Back on track

Today I spent the day shaping my new tail blocks and nose block. I'm really happy with how both turned out.


For the nose block, I first glued in some backing blocks in empty space and let those set. I decided to use redwood. It's light, has some great grain patterns, and I thought it would look cool. I quickly learned that it is fairly fragile. It chips and breaks a lot, so you would not want to build an entire board out of it (I think they build canoe's out of redwood though, I wonder how that goes?) I then cut off the front of the nose and glued another block onto the front. I decided to do this before gluing the top plank on. You will be able to see the nose block from the bottom of the board, but it will look solid from the top. Seemed cool to me. The picture at the left is the sanded and roughly shaped new nose.


The tail blocks took a little more work. I took a big piece of redwood (it was actually a stairway support for a deck because it was cheap) and traced the old blocks. I cut them out and then tried to fit them into place. I read the post from Brad and the blocks just didn't seem to fit. If I trimmed the top, then the ends of the blocks didn't extend to the outside of the chine log. It was as if the radius of the curvature was tooshort. Anyways, after cutting out the replacement pieces I threw those out too.

To finally fit the shape, I looked through the gallery on the grain surfboards site to eyeball the curve. I then measured 2 inches from where the last frame met the keel. I put down a piece of paper, busted out the compass and drew a nice curve. I took this, cut it out and traced it onto the redwood. I have no idea if this is remotely the shape the tail should be, but it looks good. I glued the new block into place and cut it down to size (much more carefully than the first). If you compare it to picture of the Wherry on Grain's site, I think they are comparable. Plus, the redwood should look pretty cool sandwiched between the cedar planks. This solved the 5200 gluing problem, the miss-shaped tailblock problem, and the railing problem in the tail. The sliver of missing plank is still going to hit a bit, but I think I'll take Brad's advice and make a matching insert for both sides so it looks like a construction detail rather than a mistake.

As a side note, it may look like the tailblocks are asymetrical. They are, kind of. I eyeballed the straight cuts on the outer edges that sit inside the board. I measured and the curves are symetrical and the tips of the board are each 5.5" from center, and the board is now the prescribed 6'4". It is just the innards that are a little off. It shouldn't matter, but if the board favors rights over lefts I'll be sure to own up to it on the site :)

Sometimes to take a step forward, you have to take a step back...

First, a major thanks to Mike and Brad at Grain Surfboards. After sending them an email with my blog site, they were kind enough to take a look at some of the problems I was having and post some comments and suggestions on how to avoid the problems in the future and how to fix the problems I have currently.

Looking at the bevy of problems I had, I took their suggestions and realized if I wanted this board to be the best that I could make it, I need to back track. The nose block isn't that big of a problem. I was casual about getting the tip to meet exactly with the tip of the keel (probably because I couldn't get a fair line and I snapped the first piece that I dry fit. I liked the idea of adding a nose block before putting on the top planks so that the nose block peeked out from between the top sheets. I'll post some pictures of this later.

I ran a piece of bead and cove strip around the so called "bump" in the rail to approximate how off it was. I measured and it was roughly a 3/16 of an inch, therefore I am confident I can smooth this out in the sanding and shaping process without going too thin in the rail.


Lastly, the tail blocks. These were such a mess that I decided to remove them. I took Mike's advice, got out the blow torch and a putty knife and began jabbing underneath the blocks. Nasty stench from that 5200 burning. After a lot of muscle and some singed spots on the board, I finally got the tailblocks off. I proceeded then to scrape off the remaining adhesive and then sand everything down. The board may be a tad thinner in some areas thanks to my lousy chisel skills, but nothing major. I've included the before and aftershots to the left.

Now, a look at some of the mistakes I've made

So I'm dedicating this next post to some of the mistakes I've made along the way in building. Hopefully, someone else who is building a board for the first time can learn something. It will also serve as a reference for myself should I decide to build a second one. I also hope to get some comments from Mike L. at Grain to see if he can recommend some fixes.

The first mistake was something I mentioned earlier. When gluing the chine log, I didn't quite get a fair line all the way back. On the left hand side of the board towards the tail, there is a small bump. You can see the bump in this picture here:
















Another reason for the bump began when I first set-up the chine log. I noticed that the pre-cut notched for the chine log where a little small. So I took a piece of 60 grit sand paper and wrapped it around a paint stirring stick and open up the notches a bit. However, some of the notches were very shallow. When I glued the chine log, a few of the frames had the chine log just touching, rather than nestled into the notch. This also complicated the railing process. On the left side, the chine log was far enough away from the frames that it made it difficult to maintain the curvature of the rail and still mate the bead and cove strips to the frames. I was concerned the gap between the frame and the rails would create a weakness in the board, so I used some scrap pieces of rail to make a shim inside the rail. I covered it with glue and feel like it improved the strength. Plus, I figured it would give more wood to work with when I feathered the rail to meet the frame.







The nose of the board is a little funky. I didn't flex the bead and cove strips to meet the tip of the keel exactly, and thus the bottom planks end before the end of the rails. My joinery skills are not something to be proud of, so I kind of assumed I would be making a nose block for this board. I'm a little unsure how this affects the strength of the board and how much I should cut off. It just seems that a nose block won't have a lot of wood to latch onto and again will be an area of weakness.









Lastly, the big mistake. The tail of the board. There are multiple things that went wrong in the tail. First, I think the tail blocks needed to be trimmed. The board is a 6'4" but as laid out currently it measures 6'9". The blocks seemed long, but I assumed that was the length they were supposed to be. I think I should have trimmed down the tops nearest the keel.
Second, when I glued the blocks on, I used 5200 instead of tightbond. Reading further in the instructions there was a part that mentioned using tightbond over 5200 so that the white of the 5200 doesn't show through. Well, my board will definitely show through. Call that tail mistake number 2.
Next, I failed to pay attention when I was gluing the frame to the bottom planks. There is a small split in the bottom planks that runs right through where the tail should be. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that when I glued the tail blocks on, the 5200 squeezed out through the split. I need to figure out a way to either fill the gap or shape the tail so that it doesn't show. Lastly, I also over shaped the tail blocks. I had just bought this great new hand plane. I was shaping and creating and having a good old time. I felt like a true craftsman. Unfortunately, I got a little carried away. I shaped the blocks to match the line of the keel. However, I forgot that the rail pieces needed support. So the tail pieces are way too thin at the point. My guess is that it shouldn't be that big of a deal. The board looks as though it should be pretty thin in the tail anyways if you follow the line of the last frame. I'm just nervous that I will create a pointed tail that will proceed to remove chunks of my heel everytime I ride it. My friends and I used to surf an old board called the Hamish, shaped by a local San Clemente shaper. We all have matching heel scars from that one so I'm trying to avoid recreating the same scenario. I'm open to suggestions on how to fix the tail. I was considering making tail blocks. I think I saw a picture on the Grain site with tail blocks, again I'm just nervous they will be weak and possibly snap off. Hope the pictures help make all this more clear. The tail is a mess, but I'm hoping I can work out some good solutions.

Build days 7 plus...

It has been a few days since my last post. I had family in town for my graduation from MBA. We had an awesome time, but obviously not much building happened. The first thing I did upon returning to the project was to glue the tail blocks on. According to the directions, the tailblocks should be shaped to match the last frame. I think I got a little carried away, but I will address that more in the "Mistakes" section which will be my next post.

I glued the chine log and the first couple bead and cove strips. Things are going well, except that there is a spot that I have a small dent in the rail. I wasn't as careful as I should have been when setting the chine log, and now that I've started to build the rails it is more obvious. However, I think I should be able to sand it out. The railing process is taking some time. I don't have enough clamps to do each side simultaneously, so I add a rail strip to one side, wait 1.5 hours till it sets up and then do the other side. It is back and forth like this all day long.

Build Day 6

Today I glued the frame to the bottom planks. I talked earlier about buying the right tool, I'm taking that back. I was short a lot of clamps to glue the frame to the bottom planks. So I improvised and it worked great. When I was at Lowe's looking for the jigsaw attachment from earlier, I saw a picture frame clamp. Essentially it was a strap connected to a tighener. I got an idea from this. When I got home, I pulled out some nylon tie-downs I keep in my truck for hauling stuff. I used those just like the picture frame clamp. They worked great. Only problem I had was as you cinched them down they tried to shift the position of the frame. I had outlined the frame on the planks to make sure I glued them on straight and this helped me reposition everything to ensure it was straight.

Build Day 5

I learned a few things today. First, sometime its best to spend the money to buy the right tools. Second, if you are going to do something, do it right the first time. I'll explain.

Now that the planks were glued up, I was going to cut a rough outline. So I quickly sketched an outline around the frame and then, trying not to buy any more tools, I used a coping saw to cut the first outline. Now this worked, but it was a tremendous amount of work and it was slow. So after a few hours and a crick in my neck, I took a break to get some lunch. I really wasn't happy with he results. I kept having to cut in from the side to clear a path for the top of the coping saw so everything proceeded in little chunks.

On the top plank, I actually measured 2in from each frame and then traced the outline. I figured that would be plenty of margin for error. Next, I went down to Lowe's and picked up the jigsaw attachment for my Dremel ($25 dollard vs. much more for a real jigsaw). End result: bottom plank cut time - 1.5 hours top plank cut time: 10 mins). Buy the right tool, it makes all the difference.

Next, If you are going to build something , build it right. I built up the rocker table using pieces of scrap from all over the garage. When I was done, it looked like some kind of Frankenstein. Long and short, the next morning it drove me nuts so I ended up cutting pieces to fit the rocker exactly. Below you will find both the before and after.





Lastly, I improvised on one of the last frames. I couldn't find good scrap to build up the right height. So I just cut a bunch of chunks off of some strapping and glued them to the strapping below.

Build Day 3 and 4

Well, its been a few days since my last post and I have some catching up to do. First, this will be my first post from my new MacBook Pro. I gave myself an early treat for graduation since my sister will be wielding the PC to Duke for her MBA. She gets a deal on the laptop and it gave me an excuse to buy this. I'm lovin' it.

Now the board. I glued up the top planks together. I had a moment of panic when I first put them side by side. Two of the boards were very curved, enough that it left about a half inch gap between boards. I emailed Mike L. at Grain to get his take, but I trusted that if they sent them to me they were probably alright. I guess I didn't realize how pliable wood can be. As soon as I got them in the clamps they were fine. I've included pictures just to give everyone an idea. I also read on a blog that someone suggested putting sandbags on the center of the strapping to keep them flat. I didn't really see a need to, but I threw a 30lb bag of soil on top just in case

Build Day 2

Well, so far this thing is pretty easy. I spent an hour or so this morning gluing the bottom planks together. I began by aranging them in a way that I would get some cool grain patterns and then clamped them together. The directions recommended taping the joints, flipping the planks over and then using the tape like a hinge to glue in between. Worked like a charm.

While the glue dries, I'm trying to figure out how to get the rocker table to better match the rocker in the keel. I used strapping to approximate it as the instructions indicated, but they don't exactly meet up. I'm going to have to find some shims or other method to get a better fit.

Build Day 1

Today (Friday) I began building my surfboard. The board is a 6'4" Retro-fish. I'm building it from a kit by Grain Surfboards. The first order of business was to build a rocker table. This is used to help build a supportive structure beneath the frame to take the stress of it it when gluing the planks to it. This was fairly simple, and I had extra time before dinner at Paul Merage's house, so I glued up the frame as well. On a side note, the frame pieces were all labeled, but the keel wasn't labeled with a front or back. I made some assumptions and went with what seemed to fit, but I'm crossing my fingers I didn't do it backwards.

Pre-Build

Before I begin the bulk of my summer project (building a Grain Surfboards kit in my garage) I had to get some things out of the way. First was my 30th birthday. Turning 30 is interesting, it sounds really old but it doesn't feel old. We headed to SeaWorld as we do on my birthday every year. Brooke and I had a great time and it was certainly a birthday to remember. My parents bumped their heads and sent me a grip of birthday presents. But one of the coolest was a felt "El Guapo". Good for burrito runs to Las Galindrinas and cruising to the beach. It's good to be spoiled...

I also ran a marathon on Sunday, June 3rd. I finished way better than I had expected, 3:36:27. I placed #148 in my division and #1096 overall. Not bad in a field of 20,000. The race went perfectly and I had a blast. Still undecided if there will be more marathons in the future....