A lot more to come! - Dolazi puno toga!

I am busy with my new boards and other projects. Full time working too:)
But, patience, new ideas and practice is coming. Three boards for a start. I'm hoping for the real beauties!

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Radim punom parom na mojim daskama i drugim projektima. Uz to radim i puno radno vrijeme, naravno.

Dakle, strpljenja, dosta novih ideja dolazi. Tri daske za pocetak. Nadam se prekrasnim daskama!

For my new trip - Za moje iduce putovanje

I am treating myself with a new board for my next trip to Indo. This board might also act as a new template for my boards since I am slowly building the products base.
Can't wait to try it. It is the high wind board and will take my bigger hand made board with me too.
A little beauty!

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Malo sam se pocastio sa novom daskom za moje iduce putovanje u Indoneziju. Ova daska ce posluziti kao nova sablona i time polako sirim asortiman dasaka.

Jedva cekam da je probam. To je manja daska za jaci vjetar te cu ponijeti sa sobom i vecu, rukom izradjenu.

Prekrasna daska!

So, what's next? - Dakle, sto nakon ovog?

I think I've never posted this photos. Or I did on some other forums, blogs etc...

So, what is next? Improving the process and materials used for sure and having it as a hobby. Taking it to another level maybe? Maybe even that.

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Mislim da dosad nisam objavio ove slike. Ili mozda i jesam po nekim forumima, blogovima ili sl.

Dakle, sto je slijedece? Poboljsati proces izrade i materijale i nastojati uzivati u ovome hobiju. Ili pokustati nesto vise od toga? Mozda i to.

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You can probably guess what this background image is? :))

Vjerujem da mozete pogoditi sto je na slici u pozadini? :))

Or this one:

The beans spilled. This boards is well traveled:)

Enjoj.

Kite Boards SOLD - kite board daske PRODANE!

If you ever wondered what happened with my board(s), they are SOLD!

Yep, I am so proud and happy. It is a living proof that with limited tools you can create something beautiful, functional and useful for other people as well.

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Ako ste se ikada pitali sto se desilo sa mojim daskama - PRODANO!

Da, prodano je davno i druge su vec u izradi. Vrlo sam ponosan i zadovoljan. Ovo je dokaz da sa nesto malo alata mozete izraditi nesto predivno, funkcionalno i korisno za druge ljude takodjer.

Kako je netko rekao - marka je rodjena i zove se Shinai.

Thank you whoever purchased it in the shop! Enjoj!

Board opening - Otvaranje daske

My birthday board - moja rodjendanska daska

Today I've decided to glue the top sheet to the bamboo core. The top sheet is as before carbon fiber plus closed cell foam. It is very light and strong. Why I'm doing this? Well, somehow the rocker and concave must me built and for me this is the most elegant solution.

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Danas sam odlucio zalijepiti gornji sloj daske na bambus. Gornji je sloj kao i prije napravljen od carbon fiber tkanine i plastike sa zatvorenim zracnim komorama. Vrlo lagan i cvrst materijal. Zasto uopce radim ovako? Pa nekako se mora napraviti rocker tj. zakrivljenost i concava daske i meni je ovo najlakse rjesenje.

 

I've left the perforated plastic on top of carbon top sheet. This way I can easily position the top sheet on the core and trace the outline with the black marker. Otherwise, how would I position the top sheet on exact place? This is very delicate operation and need to improve it somehow.

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Kao sto se vidi, ostavio sam perforiranu foliju na gornjem sloju. To mi sluzi da pozicioniram gornji sloj na bambus i oznacim markerom poziciju na foliji. Inace kako bih postavio gornji sloj na tocno mjesto? Ovo je vrlo osjetljiv rad i moram naci neko jednostavnije rjesenje. 

Fiberglass on top of the bamboo core. 

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Ne zaboravimo fiberglass.

Under the vacuum. I think I've used around 62ml epoxy. Proved vacuum table, all good. Rocker 1/3 board length and concave hopefully 4-5mm.

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Sve pod vakumom. Utrosio sam oko 62ml epoxyja. Isproban vacumski stol, sve super. Rocker 1/3 dozine daske, concava nadam se oko 4-5mm.

For my birthday today, and around 40C outside, not bad for an old man:)

All the best in 2013!

Your

downunder

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Za moj rodjendan danas i 40C napolju, nije lose za starog klipana:) Sve najbolje u 2013 godini!

Vas

downunder

Bamboo board with a twist - Bambus daska sa zapletom

The new board is finished!
And in my humble opinion this is the first bamboo kite board in the world of this kind. Why?  Because it's got a twist!
On this board you can TURN the footpads like on a snowboard! And that is enabled with adding only one screw insert per footpad.
And, on this board you can move the fins to different position to enjoy a ride even more!

To conclude, this is my best work up to now. And will just get better!

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Nova daska je gotova!
Moje skromno misljenje govori da je ova daska prva bambus daska na svijetu ove vrste! Zasto? Zato sto sam izmislio zaplet!
Na ovoj dasci mozete OKRENUTI vazove na obje strane kao na snowboardu! I to sam omogucio dodavsi samo jedan vijak po vezu.
Takodjer, na ovoj dasci mozete pomaknuti perajice na drugu poziciju za jos bolji uzitak voznje!

Uglavnom, ovo je moj najbolji uradak do sada. A zapravo, bit ce jos bolje!

Thanks to my brother in law who got the Carbon for me! Without you this would not exist! Hvala mome sogoru koji mi je nabavio karbon platno i bez kojeg ova daska ne bi postojala!

Bali, Indonesia, welcomes Shinai:)

Weather in Perth wasn't so good to test my board. So made an escape to Bali. And what a board this is!
Notice, I even made all fins of chopping board! Yes, kitchen board we all use...Took me two hours to make it.
And finally, today I've ridden it. Review soon...

Shinai is born - Shinai je rođen

On left is Shinai, my new kite board!  On right my 2011 build (no name:)

By suggestion from kiting community, and being a bamboo board, hence Shinai ((竹刀) - is a weapon used for practice and competition representing a Japanese sword.

Weight before accessories 2545 grams, 137x40.5cm, concave 3mm, rocker about 3cm (straight 1/3).

And now for my next project, I'll make some fins for my board...

Kite board rails and varnish - Rub daske za kajtanje i lak

As I've left some bamboo ply all around kite board rails, now is a time to cut it and make rails. Huh, that was a tough job!
Since my board was glassed on both sides, it's very hard to cut fiberglass, even harder with a hand saw! Decided to finally buy a jig saw, but even with that was not easy to cut.
The problem is, glass is an insulator and the metal blades tend to overheat quickly and than metal just melts. Spent a few good blades for this...
Anyway, finally the board is cut. Now I need to sand out bamboo excess and finally got myself another machine to work with, a belt sander. Made this setup which worked perfectly:

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Kako sam ostavio nesto bambusa oko rubova daske, sada je vrijeme da dasku ispilim na mjeru i napravim rubove. No to nije bio lak posao!
Kako je f. staklo na obje strane, vrlo ga je tesko rezati, jos i teze sa rucnom pilom!
Konacno se odlucih kupiti ubodnu pilu, no ni s time nije bilo nista lakse.
Problem je sto je f. staklo izolator i metalni noz ubodne pile se brzo ugrije i nakon toga rastopi.
Potrosio sam cak nekoliko dobrih nozeva za ovo...
Konacno, daska je izrezana. Sada trebam pobrusiti rubove od viska bambusa i za to sam si kupio novu masinu, brusilica sa remenom. Napravih ovo i radi izvrsno:

One hour or so and was finished. Must remember to have a decent breathing mask, this is a fiberglass I'm sanding and it will be a nasty thing to breath!

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Nakon jednog sata bilo je gotovo. Zapamtimo koristiti dobru masku za disanje, jer brusiti fiberglass i udisati ga je nezgodna stvar!

Finally, it's coming to an end!
Now I just need to varnish the board and how long it takes to make a board, it might take even longer to varnish it!
However, this time I'll be doing both sides in one single run. And the above photo is showing how. I've placed 4 small clamps and will rest my board on it while varnishing the other side.
And, important thing, there is enough space to place a 100W light bulb under the board to generate some heat.
Than, I've placed a styrofoam on sides and top, covered with towels and left over night... Process repeated 5 times. That is 5! Would like a super shine board!

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Napokon, doslo je do kraja!
Vrijeme za lakiranje je skoro isto koliko treba da se napravi daska!
No ovaj puta lakirati cu obje strane od jednom. Na gornjoj slici se vidi kako. Stavih 4 male stege na koje cu okrenuti dasku i lakirati drugu stranu.
Zatim, staviti cu jednu zarulju od 100W ispod daske tako da ju grije. Mjesta ima dovoljno.
Nakon toga, sa malo stiropora daska ce biti kao u kutiji da se lak brze osusi preko noci...I citav proces ponoviti cu 5 puta, dakle 5 farbanja!

"Mega" kite board rocker - "Mega" od zakrivljenosti kite daske

After I got my kite board of the vac table, was quite surprised to find just a tiny board rocker. The bamboo spring back is much more than 30%, and wasn't expected this.

So what to do now? I could glue a second bamboo layer on top of it to get a decent rocker. But, it won't be a light weight board any more.

So, made an experiment and used a carbon - kevlar fiber fabric on top of bamboo strip to see how that will work.
And, I got some rocker.

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Nakon sto sam skinuo dasku sa vakumskog stola, iznenadilo me da je zakrivljenost (rocker) daske skoro nestala. Naime, kod bambusa je ocito povrat elasticnosti znatno vise od 30%, sto nisam ocekivao.

Dakle, sto sada napraviti? Mogao bih zalijepiti jos jedan sloj bambusa da dobijem pristojnu zakrivljenost. No tada daska nece vise biti lagana, vec znatno teza.

Onda sam za probu zalijepio carbon kevlar fiber platno na gornju stranu bambusa da vidim kako to radi.
I, dobih zakrivljenost.

 
To cut a kevlar fiber fabric is a real pain. You'll ruin a decent scissors in a second and fiber will be everywhere. And because I like to complicate things I want my carbon kevlar fiber on top on my board but not from rail to rail.
Than, I was thinking why not to semi cure some epoxy and than cut it? Immediately after, vacuum bag it.

Worked as a charm!

1) First I need a template for applying epoxy on carbon kevlar fabric.
2) Than applying just enough epoxy around a template.
3) One hour after I cut kevlar  with an extremely sharp knife around a template.
4) Done. Carbon kevlar fabric is now ready for my "mega" rocker vacuum jig - 10 cm! Used 50g 5:1 epoxy.

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Rezati carbon kevlar fiber platno nije lako. Cak i pristojne skare ce biti neupotrebljive nakon par sekundi rezanja i tkanina ce se razici po svuda. I naravno, zato sto ja volim komplicirati stvari, zelim da moje platno bude na gornjoj povrsini daske ali ne od ruba do ruba.
Onda sam dosao na ideju zasto ne bih upotrijebio epoksi i nakon nekog vremena probao rezati platno? I odmah nakon toga na vakum stol.

Radi odlicno!

1) Prvo mi treba sablona da nanesem epoksi na carbon kevlar platno.
2) Nakon toga nanesem malo epoxija oko sablone.
3) Nakoj jednog sata sa vrlo ostrim nozem izrezem platno oko sablone.
4) Gotovo. Carbon platno je sada spremno za moj vakumski stol i "mega" zakrivljenost- 10cm! Koristio 50 grama 5:1 epoksi.


1)

 2)

 3)

4)

And 10cm jig for the rocker is because I'm still expecting 50% and more spring back! And that might make just about a decent rocker of 4cm:) Will see tomorrow! Can't wait...

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Zakrivljenost od 10cm je radi toga sto ocekujem 50% povrat uslijed elasticnosti! Sto ce mozda ostvariti pristojnih 4cm rockera! Vidjeti cu sutra, jedva cekam...

Under the pump - Pod pritiskom

As promised (to myself:), today I laminated my bamboo kite board with a few layers of fiberglass. Used bi-ax 200g glass with 45 degrees layer in the middle overlapping the foot pads, two layers under the foot pads and one orthogonally layer for the whole board length. Used 180g (3:1 by volume or 3.5 by weight ), epoxy with the 403 West S. filler.
I was expecting to use much less epoxy however using a filler makes it more complicated to wet out. Will see when I'll glass the bottom with no filler how much epoxy will use.

Decided to use my new vacuum table which is efficient way to get the rocker. The concave is here as well, made with two 1mm balsa veneers and placed underneath. I think it was possible to place 20-30 cm wide fiberglass under at the same time to keep that concave in place. Maybe I will do that next time.

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Kako obecah samome sebi, danas sam lijepio moju bambus dasku sa nekoliko slojeva fiberglasa. Koristio sam dvo-osni 200g fiberglas pod 45 stupnjeva u sredini preklapajuci mjesto za vezove, zatim dva sloja na mjestu za vezove i kompletan sloj po duzini. Utrosio 180g (3:1 epoksi volumno ili 3.5 po tezini), epoksija sa 403 West S. mikro granulama. Mislio sam da cu trebati znatno manje epoksija no koristeci mikro granule dosta je tesko navlaziti tkaninu. Vidjeti cu koliko ce trebati za dno daske bez tih granula.

Odlucih se za novi vakumski stol i efikasnu zakrivljenost. Konkava ispod daske je takodjer tu, na nacin da stavih dva slojeva balsa furnira od 1mm ispod daske. Mislim da sam mogao istovremeno staviti 20-30cm siroki fiberglas ispod daske tako da se zakrivljenost konkave zadrzi, mozda drugi puta i uradim tako.

It will take a few days to cure this super clear epoxy....

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Trebati ce nekoliko dana da se ovaj specijalni super proziran epoksi osusi...