I Wish I had taken pictures!

Well I'm half way through my first home made surfboard! I didn't know I was going to do this blog so I didn't bother taking any pictures up till now.

I just bring you up to speed on what I have done so far.

So first of all I tried to go simple and just find a board to buy. Boy its hard to find big boards cheap. I have an old gun that I use to ride when I was in High School, but now I'm huh hum "bigger". Hence the name FAT DADDY. So the cheapest option I found was like $400.00 and then you had to add shipping to that !!! Wow thats a big investment for me anyway. So I started my quest, can a board be built for $100?

I started off by doing alot of reading and research! There are alot of people that build boards! Its actually alot easier than I thought it might be, but yet still difficult, if that makes any sense.

Most valuable info is on this site (some of the links for buying supplies are old though)
"How to Build Your First Surfboard"

So the question my wife always wants to know. Can it be done for the $100. The short answer .... No. The good news I'm not too far over budget at all :) So far I'm at about $125 and shouldn't go over $150 out the door.

I started searching for the foam core. There are tons of places that you can order from online. however they are usually around $150 plus Shipping $100. That takes a big chunk of the budget. So I ruled that out.

Plan Two - I went looking at Home Depot and Lowes. Home depot has the blue board that you see people using all over the net. The problem was that it was only 3/4" thick so I would have to make quite a thick sandwich. Lowes however had a White 2" thick polystyrene 4'x8' sheet for $24. I was so excited I just bought right there. I hadn't discussed it with Kim (my wife) yet that I was actually going to do this so I was nervous to bring it home. But IT was there and I was excited and wow a Foam Blank for $24 holy cow!

Lowes White Insulation

I also in the heat of the moment bought foam caulk / glue. That turned out to be not so good. I wish I had used the great stuff foam It would have made shaping easier.

So I stuffed my big foam sheet in the car and ran home, cut it in half and glued it together! Kim was a little disappointed when I came in all covered in white stuff, since I didn't tell her first. I do have to say she handled it quite well. I think that she realized how much it meant to me and didn't want to spoil my excitement.

I took the time to build the stands that Steve recommends, I highly agree with him they are a must!!!