Telling the tale of Northwest Kiteboarding one board at a time!
Traction pads use a marine adhesive that bonds super strong and is hard to get off if you mess up so this is one step that you want to measure twice and apply once on. A shaper’s square is handy to kick things of with the back pad. You can use a pencil or some Read More …
I started sanding the X6 before I realized I needed to fix a couple of issues with the hot coat. Once those were handled it was time to go back to sanding. The board is always so smooth and shiny after a hot coat. I always feel slightly sad to sand that away since no Read More …
Things don’t always go as planned. That’s part of the fun, right? On the X6, there were three things that I couldn’t look the other way on. On the deck, we got a bubble on the rail that opened up when I started sanding. On the bottom, we got a bald spot. I’m positive I Read More …
The bottom is glassed, the deck is glassed, and if you did it right you can see the texture of the fiberglass weave. Just like we prepped the board between glassing the bottom and the deck, we need to prep the board for hot coating. Sand off drips, sand down the overlaps on the nose Read More …
If you did a cut lap setup while glassing the bottom, you’ll need to let the board set until it’s just barely tacky. How long that takes is completely dependent on your resin and the environmental conditions. For me it’s usually in the 4-6 hour wait time. When the board is set enough to handle Read More …
Alright, it’s showtime! We’re going to start glassing with the bottom, but first we have some prep work to do. We’ll need to think about how we’re going to glass the rails. There are two ways to do this. One is a “Free Lap” which means we stick the rail lap up on the deck Read More …
There are many different types of fin boxes. Some of them are installed before glassing the board and some of them are installed after. I use Futures fin boxes which are installed before glassing. So my last step before glassing the board is to set the fin boxes. First off, I’ll insert a set of Read More …
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 …
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 …