www.boardsNwheels.gr - How to shape build a custom windsurf board

The "necessary" tools:

In reality almost no tool is absolutely necessary. However, with proper use, the following guarantee a good quality of the final result!

1. Ni-Chrome foam wire cutter
2. Vacuum pump
3. Scale
4. Pads (hard/medium/soft) is various sizes
5. Measuring tape and other measuring and designing instruments
6. Heating air pistol / hair dryer
7. Router or straight grinder
8. Hole cutting punch

Ni-Chrome foam wire cutter
This is one of the two most necessary and irreplaceable tools of an aspiring shaper. It consists of an improvised cutter and a transformer. The cutter is quite simple to construct on your own from wood, PVC tubes or other non-conductive materials. The transformer requires some knowledge of electronics to design and manufacture. They are sold at affordable prices.
Its functioning principle is simple. We stretch a wire Ni–Cr (chrome – nickel) and channel electric power of such amperage, so that it gives us enough temperature to cut the EPS (300°C).

Vacuum Pump
Also an irreplaceable tool.You can buy them but you can also find patents to quite easily make one on your own. Its use is accompanied by a large number of accessory components and disposables. A lot of time and trial and error is required to connect the roles and demands of all of these materials. But when they come to coexist, the view of a successful lamination is truly satisfying!

Scale
A simple electronic scale with gram accuracy is ok for the mixing of epoxy resins. If it has a range of up to eight or ten kilos, it will be useful for weighing the board during the construction process.

Sanding pads (hard/medium/soft)
You can buy them but they can easily be made with various patents at very low cost, while producing good results. By practicing sanding, you can see exactly what you need and with a little online research and imagination, you can create what you find yourself lacking…

Measuretape
Useful, mainly for the pattern creation but also during the construction of the board, as it can play the role of a long ruler.

Hot air pistol
It can be replaced by a hair dryer. The later could even prove to be more appropriate, since high pistol temperature could easily melt the EPS when curving the PVC on the deck.

Router or straight grinder
Useful for opening up concavities which will host the inserts. With a lot of patience, the same result can be reached with a simple cutting blade and a mini sanding pad.

Hole cutting punch
A rather unknown tool but very useful for punching the deck pads where the footstrap screws are meant to be.

Optional Tools

1. Air compressor
2. Metal ruler 2.5m+
3. Carpenter's angle
4. Profilometer
5. "Random orbital" or other rotary tool

Air compressor
It dusts off, it cleans, it removes, it paints, it inflates and the neighbours hate it.

Metal ruler 2.5m+
It works like a measuring tape but it is more stable.

Carpenter's angle
It helps when measuring and in creating right angles.

Profile gauge
Crazy tool! I couldn't believe it when I found it. It helps shape the rails.

"Random orbital" or other rotary tool
It accelerates most sandings with a smaller risk of causing damage in comparison to the drill or the angle grinder. Manual sanding though, offers a different kind of pleasure.

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