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Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

Here is a picture of my new project : a handboard made out of an old skateboard like eef did with his red baby shark.

I wonder if it won't be too big for me (40X23 cm or 1.34' X 9") as I'm quite short and light (170cm X 60 kg or 5.6' X 120 lb).
Maybe I'll let it like that and cut the length a bit if the surface is too large for me.

Any thought about it ?

some other pics : http://handboard.bodysurf.over-blog.com/article-6662796.html
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Frogsurfer

Poobah · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 1:59 am Post subject:

I think it depends on how extreme the wave is. Bruddah Gabe has another pair of Aloha handboards on ebay right now. Notice how small they are. Also worth noting...the staps don't come though the bottom. They are trapped in the internal layers of the plywood, like sandal construction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hand-Boards-for-the-Extreme-Sport-of-Body-Surfing-85_W0QQitemZ150124803001QQihZ005QQcategoryZ58135QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

The board is now finished and it's a bit shorter than how I cut it at first.

I'll test it in a week or two.
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Frogsurfer

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

I've surfed the handboard twice. The first time in 3 ft onshore beachbreak and the second time in 3 / 5 ft, no wind, more powerful waves on the same beach.

I felt the board is quite heavy when swimming and using it like a paddle and of course you have to be properly warmed up before pushing too hard on such a big paddle.
The sort of handle that Eef did on his red baby shark is practical because you can hold the board with very little effort and no fatigue, swimming or surfing.

When surfing you can really put some pressure on the board as it's concave hull planes fast on the water.
It doesn't turn as well as my handboard made of foam (wich had a sort of keel in the middle - like a fast motorboat hull) but quite enough to draw a bottom turn and then it bites well on the wave face to hold a line.
It never threw any water in my eyes while surfing.

My next project is to make a handboard with some lighter wood and a hull shape that I still have to imagine.
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Frogsurfer

MeatyBarrels · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: Location: California, San Diego

Man, using a skateboard deck is a really great idea! It's a good way to get really high quality plywood for cheap.
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So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

Well yes, eef had a great idea but alas the skateboard deck I found was really too old. Now I can see some cracks in the varnish and the plywood is delaminating on one of the rails.

I'm on the next one. I've found some (pine ?) wood but I'm not sure it's much lighter than the skateboard deck. It's gona have a bat tail and a single to double concave hull.
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Frogsurfer

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

Here is a photo of the next one that I sawed yesterday

Some pics here :
http://handboard.bodysurf.over-blog.com/article-11704617.html
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Frogsurfer

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

Here is what it looks like after shaping the board :

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Frogsurfer

Poobah · Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:07 pm Post subject:

I made a small pine board with a concave on the flat grain (near the center of the tree) and the wood in the concave rose up some weeks after I varnished it. Mine was plenty deep to start with, so it didn't matter when the wood decided to pursue its own identity.

http://www.lamaroos.org/sitebuilder/images/aker-457x654.jpg

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

Is it the Aker that lived her own life ?

I hope the concaves of my handboard won't move on their own because they are not very deep. If they change shape I will add a sort of fin a bit like the one under Meatybarrels' board.
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Frogsurfer

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

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Frogsurfer

Poobah · Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:55 pm Post subject:

How thick was that piece of wood before you started shaping it?

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

It was 21 millimeters thick (0.83 in).

It was part of an old piece of furniture I saved from the garbage.

The final dimensions are 34 cm X 22 cm X 19 mm or 13.4 in X 8.66 in X 0.75 in.

I'll be on the French Riviera at the end of september but I really doubt to have any waves at that time of the year to be able to test it.
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Frogsurfer

MeatyBarrels · Joined: 06 Feb 2007 Posts: Location: California, San Diego

Man I really like this last hand board you made! It's a really elegant shape and I like the clear finish (It's nice to see all the wood grain).
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So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Thierry · Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: Location: France

This is my take of the hanboard à la Hess Surfboards who shapes them with a hole to hold the board.
I was not convinced, hydrodynamically speaking, by this solution. I tested and compared with one of my handboards with a hand-strap it felt much more slower because the water flushed in the hole and the water sometimes even ended on my face and in my eyes.

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Frogsurfer