Photos Of Finished Board

Griptape

Lacquering Up The Board

EVEN More Artwork Photos

Rainbow Colours

Close Up Artwork Features

Term 4 Week 5

On Thursday, I began lacquering. I managed to complete the actual lacquering fairly quickly, but than was left to wait the rest of the period for it to dry. On Monday, I took down my board and observed the lacquer finish. it looked nice and glossy, and made the original graphic look 100x better. I then began the task of griptaping. I begun by hand-pressing the griptape down, but the finish didn't look too good because of the many air bubbles. To get them out I used a technique Big Sam taught me which involved using the rubber end of a file to press out the bubbles. I then filed the edges, so there was a clear line in which I was to cut with a craft knife. I cut the edges carefully, but there were still some places where my handiwork didn't look that good. After griptaping I had completely finished the practical side of DTM, and only have to finish my checklist to finish the course. Yesterday I also published my evaluation - design process, this took a while because there was soo much to write about. Today I'm blogging, adding photos and touching up the remaining items on my checklist. We dont have DTM on Thursday because today is the last day of term.

Evaluation – Design Process

This year in 11DTM our class is building longboards.

First we were to choose a shape and design for our deck. I drew several designs and made my decision from there. I decided on a small (69cm) board that was rounded at the top and flat at the back. I liked this design because it was simple, yet unique.

For my artwork I decided to have a contoured rainbow (branching from the top-left corner) on the bottom and a normal rainbow on the top. For the top artwork to be visible, I decided I wanted clear griptape. So my design was set.

We began small and built ½ scale mock-ups using old political billboards. I made mine to the above description (see paragraph one), and even had time to draw on the bottom artwork.

After the mock-ups, we began working on flax stringers. Commonly used in surfboards, a stringer is placed in the centre of the deck and is used to increase strength & durability.

Fibreglass is usually used in longboards, but as flax has similar properties to it, Terry decided to give our longboards a unique spin and use flax.

We spent all of Term 1 cutting the flax into thin strips, tying them together and flattening them for use in our ‘flax stringers’. After we all had completed them, we put them all up in the boiler room, to dry out.

Now that we had finished our stringers, we began on our moulds. My mould consisted of 8 pieces of 18mm MDF; One 70mm (long) piece to act as a base and the other 7 placed strategically on top. The purpose of the moulds was to create curvature, as we knew a longboard must have a curve running along both sides to enable the rider to ‘carve’ turns. I also wanted a kicktail, in order for the user to be able to ollie, so I incorporated this into my mould design.

While we were working on these, Terry brought the flax down, and we discovered it’d begun to rot up there. The strips were also severely curved, and NOT flat at all. So Terry realised we had to ditch the whole ‘flax stringer’ idea, and use fibreglass.

The moulds took almost* all of Term 2 to complete, but in the final weeks, we began laying down boards.

The board laying process took around a period to complete.

First we got an empty can and marked out 2 lines; 55mm & 66mm. Then we filled the can with epoxy (up to 55mm) and added hardener until 66mm. Then we stirred the two together. We then spread the mixture on a single piece of ply wood - We made sure we spread it evenly and everywhere, because if there were gaps, the board would become weak and prone to breakage. Next we laid down the single sheet of fibreglass (this was where the flax stringer WAS supposed to go…) and pressed down on it until it was firmly glued to the bottom ply. After that we spread more epoxy/hardener mixture on the top of the fibreglass. Next two people held the last piece of ply in the air while the other two spread the same mixture on the top. Then we flipped it (so epoxy was facing downwards) and put it onto the rest of the deck. We then (using 5 clamps) clamped down the newly made deck onto the mould – I put two on each side, and one on the nose.

At the beginning of Term 3 we took the boards out of their respective moulds, and began drawing our final shape to our preferred dimensions. I stuck with my original shape, and was pleased with the way it looked. I completed this task fairly easily, and Kenji, Sam & I were the first in the class to begin cutting out our shapes. I cut my shape out using the band-saw in the woodwork room, which was easy to use, and fairly precise. My board came out quite well, and I was impressed.

Now came the time-consuming task of sanding. I began with 120grade sandpaper (which was great for sanding down to the line), followed by 220 sandpaper (which was handy for getting the bumps out), followed by 400 sandpaper (which made the board feel smooth-to-the-touch) and finally finishing up with 1200 sandpaper (which made the board feel surreal).

The sanding was definitely time-consuming (taking up most of Term 3!), but I was pleased by the finish, when I’d finished. In the last week (or so) before the end of term, I began priming. We all had to use ‘Quick Dry acrylic primer undercoat’ (which was white) on our boards, so the other colours would show up.

After the first layer of primer, I realised I had to bog up some of the chips/holes on the edges of the board. I sanded the bog (and the rest of the board too) down completely before I did the second coat of primer.

I had finished priming, and now it was time to finally start on my base coat. I had originally chosen matte black for my base colour, but as that wasn’t available, used normal black. When Terry sprayed it, the paint came out all bumpy & blotchy; this was the opposite of what I had expected. It didn’t look too bad though and as Terry pointed out it ‘looked as if it’d been powder-coated’, which was pretty cool.

So now that I’d completed my base coat, it was time to begin on the artwork. I had previously chosen a contoured rainbow design, and stuck to it. Originally I was planning to use a stencil or vinyl, and spray on my design, but this wasn’t possible due to the limited time we had. I decided to hand-paint my artwork on and begun by drawing on my design with pencil.

I then chose my 7 rainbow colours; Red = Havoc, Orange = West Side, Yellow = Broom, Green = Japanese Laurel, Blue = Endeavour, Indigo = A mixture of Wet ‘N’ Wild & Christalle and finally Violet = Christalle. I put these directly on the board using some paintbrushes, Sam & I picked up from the Art Block. I found it hard to stay within the pencilled boundaries, so the paint-job didn’t look to flashy. I also had to go over some colours (especially Yellow) several times in order to stop the black base coming through.

I finished the painting, but figured out I didn’t have enough time to do the top artwork, which didn’t really bother me (as I didn’t know what to do on the top!) except I was stuck with clear griptape with no graphic to see through it (which really did look rather shabby).

I then lacquered the bottom of my board. I used lacquer because it protects my artwork from chips of scratches, improved the board’s overall strength and also made it look glossy (and much, much better!) The actual lacquering was fairly easy, but being sticky, it attracted dust and bristles which were unable to be extracted from the mix.

After the lacquer had hardened and strengthened up, I began the task of griptaping. Griptape is, in my opinion, essential to any longboard, and can change an ordinary plank of wood into a boarding masterpiece!). I began by simply hand-pressing the adhesive down onto the top of my board. Once it was completely on, the air bubbles were evident. I began (using the rubber end of a file) to press the air bubbles out, mimicking a technique I had learnt earlier from Big Sam. Then (using the same file) began filing away at the edges where the griptape overhung, all the way around the board. Then I used a craft knife to cut away the excess griptape, leaving me with my finished product.

Overall I am pleased with the work I have done this year, and this (hopefully!) is reflected on my finished board.

Evaluation - Problems Encountered

Our brief for 2009’s 11DTM class was; ‘Post a picture of you and your final design [skateboard] in a location in Wellington that is perfect for skating in/around.’ It seemed simple enough, but over the past year I’ve encountered many problems. It all began in Term 1, with our focus on flax…

Terry came up with this idea that we could make a flax stringer, and use it in the centre of the board in place of fibreglass. I was always skeptical of this idea, as I thought the flax wouldn’t increase the strength much. So we spent the majority of Term 1 cutting flax into thin strips, and tying them to together to make a flax stringer. We flattened them, and stuck them up in the boiler room to dry. However (later in Term 2) we discovered they had began rotting and Terry realized a flax stringer wouldn’t work UNLESS we’d stripped down the flax to its fibres (but that’d take more time than we had).

In Term 2 we began making our moulds. Even though Terry said we could only use 6 pieces of MDF (to sit upright), I had to use 7 in order to get the correct curvature (as I wanted both a kicktail and nose). I spent the most of the term sanding down the 7 pieces to the correct curvature. A week before I was to lay down my board, Terry told us to only use 4 pieces, meaning I had to remove 3 of my MDF pieces. I dismissed the idea and continued on with my 7 pieces. As we had a shortage of clamps, I only had 5 clamps, which I placed on the sides and front, but unfortunately NOT on the back, which resulted in a smaller kicktail.

In the first week of Term 3, I cut out the basic shape of my board, with no hassle. In the following weeks, I just sanded and sanded and sanded until it was soo ultra smooth it felt unreal. I painted a white primer over the whole board too.

I realized the excessive sanding was actually a waste of time in Term 4. In my head, I had planned for the board to have a smooth, fine finish, but when the black came out from the sprayer, it came out all blotchy and bumpy. The finish didn’t actually look that bad though; as Terry pointed out, it looked as if it had been powder-coated. I also pictured having a stencil or vinyl (or even masking tape!) to spray on my bottom artwork, but discovered I didn’t have enough time to create a stencil or vinyl, and masking tape wouldn’t work because of the wavy design. So I drew on the design with pencil and hand-painted on my design. The hand-painting would’ve looked really bad IF it the base had a fine finish but didn’t, because of the blotchy base coat, (giving it the ‘Handmade’ finish) that only a hand-painted graphic can produce. At the beginning of the year, I thought I'd paint both sides (Top & Bottom) with a different designs (and have clear griptape), but unfortunately, I ran out of time, and only got the bottom graphic done (and got stuck with clear griptape). I also encountered a problem when it came to applying the griptape to the board. The clear griptape came out with heaps of air bubbles which gave the impression that the griptape was poorly stuck down. However Big Sam came up with a solution which involved using the rubber end of a file to press the air bubbles out.

Even though I encountered many problems with this 'longboard' project, I overcame the majority of them and came out with a pretty awesome looking board. If I was to do this course again, I would change several things; 1. NOT make a flax stringer (which'll give a whole extra term, which could be used for the enhancement of my board). 2. Make the mould with STEEPER curves (which'll give the board more strength, and easier riding). 3. Use a CLEAN sprayer (which'll make the base finish smoother and better, in general). 4. Make a STENCIL for my artwork (which'll make the edges finer) 5. Use BLACK GRIPTAPE (So the griptape finish won't look all bumpy & blotchy). However I'm happy with my final product, and proud of my success.

More Artwork Photos

FLIK Clear Griptape - Original State

2nd Lot Of Photos

Bottom Artwork Beginnings

Term 4 Week 4

On Thursday last week, I finally began hand-painting my bottom graphic. Unfortunately the finish (or more importantly edges) didn't turn out that good, but it does give the 'hand-painted' view that only a shittly painted board can express. I only got one (of the seven) strips finished (Red) on the Thursday. I used the colour 'Havoc' which we had bought from Resene previously. On Friday Kenji, Sam & I went in after school and i finished 2 more strips (Orange - 'West Side' & Yellow - 'Broom'). The yellow didn't turn out that well, as the base black still showed through the paint. ON Monday I did all the remaining strips (Green - 'Japanese Laurel', Blue - 'Endeavour', Indigo - a mixture (made by Sam) of 'Wet & Wild' and Christalle & Violet - Christalle). I then went over all the colours again (and Yellow several times!). Today i'm blogging, posting new photos - basically doing the usual + attempting to complete my checklist. Tomorrow I'm lacquering my board, so it'll go real hard and glossy. Next week (IF there's a next week) I'll be touching up my board.

SolidWorks Final [Engineers Drawing]

Fibreglass Research Chop Strand Double Bias Roving

Chop Strand Mat is a general purpose reinforcement material. It is composed of chopped fiberglass of various lengths randomly dispersed to provide equal distribution in all directions, held together with a chemical binder. The end result is a material that creates good stiffness in products when used alone or in conjuction with other fiberglass fabrics. Chop Strand Mat is commonly used because of its low cost and the good bond provided between layers of Woven Roving or fiberglass cloth. It is also commonly used by itself for a wide variety of glassing applications where a thick, heavy, durable, coarse finish is required. Chop Strand Mat is usually categorized by weight per square foot.In most cases the materials are usually a Woven Material or Cloth for high tensile strength along with Chop Strand Mat to reduce labor cost.
The resulting DOUBLE BIAS product is extremely conformable with high strength offering fast wet out. Ideal for hand lay up molding, resin infusion, SRIM, RRIM, and SCRIMP processes. Compatible with polyester, Vinyl Ester, Epoxy, and Polyurethane resin systems. Great for fiberglassing stringers and bulk heads because it will lay down nicely. Heavy duty fiberglass reinforcement common in marine construction. Used where high strength and fast build-up are necessary.

Research Epoxy (R180/K180)

Modified, low viscosity epoxy resin. Used in conjunction with H180 for the construction of reinforced laminates in the Marine and Civil Engineering Industries. Low viscosity combined with fast cure makes this system ideal for sand filled mortars and grouts.
ES180 is a low viscosity epoxy system especially developed for the production of articles where thin film cure is of particular importance.

Yeah, this info was really hard to find...

Penciled Out Bottom Artwork

Term 4 Week 3

Last week on Thursday I decided to hand-paint my bottom artwork, because of the complex design. I drew my artwork (a contoured rainbowed) on my board with a pencil. It turned out pretty well (I think anyway) but I'll see in the next couple of weeks whether my hard work was put to good use. I'm a bit sceptical of the hand-painted technique, but since my board is bumpy anyway, it'll look more 'custom' and possibly cooler than my original impression. On Monday we missed our double-period due to the long weekend (which Sam, Kenji & I went snowboarding on). Today I'm Blogging, Adding photos, basically touching up on my checklist, which I only have just over a week to complete. I'll also begin my evaluation as it determines the difference between not acheived & excellence. On Thursday I'll actually begin my hand-painting as we only have two more periods to complete the artwork. So hopefully I finish my bottom tomorrow and then will have enough time to do the top side. Anyway I'm almost on track to complete my checklist and board. Just gotta try harder over the next couple of weeks.

First Coating Of Black Base