Hi guys
This was my first HWS. I started it about one year ago, and finally I managed to find some time to post the whole Project in order to contribute to this awesome website. Congrats to the moderators, but mainly congrats to Rich.

So here it goes.

My 1st step was to build the rocker table … wich I made of steel in stead of wood … not the coolest aproach, I know … but it turned out very functional







Then I printed the plans ( Rich’s 9 Wing Template ) in legal size, joined the sheets, and pasted the whole template into 6mm marine plywood.

I cut the marine plywood using a jigsaw, and got this:



Since the stringer was longer than the plywood, I had to make a Joint:



Fortunately, Pawlonia is available in my country, so I decided to build the board arround it, and chose other species to add some colours to the design ( brazilian cedar and Eucalyptus Saligna – really cheap construction wood )

So I resaw the wood, and get slices of 2’’x ¼’’x 9 ½‘
I took some masking tape, joined the slices, applied titebond III and clamped it.

Next step was to attach the frame to the bottom skin, using the rocker table, and lot of weights. I payed special attention to add spacers in order to keep concaves according to the templates.
For this process I used 3m 5200 ( structural adhesive ). I am not using this anymore. Now I find Titebond Polyurethane Construction Adhesive – Greenchoice much more functional and besides it is a low voc adhesive.



In the meantime, I decided to go for the single fin option ( lenght around 9 inches ), and I chose a design similar to Wignut Long Rake, wich seems to be a very good fin.







Ok, now the B&C process, wich turned out being easier than I had thought
The whole process took just a couple of hours.
Bending the strips to meet the nose, was also easy, just wetting the wood and adding some heat with the iron. I `ve been able to bend the strips all the way to the tip of the nose. For this, the gorilla glue ( or any Polyurethane glue ) is a must, cause they cure with humidity and you are suppoused to wet the wood to bend it.

Finally I planed the strips to get a nice transition into the ribs. This is really important to have a nice smooth surface to glue the deck. Again, rocker table and weights did the work for me. In this case I use the Titebond Construction Adhesive.



I added some plywood reinforments cause at that point I was thinking of routing the bottom to place the fin ( in the end I decided to go with the glass-on option, without the routing process )





The board before the rail shaping process




… and after the rail shaping process



Final Steps …

As for laminating, I chose 6 oz JPS cloth and Epoxy Resin ( Bombproof combination )

For the leash plug, I cut a piece of hardwood, and make a retro-style plug and added the vent plug.

I decided to hot coat with Polyester resin, and honestly I really recommend hot coating this way.

Final sanding, waxed it, and went surfing ¡!!

I am really happy with the perfomance and with the whole project. I am 34 and this is barely the first time I make something with my own hands ( my father couldn’t believe his eyes ! )

Again thanks to all of you, and a piece of advice for newcomers, almost any mistake can be fixed, so don’t desperate, it’s just a part of the process …
I am starting my 2nd Project at the other end of the scale, a Minnow fish 5’4’’
Wish me luck !

PS1: since it took me a while to post this report, I have already finished the Minnow, and this is the result !









Those fins were Roy inspired !

beautiful work - thanks for sharing!

Man they look nice

The minnow takes first place for me - one cool looking board - lovin the fins

Top job fella

thanks for your kind words !