how to make a skim board?

[loeuftok]

Hey guys,
my son is with me on hollidays, and I was thinking about making some skim board so that we could enjoy doing something together, and then ride that something together.

any idea where i can find dimension, drawings, instructions or whatever else could help in the project.

thanks and good wind to all

[sflinux]

You can find dimensions of boards at:
http://www.cabaldc.com/cabal_mainframset.html
I just do the shape by eye, tracing with a pencil. You just want something that looks like a fish. I cut mine with a jigsaw.
I would use 1/2" plywood with no rocker.
If you want a temporary (short lived) board you can coat it with 3 layers of polyurethane varnish.
If you want a board that will last a while, you can use the epoxy clothe method (preferred) as explained here:
http://web.media.mit.edu/~saul/zeroprestige/boardmake/

[oceanplay]

Hey guys,
my son is with me on hollidays, and I was thinking about making some skim board so that we could enjoy doing something together, and then ride that something together.

any idea where i can find dimension, drawings, instructions or whatever else could help in the project.

thanks and good wind to all

your a good dad and have a lucky son.

[astx]

someone posted these plans in my thread

[eastcoastkite]

making a skimboard can be as easy or complicated as you want it to be, you can make a wood one very cheep and relativly simple or you can make one out of pvc foam and glass that will preform much better, check out the board builders page its basicly the same concept as building a kiteboard.

[loeuftok]

thanks guys,
we will start today with plywood, to keep it easy at the begining, not to mention that we can't find fibre on our island

[loeuftok]

oops
forgot to ask about the rails...
strait, rounded on top, sharp or not...????

[Mr Jo Macdonald]

Hi loeuftok
I've been making a few ply skimboards
THe size of the baord depends on your weight and height.
For a rough guide the width should be same as distance from middle of
palm to armpit, the length is the height to your navel when standing.
So far I've doen 115x55cm roundtail, 130 x 53 surf shape, 139x55 swallow tail.
I weigh 83kg and the biggest works best for kiting.
I'l post a pic, it has a 5cm fin you can remove for skimming or flat water kiting
or put on if there's waves, because it's much better for surfing that way.
They work really well, I've even sold a few.
We've had some great sessions both kiting and skimming,
lots of cuts and bruises and the odd broken leg scare
so make sure you only use it to skim in very little water,
because if you try in ankle high the board stalls and drop ya hard.

I use 10mm marine ply, cut the shape then rocker the bow with water
and weights, if you let the board dry properly ther's very little spring back. You want no to very little rocker on the tail.
Then sand down really well, varnish and wet
and dry finish the bottom with water and 600 grain paper.
Wax
Go ride

Have a goodun

Mac

[marlee]

we got grafics print on fleeses to laminate in your board...
-we call it foilOn.

because, lives to short for a boring board
comes like this:






more grafics: http://www.freaksoffashion.com/skimboards/

[MikeDobell]

i'd consider making it without the swallow tail. not sure it adds anything to performance + its a bit of a pain to gybe in deep and choppy waters.

i found 9 ply russsian birch at home depot. its pretty bomber proof and doesnt have any knots or holes in the rails...

i used rounded rails so it doesnt chip...

took about 30 minutes to shape and 3 x 20 min sessions to paint (epoxy floor varnish)