*I FINISHED IT AND IT WORKS. Will be updating this first bit in the coming weeks https://www.instagram.com/p/BUap7taFREv/*
Yup I know there are a ton of other DIY foil build threads but I wanted to start this one so that I'm not jacking someone else's thread. I'll also be constantly updating these first post.
Also going to be reserving a bunch of space to tell a nice beginning to end story of my experience. This will make it so you don't have to wade through a ton of comments to get to the build. That's not to say there is GOLD found in the comment of the threads I pulled info from. Also I'm going to put together all the links and resources I've used in one place.
Resources
I'd recommend screen shooting or pdf "printing" anything you find on the internet and really want to keep as who knows what website won't be there down the road
Of Course the Seabreeze article by Phezulu1 on here.
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Kitesu ... 49403.aspx
Hawaiis' Super low fi wood builds is what really inspired me to get my hands into this project.
viewtopic.php?t=2382338
Lots of gold, since there are multiple builds and techniques in here.
viewtopic.php?f=196&t=2386805
This video by Mat has lots of good idea for how to layup or deal with certain issues and I have screenshoted a bunch of it to reference
https://vimeo.com/136474166
Objectives
1. Build a foil that I can change the wings
1a. Possibly make the fuselage removable from the mast
2. Keep it reasonably cheap and durable
3. Try to make as much of it as I could in my tiny apartment.
4. Not have it be a race machine or a learning foil (I was lucky enough to be able to learn to foil on a shop's Double Agent)
5. Not overanalyze the design too much so I can have more fun.
6. Share what I learned and my plans to help out everyone
Research and Initial Design Phase
*MORE TO COME AS I UPLOAD AND ORGANIZE NOTES*
A little teaser for now
This certainly ate up a lot of my time, and should for anyone so they can get a good sense of what people have done out there.
I decided to use the Seabreeze "plans" as a sort of jumping off point, and then peppered in measurements from some commercial foils. I also converted measurements into imperial where ever it made it easier for me.
So far the basic measurements are
Mast = 36"
Fuselage = 30" I've actually decided to go with a shorter fuselage at 26"
Rear wing based off the Liquid Force Happy foil
Front wing based off the Liquid Force Happy foil but I forgot that my OG wing layup was only 22" instead of 24" wide, so it's a truncated delta shape now.
Material List
So far I've bought/ plan on using.
- 5/32" Baltic Birch Ply (you only need a 1/2 sheet to make a foil)
- 8oz Fiberglass twill
- Knytex Tape 6" (biaxial with chopped mat glass 26.45 oz/sq yd)
- 12k Carbon Uni Tape
- 5.8oz Carbon Twill
- TAP Marine Grade Epoxy System with slow and fast hardener (Will update at the end of the build how much I used)
- SS hardware (have yet to decide on how and what hardware I will use for attaching the wings and board