Peterj

Thanks for those suggestions. I actually had a check valve on the list but forgot. I also have to get the vac gauge and do a final set up of the system. Its more a test/mockup to see if it all works and if the rebuilt vac advance worked. Im more worried about the rubber in it letting go rather than the board ( old kitchen bench) so i hopefully will do a small test on it over the weekend. If the rubber lets go i will replace it with one double the thickness. Hey if it all dont work i'll just buy a real vacuum pump for it.

Well , still going on this thing, I have the pump wired and running and have tested the shutoff mechanism, it seems to work fine. Its a matter now of getting the table on its feet and finding a decent table top. Went into Bunnings and saw some 5mm coreflute panel. I guess it wont matter to have a small rib pattern on the bottom, might actually look ok.

They actually do use a mold of sorts. Some boards have the tunnel type forms under them plus a concave. There is no way you can get that unless it been laid up in a two pice mold and thrown into a press. There is a flysurfer video around here somewhere that shaows just that i think.

Kozzie , the vac works by compressing all the layers together and taking out (squeezing) some resin. Exactly the same way as those space saver vac bags you see on TV. I have only just gotten my head around how it works but the result is a stronger bond usually between the glass and the core. Even if you use SB's method with getting the board made out of ply and using weight to hold down the laminates a vac can still get a final glass outer skin with a near perfect amount of resin per glass amount. Right now lessons for me are out of the question, i have access to be able to get most the gear needed for a vac table so that's why i've decided to make one. Yes laminating a few ply sheets together would be easier but i've got time on my side

It's interesting, so many ways of achieving the same result. Plaster is a great way to make molds. I made a hell of a lot of plaster soft plastic lure molds over the years, 2 and 1 piece. problem i found with plaster was that it is very porous (air bubbles galore) even when using a vibrating tool to take the air out. Then you had to surface the mold to get a slick finish which was a dead set pain on a small scale, hate to know what it would be like on a big one. But it did work, the plaster mold is a valid idea. I guess im making the bench like this because i know it works, yes a lot of work but not a huge amount. The process is repeatable on every item you make like a mold but easily changeable unlike a mold. Plus i like tinkering.

It will have a concave setup, its almost a direct copy of a table i saw on the net. Wish i hadn't run out of stuff, no wind to go play with my little kite tonight down at the beach.

Anywho, this weekend i started the rocker table. Here are a couple of pics of the progression. Here i am setting up the side rails. Side rails are screwed on. Laying out the cross bars. Two bars set up on their supports. Up to now i have almost completed the bars, i ran out of all thread and bolts. I will Finnish it next weekend and then pull it apart for finishing and painting. Peter

Well the day started off with my boss coming down to me and saying , "pete, you are getting that CNC machine you wanted, it's an older one but we will upgrade in 12 months if it turn out good". BINGO!!!! Then i took the hydra down to Apex park and finally got it in the air after the false start Tuesday night. I knew it would have some power but i could not have imagined how much this 3.5 mtr would almost pull me off my feet. 20kmh and wow. i tried to reverse launch it and yes i got it up and turned but there was no way i could hold the bar. I ended up getting my girls to take it further to the edge of the window and up she went. It was a blast, no need to go to the gym. Flew it in figure 8's very gingerly i may add ( too scared to really give it a hammer across the window) kept it at the edge of the window , walked along and had a bit of a run with it just sitting there and trying to fly at times without looking. Sat down and gave it a bit more stick and the thing just pulled me to my feet, was funny actually , back leg bent and front leg straight when i got up. The laid down flat on my back and gave it a bit more with a down turn this time and straight up again. A couple of times i almost had to let the bar go and let it drop but managed to control it by fast turning back up and out of the power zone. Land was easy , took it to the edge of the window , sat it about 2 mtrs of the ground and my daughter held the LE at the bottom and half way up and i just let the bar go and down it flopped. It was great and a big surprise at just how much power a kite this size has. I didn't even hammer it so i just cannot imagine what the 10's and 12's are like to control that were down the beach a bit further, or maybe i can sorta understand a bit better.

Lol , thanks , but well Ive spent all my money on the trainer right now. I'm not pushing too hard to spend money otherwise i'll get the face palm when it's time to buy the real stuff. Oh and i got this today wasnt enough wind at Altona to get it up , had to try though

Hi again all. Now i was thinking about the things we all go through , or have gone through when trying to learn how to do something so i started a blog about me learning and the things im doing whilst on the way to being able to ride right, the right way http://roadtoride.blogspot.com/

I am fooling around with making a board. I printed out the shape. But i found that it had to be at 75% he original size otherwise the board was going to be 2 mtrs long. I print it, then tape it down to make the full sheet and then glue that down on a piece of ply. Let it dry and then out with a jigsaw and cut the outline. In the past i have made templates for stitch and glue pontoons and did the same but used a sharp stanley knife to cut out the profile in 3 mm ply. It's a good point about posting it. I'm considering starting my own blog going through what im learning and the way to kiteboarding. Or over the weekend i can do a heap of screen shots on making an outline in sketchup and post it. Edit..... Here is a screen shot from sketchup with a board outline, still with all the guide lines ( good idea to keep some for lining up the individual sheets) If anyone wants, i can put a full tutorial on how to do it at some stage.

Ive been reading through this with interest. I tried to use the program to set up and print the outline of the board but to my annoyance the external programs you need to print to pdf files just arent compatible with my system( or im just damn stuuuupid ) After sitting back and being really annoyed with myself it dawned on me. I used to use google sketchup to convert DXF files to g code a while back . Plus i have designed and eventually built pontoons in scetchup after printing out the plans in pdf form. What i did was still export the dxf file out of the excell sheet. Open Google sketchup and imported it into that. It opens up with no worries and puts the outline there. What i did then was trace around the imported outline, then exported/saved in into pdf format Now i have been able to print out the outline of the board on multiple sheets ready to be traced out

I definately will do that.

Id never do it near the beach propper or where everyone kites and i know how sensitive the council can be, would never dream of giving them ammo to try to stop something. Especially something that i want to do.

Posted a few days back in introducing myself. So yeah ill be coming down to say hi at Helltona so ill be mucking about at Apex and maybe along the new stretch of beach opposite that.

Well yesterday my wife asked me what type of trainer i wanted. Of course i told her. I got home last night from work and bless her sweet heart she has ordered me an HQ hydra 350.I knew i was getting one in a few weeks but thats a good surprise, To say im happy is an understatement. I have even made a landboard/mountainboard at work for some practice. Its great to have everything from air sanders to a three belt drum sander about 8 ft tall. Although got to keep it a bit secret , but as long as it doesn't interfere with my other work i can make stuff. Im looking forward to this...

hopefully that will be me in within twelve months

Thanks guys. I've seen the flysurfer down Apex end although haven't really watched and the familly like to keep moving, not alot of room down there. But ill definitely pop in sometime soon. I flew the trainer (cheap foil ) at ransom park i think it is , sometimes at apex depending on the crowd. The stunt kite ive flown at Apex cos i can buzz the dogs ( but not with the foil, it wouldn't look good). Ive looked at the Board building threads with interest especially the hydrofoil one . I was wondering if you had thought of a smaller version of this fin. After all , it's all about lift and reducing drag i guess. You know i reckon a mold could be made from a kiteboard fin with the foil on the tip and molded in resin perhaps. I know it's an old thread but hey. cheers Peter

Thanks sinbad, and yeah , ive used the "kids" angle. Good thing is that my wife said she would like to learn. But that may have been just to shut me the hell up. Questions, i got millions. But they can wait a bit. Im just enjoying soaking up the info right now. I will have the trainer in a month, lol then the questions start. But in the mean time if i can contribute then i will if i know something about the topic

)Hi everybody. Happy new year. Just thought id say hi. Im another person looking at doing what looks like a fun sport, been watching it for a couple of years both from shore and out on the water (kayak), think hmmm, maybe. Im only a few weeks away from picking up my trainer ( wife said i had to save for it rather than spend the (her) household money ) I have decided on a HQ hydra 3.5. My two girls want to learn as well as does my wife, sorta. I live in Altona Meadows and have been fishing ( boat and kayak) in the waters of Point Cook and Altona bay for i reckon about 15-20 years. So time for a change. It's really great to see stuff from the local area especially the Apex park side as thats where i drag the yak about 50 mtrs across the mud usually to paddle to point cook. I will be getting lessons when the time is right (money and time allows). I guess really i see my girls being able to learn and giving them something great to do on the water. Something i have been doing for longer than i remember, they arent into fishing etc so i think this is what could get their interest, especially my 9 year old (Plus i want to do it). Can you believe she went swimming last night at altona ( little freak) the water was freezing. So to cut to the chase, hi Peter