How to build a skimboard

(http://www.rcskim.com/makeaboard/How%20to%20build%20a%20skimboard.html)

First you need to find a piece of wood.  I would suggest half inch plywood. Half inch works well, with or without fiberglass. I've used three-eighths, but if I don't use fiberglass on it, it seems to crack after a while if I ollie a lot.  Anything bigger than half inch starts to get real heavy real fast, but will probably still work.

A half inch 4x8 foot sheet of plywood can be purchased for around £15.  You only need a fourth of this so if you have a few friends, go in together on one. If it's just you, and you don't want to make 4 boards, most lumber yards will cut and sell you what you need.

Once you've got your wood, place your pattern down and trace around it onto the wood. It is very important to make sure that the grains in the wood are going the long way on your board. If when you buy your wood, you buy just enough for one board and the lumber place cuts it, make sure it is cut so that the piece you get has the grains going the long way. If you are making a board(s) out of one large piece of wood, still make sure the grains are going long-ways.

To cut out your skim board you will need an electric jig saw. If you don't have one ask around the neighborhood.  They are fairly common. If you still can't find one, you might consider investing in one, they are not too expensive and come in handy for all sorts of things.

Once you have your saw, cut out your board following the outline that you traced on the piece of wood.

Once you get your board cut out you'll need to decide which side should be the top. The board will naturally curve a bit in one direction. Lay you board on something flat.  Try both sides to see which way the board curves. You want the nose to curve up. If it curves down then it will dive into the water.

This curve is called rocker and you also need to decide how much rocker you want.  I personally don't like a lot of rocker because I mostly skim flatland and it tends to slow the board down some, so I rarely try to put more rocker in my boards.  I just go with the little bit of natural bend in the board.  But it's a personal thing and if you want more rocker, you can put a board or something under the nose and weights on the top to bend the nose up. You'll probably need to leave it like this for a few days to a week.

Now that you've decided which side is the top you'll want to sand your board. You'll have to sand more or less depending on what grade of plywood you purchased, and how smooth you want your board.  As far as sanding the edges of your board, here is what I would suggest.  If you want to round the top edge that's o.k but leave a sharp edge on the bottom.  This will make your board go farther.

Now you need to decide whether to fiberglass your board or not. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of fiberglass as compared with other options.

Waterproofing your board is an important consideration. Keeping water out of your board is one of the biggest factors in how long your board will last. Fiberglass is waterproof so anywhere you put this on your board it will keep the water out. Another option is a good polyurathane paint. But paint will wear off much quicker.

Fiberglass will help strengthen your board.  I ride pretty aggressively and have cracked a few boards without fiberglass.  Mostly because of ollieing.  I've never cracked one with fiberglass.  On the other hand, if this is your first board and you haven't skimmed much it will probably be a while before your going to learn to ollie so a board without fiberglass would be just fine.

Another thing that fiberglass helps with is dings and scratches. Remember that your riding on sand, which is just like sanding the bottom of your board with sandpaper.  But fiberglass is much tougher than paint. Even if the paint scratches or wears off, if you have fiberglass underneath then it's still waterproof. With just the paint, the wood is exposed if it gets scratched, and this leads to water getting into your board.

Your option without fiberglass is to just pay attention to your board. If you see a scratch or paint is coming off, paint over it so that water doesn't get in the wood. After each time you skim, look over your board and see if there is any place water could get in and then paint over it for the next time. I've had plenty of boards without fiberglass last quite a while by doing just that.

Some of the disadvantages of fiberglass is that it is really hard to work with.  Mixing the resin just right can be kind of tricky.  Then you only have a limited amount of time to work with it.

Another problem is that most of the resins that you get at your local stores are not finishing resins so they remain tacky after they harden which makes them a real pain to try to sand.

If you have not used fiberglass and resins before, I would suggest you first make a board without the fiberglass so you can get out there skimming, then try your hand at a fiberglass board later.  If your not going to fiberglass your board skip to painting. If you are going to fiberglass your board here's what you'll need.

• Fiberglass cloth. I've been able to get 2x4 foot pieces.
• Fiberglass resin. A 32 oz can is about £7.00.
• Something disposable to mix the resin in.
• Something disposable to mix the resin with.
• A spreader or disposable brush.
• Razor blade, knife or scissors.

I usually only put fiberglass on the bottom of my boards as that is the side that takes the most abuse. 
Lay the fiberglass cloth over the board so that it completely covers it. You can trim it up a bit now with scissors if you want or you can wait until later, it doesn't matter.

Get your spreader or brush ready because remember you will only have a limited amount of time to work with the resin.  Read the instruction on the resin can carefully and completely.  Also read the warnings and safety precautions.  I would suggest the use of at least safety glasses and maybe some sort of disposable gloves.  The catalyst is usually the most dangerous and you don't want to get any squirted in your eye.

Measure out the amount of resin you want. Usually to saturate the cloth completely on the first coat I use between 6-8 oz.  To measure out my resin I find a disposable container/cup and fill it with 6 oz of water.  Then I make a mark at the water level.  Then empty it and dry it out.  Now I have a mark so I can measure out exactly the right amount of resin.  Get a stick or something to mix the resin with, then add the catalyst.  Follow the instruction on the resin can as to how much catalyst to add. (Many times it will tell you so many drops per oz.)  Then mix.  It is important to make sure the catalyst and resin is mixed well.  I stir for at least a minute, maybe more.  Once you're through mixing, pour it all out over the board.

You don't want to keep the resin in the container because it will harden up quicker.  The more you spread it out, the longer you'll have to work with it.  Start spreading it all over the board making sure the cloth is saturated with resin everywhere.  Try to work fast because once it starts to harden there is no more working with it.  I've ended up with big clumps of resin on my boards that has set up before I had time to get it all spread out and there's nothing you can do but sand, cut and chip it off and start over.

Once you get your first coat on, you can put on additional coats until you can no longer feel the texture of the cloth and you have a smooth surface.  Getting a smooth surface is where it gets difficult.  It seems that the thicker (4 oz and up as opposed to thin 1 or 2 oz coats) you put on the additional coats, the smoother it is and the easier it is to sand. The thin coats seem to be more tacky.  Sanding is not easy, because the fiberglass gums up the sandpaper.  I would suggest wet sanding the fiberglass.  You'll still go through a lot of sandpaper, but probably not quite as much.

Use a razor blade or knife to cut the excess cloth around the edges of your board and then sand this smooth. I have never been impressed with the clarity of the resins that I've bought at the local stores, and I always have had to sand my resins to get it real smooth, so I've always painted over the resin rather than putting the paint under the resin. But it can be done that way to if you have a good clear resin to work with.

Your board should now be ready to paint. There are two main kinds of paint, oil base paint and water base (latex) paint. For my boards I like to use a polyurathane enamel. It will make your board smooth and fast and give it a good waterproof coat.

You can usually pick up a 32 oz can for between £4-£6 and it should be enough to do a few boards. Put on 3 or 4 coats.

Once you have your board covered with the polyurathane paint you can now put any design you want on it.  Sometimes I use latex paints to put the designs on my boards because they are really easy to clean up, just use water, but the oil base paints seem to be a little more durable.

Once you let the paint dry, get a little surf wax to put on the top and skim, skim, skim. Visit www.rcskim.com for this information. This information has therefore come from www.rcskim.com with the link being http://www.rcskim.com/makeaboard/How%20to%20build%20a%20skimboard.html.

 

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