Telling the tale of Northwest Kiteboarding one board at a time!
The aesthetics of a board are a very personal thing. Some folks enjoy the simplicity of a plain white board, others feel the need to see bananas in all things. While I have tried to make my boards look like bananas, I’ve always wanted to do a little more with the art on a board Read More …
The pandemic has required some adjustments so I’ve gotten a little behind on posting on the X6 progress. Now that I’m starting to get a new routine going under lock down, I’m hoping to catch up on posts. If you were looking to make a board, now would be a great time to do it! Read More …
The Banana Peel Board Company wishes you a very happy St. Paddy’s Day! Here’s to your health, your stoke and wind in your forecast!
My original plan for the X6 was to make it a thruster, but after it took form I kinda felt that quad was the right way to go. Then I sifted around my box o’ parts and found that I had exactly 5 fin boxes of the same color so I decided why not both. Read More …
Once you’re happy with the shape of the board, it’s time to seal it. If you’re shaping EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) this will fill in the gaps in the foam. EPS is an open cell foam. It’s usually made of tiny foam beads pressed together. So just like a glass full of marbles, water can soak Read More …
Bottom contours have various purposes, Greenlight Surf Supply has an excellent guide along with guides to all aspects of surfboard design. My experience riding a strapless kiteboard is that having a little concave in the bottom helps with lift while planing, adds a little grip when edging and reduces slapping when going fast. For the Read More …
I love making boards and the board making step I love the most is shaping the rails on a surfboard. This is the step that takes it from a block of foam to something that really feels like a board. To kick things off, we mark where we are going to shape the board. First Read More …
So this is where we’re at now: Our next step is to take the deck down a little. For this, let’s start with the planer. The one I’m using is this one from Wen. There are modified versions which are much more expensive but after reading around, until you get proficient with a planer, using Read More …
Now that the blank is ready, we can mark the template. For this board, I made a half template and mirrored it across the stringer. Some folks have different nose and tail templates for mixing and matching. With the template marked, I cut it out with a hand saw. As you get near the end, Read More …
There is one step left to finish up our home brewed blank and that’s to cut the foam to the stringer. We made the stringer and hotwire guides together to ensure the had the same profile. Now we’ll use those guides to cut the foam. Because I’m putting much nose in this board above the Read More …