The deck of my Grain Surfboards Waterlog surfboard was installed today.  Here is how the bottom and frames looked right before installation.    Here is another closeup of how I dealt with the ends of the lands. Not really by-the-book, but I think it worked out well.  I am not using the glue that Grain sent me as I have a lot of WEST System epoxy sitting around. Plus, epoxy has a very long setup time so I could take all time I needed.  I started by using a roller and a very thin nap designed for epoxy, and rolled on unthickened epoxy everywhere the two surfaces would meet: All around the perimeter of the deck and board, and over the frames, and under the deck where the frames would meet. Everything that would touch got a thin coat of epoxy to wet it out.  Then I used thickened epoxy on the perimeter and the tops of the frames on the board (not on the deck). Then the deck was set on top of the board and centered very carefully. I started clamping at the back ...

 Since my last post I've made a lot of progress.   I've completed the rails and the landing strips.  Here is the chine log being epoxied in. By the way, I'm using epoxy for much of this. I ended up using Titebond III for most of the rails because they didn't have a lot of force on them and I could get them clamped down quickly (Titebond III sets quickly). But for anything that has any stress on it, I'm using WEST System epoxy that I have left over.   The nose strips had to be steamed. Read the manual for how to do this. It works well enough.  For the landing strips (the 'lands'), I'm doing the "alternative" method that is shown in one of Grain's tutorial videos . I'm running the outside one out the ends. It worked out well and I'd definitely recommend you do it instead of the convoluted approach they say in their manual.  I would expect that at some point in the future that they make this the primary way to do it and change their m...

I'm making a surfboard!  No, I don't actually surf. At least not yet. But we go to Hawaii a lot and a guy has to have a board, right? I didn't kayak either until I built my first Pygmy Coho over 25 years ago. Now I love kayaking. Hopefully the same thing will happen with the surfboard.  The board is a kit from Grain Surfboards . I chose the Waterlog in the 10' version.  I'm super tall and heavy and probably should have selected one of their larger boards, but this is the largest board they have that both Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will let my check (They have a 10' 5" limit).  I didn't get any pics of the kit box, but it's just a long (10' plus) cardboard mashup box with sticks in it. The epoxy kit comes separately.  I also bought the "rocker table" that is CNC cut to precisely curve the board as you build it. I highly recommend buying a rocker table if you build one.        The kit comes with white cedar planks that you g...