Compsand Flexspoon

What works & what doesn't and in what type of conditions. Got a "secret" only you and your shaper know???? Post it here... we can keep it quiet ;-)

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polymath
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Compsand Flexspoon

Post by polymath »

Hi, new to the forum but have occasionally lurked for a good few years.

Glad to see it back up and running as well, last time I check it wasn't here!

Predominately a stand up surfer but I dabble in a bit of everything.

Kneeboarding has held my attention for a while, predominately from the way it has always pushed the boundaries of board design in ways that are not feasible in stand up boards.

Flexspoons have fascinated me since learning of their existence, I think it is the history associated with them and the challenges in building and surfing them.

I attempted a spoon build a few years back, making a mould and using pour foam. The pour foam degraded rapidly and setting and dsitorted the spoon and the build was a write off.

I made a decision last year to look for cleaner build methods as I wasn't happy with the chemicals and dust I was constantly exposed to. I found solace in producing compsand boards and thought it would be good to attempt another flexspoon under this method.

I hotwired out a 5' blank from eps150, rear 3' of rocker dead flat, 3" in the nose and used a combination of my existing templates to come up with an outline. widest point 21" at 3' up.

Bottom contours were planned as sort of edge spoony but with a chine rather than a raised edge.

Template was cut out 1/2" smaller all around except the tail.
spoon1.jpg
1\4" Western Red Cedar was then attached around the perimeter, again excluding the tail.
spoon2.jpg
Bottom contours was then shaped in.
spoon 2.5.jpg
polymath
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Re: Compsand Flexspoon

Post by polymath »

Bottom was then spackled with an epoxy sawdust mix, excluding the central area that will be removed (which I later found out was a mistake).

Bottom was laminated with 2 layers of 6oz E glass with a layer of quad axial carbon mesh in between, on top of this went a sheet of 0.6mm cherry veneer and it was all vacuumed down. I usually use Ash for my stand up boards but wanted to experiment.
spoon 3.jpg
Cherry didn't work great and rippled quite badly, I probably pulled a little too much vacuum as the un-spackled area became slightly depressed.

I sanded out the worst of the ripples and accepted the fact to bottom wouldn't be perfect.

Next I scooped out the excess foam and shaped the rails down. I also attached an balsa block to house the finbox.
spoon 4.jpg
Deck was lammed with a full later of 6oz E glass, 3/4 layer of 6oz twill carbon and 2 half layers of 4oz E glass. On top of this was a layer of 2mm corecork and placed under vacuum. First time using cork and now fully converted.
spoon 5.jpg
polymath
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Re: Compsand Flexspoon

Post by polymath »

The final 1/4" pf rail was built up with strips of cork offcuts and shaped in.

Some paint to hide the worst offending ripple sand throughs and sealed with clear acrylic.

Final weight 3kg.
spoon 6.jpg
spoon 7.jpg
I was a little worried that I hadn't used enough glass, given the usual schedule for glass spoon.

Test run was at Thurso East in Scotland.

Paddling is slow but catching waves wasn't too difficult.

The way it feels on the wave is so far removed from anything else I have experienced and it didn't flex itself into oblivion!

Needs some power in the wave to get going but thoroughly enjoyed it and will have it out as often as the condition allow.

Have another spoon build planned, this time just eps, carbon and cork.
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Scott
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Re: Compsand Flexspoon

Post by Scott »

That's the most unique wave of building a spoon I've ever heard of--amazing, Polymath. So the cord is added both for padding on the deck and to aid floatation? Unreal...

I've had a traditional spoon some years back that my brother gifted to me (that I then gifted back to him because it was such "an unusual" way of surfing. Yes, very slow paddling it around in the lineup, but it did catch waves okay and then really began to plane. But all the standard surfing moves were very different, such as the bottom turn, cutback, swoop off the top (don't even think about really whacking the lip), and keeping one's weight rather stationary in the center of board. It was all such a transition and a demanding reorienting of the "surf muscles."

I'm glad you're enjoying yours, as you should after putting in so much work! Hope you have many spectacular sessions on it.
I'm not influenced by the past; I change it!
ss54
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Re: Compsand Flexspoon

Post by ss54 »

Well done Compsand ,
I've been a spoon rider/ builder for about 46 years now, &
Over the years have slightly altered the build to make the whole experience easier considering my advanced years.
Firstly, I put more foam in the nose area . Really helps with paddling & getting into waves (I use dive fins) REALLY make a difference, but you're gotta be fit to last a 2-3 hour session. ...
Another suggestion, the fin box area on my boards are really reinforced , blending into a spine that goes about 400mm from the top of the finbox slot.tapered all the way from the box(tapering, both width & length).Starting with about 15 layers& sanding the taper in.I only use vacuumed 6oz S Fibreglass (30% stronger than E glass)
But is hard to source at times, for various reasons.
Just a few things to consider, as I note you're doing a new build. Any help I can offer, feel free to contact me .Luckily I live in the Margaret River area of Western Australia, & the water temperature is way more pleasant than Scotland (ps what is the water temperature average)
ATB.,& Congrats again with the build
Mick G
PS A pic of the fin & attachment method would be appreciated, Cheers
Flex-It's all about "how it feels"
polymath
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Re: Compsand Flexspoon

Post by polymath »

Hi Mick,

Thanks for the kind words.

Average water temp where I was in Scotland is ~8*C at that time of year. I live on the NE coast of England, temps get a good few degrees cooler than that in the winter.

Got some UDT's on the way I felt underpowered with the DaFins.

Next one is going to be a combination of carbon, innegra and cork. Only planning of 4 layers of carbon with an innegra layer then cork over the top, again over eps. Should be lighter & hopefully stiff enough. I'll post it up here when I get round to it.

Usually post stuff i'm making on instagram, which is linked up to my site below.

http://www.polymathsurfcraft.com/new-page/

Would love to see some of your spoons.
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AM_Glass
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Re: Compsand Flexspoon

Post by AM_Glass »

Check out what this guy is doing with sheet cork.
http://californiasurfcraft.com
I've done some test riding for him, and I've talked about making a knee flex spoon, but he knows the market is tiny for that.
The way he's getting stiffness is single ply layers of glass between layers of cork. Playing with the number of layers and distance between layers he's been able to creat various levels of flex. His production board retains a fair amount of flex, and good rebound. It's fun to ride!
It could be worse, I could be in Oakla-homa.
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