece of glass on digital scales and use 1.5 times it weight in epoxy .
i dont use absorbent cloth at all your just wasting materail

Here we go MOPZ and GORGO.

Bit long winded but as concise as I can make it at this time of night.

The Klegicell and Epoxy can be purchased from FGI (Fibreglass Industries). They have branches in most capital cities and on the Gold Coast.

Klegicell is available in 1200x2400 sheets and can be easily cut with a Stanley knife for transporting in your car.

I use 5mm thickness as I glue two pieces together in the process of forcing a concave into the blank.

I have posted some pics of the Vacuum Pump I made using an old Fridge Motor like KAOS described. Pretty easy really.

I incorporated a length of 150mm plastic pipe as a vacuum reservoir. Saves the motor coming on as often during the curing process.

I made a vacuum regulator switch using the vacuum advance and retard mechanism from an old car distributor. This is the dish like silver fitting you will see on the side of an old car dizzy. It has a diaphragm in it that pulls a lever. This advances or retards the spark in the engine.

I use it to pull a shaft attached to a small piece of aluminium angle. This aluminium angle rests against the side of a microswitch. The shaft is also attached to a spring that resists the pull of the diaphragm shaft. The tension can be adjusted by turning a screw inserted into the end of the spring through a wooden block.

As the vacuum increases the shaft pulls the angle away from the microswitch against the resistance of the spring. When a certain point is reached the microswitch turns off the fridge motor.

I attached a vacuum gauge purchased from Super Cheap Autos into the system so that I can make adjustments to the switch tension. I have found that the best vacuum setting is about 15 to 18 inches of mercury.

If you don’t use a method of adjusting the vacuum you will find that a fridge motor will pull up to 30 inches of mercury. Can be too much for some applications. The microswitch is a 10-amp model available from Dick Smiths.

GET AN ELECTRICIAN TO WIRE IT FOR YOU (That is my waiver)

Vacuum bagging exerts a huge force on the board from all directions at once. Much better than can be achieved by just putting heaps of clamps along the edges and weight on the board itself.

I don’t use any release film when making ply boards.

I made the vacuum bag out of vinyl tablecloth cover material, purchased from Bunnings.

Just folded it over and sealed the edges with gaffer tape. The ends were rolled over a few times once the board is inside and clamped between two pieces of wood held with G clamps.

Next time I will have the bag electric welded by a canvass maker that supplies those clear vinyl curtains that you see at restaurants.

This will give a better seal and the motor will not have to switch on as often to maintain the vacuum.

I use Tee Nuts as attachments. Will eventually use stainless steel but in the first boards I have made I have just used ordinary steel ones. They are fine so far as I sprayed them with Lanoline before putting the strap screws in.

I just drill a suitable sized hole in the top of the board and epoxy the tee nuts into place. I fill the thread with blue tack to stop the epoxy getting in and just dig it out later.

Pictures are at:

www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=2148
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=2149
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=2150

Hope this helps you guys. It is really satisfying to build and ride your own

Fitzy Gold Coast OZ

what a machine fitzy , great idea but whats the big white tube for? its a good concept but there is a few things that you might want to change before they give some problems . the micro switch is friggen genius but wont adjust vacum pressure it will only turn the pump on and off , what i mean is that the pump will build up vacuum to what ever you have set it at to turn off than it will have to loose pressure before it will turn back on , so when it looses vac even small amounts that you cant see it will be drawing air back in to the job and cause air bubbles to form and in time will cause delaminate and may cause the board to distort if not made on a rocker jig so by turning it on and off its causing a breathing motion which you dont want . what you need is a constant vacuum pressure and this a simple matter of putting an air bleed on the vacuum in take . i use a small gas tap from a camp stove it should have a air hole in the bottom of it . just solder one end on to the vac intake . then the pump can be adjusted to the right pressure and stay running . the next thing you have do is to cool the pump because the pump will get hot when its been on for hours and the oil in side will thin and the vac pressure can change . there are 2 ways simple ways a small fan or water cool just glue some kind old plastic container straigt to the top of pump with the bottom cut out let dry for a day and then just put water in it a 2-3 ltrs will do( not into the pump into the container) that should keep it cool both ways work . i have used the same pump for 7 years and its still goin strong . i hope this make sence and helps a little, lets keep making 100% aussies boards
but becarful once you start building boards you cant stop and there is no cure expect move to w.a and go big

Have to admit, i love the Macguyver factor of FITZY'S, but your system sounds a little easier to build KAOS. Have you got any photos?
Keep the ideas coming, i'm looking for an old fridge as we speak?

thats a great machine you have anyway just an idea for the vac bag you can proberly get a real vac tube from f.g.i if not go and get one of those space saver bags from kmart or some place like like the one you use a vacum and join them together with sticky tape they work prefect 2 together will be big enough for kite boards