New Plywood Stick

The Busted Board's Interior

Finally!  After the interior structural failure of my last redwood longboard, I've gone back to the tried-and-true materials.  The redwood board was 9'5" and only 18 pounds, even with a double six ounce glass job.   Unfortunately, I used very thin wood ribs  and 5/32" skins and it seems the rib spacing was too far, as several cracked during a bottom turn.  Not the sound you want to hear when you step on the rail!  The board is still very pretty, but is only good for the wall now!

So I decided to replace my daily stick an 8-3 mini-malibu.  This is a super fun board with double channels, a single fin and a pretty domed deck.  After nearly 3 years of almost daily rides, it is starting to show much wear and tear.  A leak earlier this year, warped many of the bottom planks and it has a bit of a corrugated feel to it now.  Several fin repairs have made it pretty heavy too. 

So the new board is loosely based on the 8-3 dimensions and for simplicity and cost, I'm using 3/8 exterior ply for the frame and ribs and  a nice light 1/4 birch plywood for the skins.  It will have a flat deck and a flat bottom.  The rails are bead and cove milled in pine.  The rib and skin dimensions are about 1/32 more than I typically mill them to, but the extra thickness will make it very strong.  I'm not sure about the fin setup, but I'm thinking a quad might be a nice change from a single fin. 

My buddy Dave lent me his rocker table and here it is clamped down with the base blocking leveled and in place.  Thanks

Dave!



The ribs are getting glued onto the keel here.  It is upside down, but you can see that the deck will be flat.  It is much easier to glue up and will give a little more volume in the rails.