Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Rocker Stick - Template

With the hotwire template now finished, it was time to transfer the rocker to this 1 x 10 and make my rocker stick. The rocker stick is laid on the bottom of the board during vacuum bagging to verify the rocker is still true.

This must be done because the board will be shaped from 1 lb foam with no stringer. Therefore the blank will literally be a limp noodle. At times you feel like a dog chasing your tail trying to hold the rocker. You spend endless hours laying the rocker out to perfection on a piece of masonite. Then you cut the masonite to create the hotwire guide. You hotwire the blank as clean and perfect as possible, then the blank flops around like a noodle.

When it comes time to laminate (glass it) the weight of the epoxy alone bends the blank. Due to the length, it takes 3 adjustable height shaping stands to bend the blank back into the correct rocker during lamination. This is when that rocker stick get used.



2 comments:

Victor Velasco said...

Looking forward to your project!!!!

Have you thought about any sandwich techniques (wood veneer or divynicell)?

I have been paddling my Naish 14 - I paid $2200 for it back in California. I'll be interesting to see what your costs turn out to be.

Best of luck!
Vic

NC Paddle Surfer said...

I'm avoiding sandwich and wood to get it as light as possible. I'll just spend a little more on carbon.

I'm going to try the Nelson Factory method of bagging, wetting, filling, and painting.