Building my first Paipo

[ClanB]

I have used "fish/swallow/stinger" whatever tails for about 2 years with no problems.I have used it more than any other tail design. I like them a lot. However I am making my next board a tombstone type with a wide square tail just cuz. I have gone from almost 23" wide boards to 20" and the next will be 18". All around 47" to 48" in length. Seems I get more control on steep waves the narrower I go. Its all fun to try stuff out. Everyone here has helped me a lot. I still suck at getting my boards sealed well and was thinking of getting the next one glassed.

[mwallace]

Thanks for all the awesome info everyone! I've resawn my cedar and I figure I'll make 2 over the winter. Since the boards will be less than 1" thick anyways, i thought i may as well cut down on the waste by resawing the lumber. I'm going to try sealing one with Tung oil and the other with a waterproof spar varnish. I'll keep both designs simple and go from there. This is going to be a lot of fun. I'll start posting some photos in the next week or so.

[mrmike]

minwax works on paulownia I would rub the board dowm with mineral spirts before you start

[Nels]

I never saw the point in a fish/swallowtail paipo since my lower half is still hanging off the back. I figured less drag is better so left it off prone boards. I did do a very slight diamond tail on my first wood mini-paipo (Cubit in Poobah terms). Meh. Maybe a very slight swallowtail? Straight across is probably my preference now, but it's all fun to play with.

Min-wax Polyurethane has been great for my paipos and handboards. Easy access, easy application, easy clean up, good durability. Only "complaint" is a bit of yellowing when done over art. My old 1/4" birch ply "Alien Gonzalez" paipo has needed some reapplication along the bottom edges but that's it. And that's probably from poor storage and handling

[bgreen]

I've tung oiled four boards and used a linseed/turps brew on another. Must say the spar varnish board I recently made (to fit Surffoils hydrofoil) looks really good. Even if the board is ordinary, the varnish makes it look great. These were all paulownia boards.

A layer of glass will stiffen the board and was the favoured finish in years gone by, especially on plywood boards. If you were surfing somewhere rocky, maybe it could be an idea, but for the weight, the oil or varnish finish would seem the go.

You don't need much nose lift on these boards but a little helps.

Regarding thin strips, there is a appendix to Bud Sclesca's paipo interview showing paipo made out of narrow strips of wood.

Do you ever surf the lakes? A mate of mine visited Canada in the 60s or 70s and while he lives in one of best areas for surf in Australia, he still talks about his lakes surfing trip. I was hoping to get some waves on Vancouver island next year but didn't realize it was so massive. 5 hours from the capital to Tofino.

Bob

[mwallace]

Thanks Bob! I'll try to lift the nose a bit. I'm sure I can hand plane that down. I'll probably try one board with oil and another with glass. I'm super excited to get going on these. I haven't surfed any lakes around here, I imagine your buddy meant the Great Lakes, the surf is supposed to be amazing in places.

If you're heading to Vancouver island, you'll have to make the trek to Tofino, it's amazing there. Make sure you pass through Cathedral grove, stop and enjoy the ancient Douglas fir trees. It's one of my favorite places on earth. Tofino is a whole other world, the water is cold, but the waves are brilliant!

Thanks again for your help!

Matt

[rodndtube]

I've tung oiled four boards and used a linseed/turps brew on another. Must say the spar varnish board I recently made (to fit Surffoils hydrofoil) looks really good. Even if the board is ordinary, the varnish makes it look great. These were all paulownia boards.

A layer of glass will stiffen the board and was the favoured finish in years gone by, especially on plywood boards. If you were surfing somewhere rocky, maybe it could be an idea, but for the weight, the oil or varnish finish would seem the go.

You don't need much nose lift on these boards but a little helps.

Regarding thin strips, there is a appendix to Bud Sclesca's paipo interview showing paipo made out of narrow strips of wood.

Do you ever surf the lakes? A mate of mine visited Canada in the 60s or 70s and while he lives in one of best areas for surf in Australia, he still talks about his lakes surfing trip. I was hoping to get some waves on Vancouver island next year but didn't realize it was so massive. 5 hours from the capital to Tofino.

Bob

Bob, if you are in Victoria you can drive out along the Strait and maybe get some surf. Watch for the right tides.

[bgreen]

Matt,

It doesn't need a lot of lift. 12-18" from the nose just plane off some thickness to a more tapered nose.

It was the great lakes. Thanks for the VI info.

Rod,

I'll get some more details. The 10 hour drive didn't sound too appealing especially as I wasn't going to take a board there. The North Cal leg was going to rely on the generosity of Robert. Maybe I should pack a mat.

Bob

[rodndtube]

The drive out along the Strait from Victoria is rather nice. Your wife should enjoy it. Nice park at the far end and you can hike down to some cool pocket coves.

[Poobah]

Without debating the merits and unmerits of nose kick, I think it's worth mentioning the methods. The scarf method involves gluing wood onto the very nose end of the deck, and then shaping the kick. You get kick and a nose handle. In some case the handle might be your bigger goal.

Then there' s boil bending for kick. There's an existing thread in the old forum that shows two different but similar jigs for the bending. Some people don't know there is an old forum/arcive that goes back to 2003. Maybe we neeed a sticky to get people to visit the home planet more often.

This one is bending 1x12 poplar:

http://rodndtube.com/paipo/forum/viewtopic.php?t=881

And here's an old post that shows one of Mr. Mike's cedar crescent tail boards with scarf nose and tiny tailblocks:

http://rodndtube.com/paipo/forum/viewtopic.php?t=919

[Poobah]

I also experimented with bending three boards at once, and then later glued the vertical joints after the wood dried for a couple of weeks. This worked with different woods. I put a 1x2 mahogany in between two pine 1x6's. You could go as wide, or use as many pieces as your bending jig will handle. There's lots of room for other folks to experiment here on a method that seems to be off the beaten path.

Mr. Mike was kind enough to help me glue up this board, and then it went into my backlog of blanks. So I don't have a finished board to show you. But here's a picture of it in the bending stage, long before it gets glued. Notice that only two of the clamps are doing the actual bend. The other clamps and boards are there just to keep it all together during the bend, and then the drying period (3 days?)

trilam.JPG (77.24 KiB) Viewed 4936 times

[Poobah]

As far as bending cedar, I've only messed with fence boards. And not that many. I had some trouble with cracking at the far end during the drying process. Usually about an inch. At worst two inches in from the end. I had similar problems with redwood. Maybe it's a softwood problem. It could also be a problem with the number of days I presoak before the big boil. It might be worth the effort to slop some hot paraffin wax on the end grain right after you do the bend. I don't know if that will help. It's untested mad scientist advice.

[scrapster]

Hi Matt,

Good to hear of another paipo rider on Cape Cod. Maybe we can meet up next summer. There are one or two older regulars that I've found riding either Coast Guard or Nauset Light beaches--though they're not super sociable. They also insist that they're on alaias and look at me strangely when I say I'm on a paipo

[mwallace]

It's been a while since i've posted, but our trip to the coast is coming up and i figured, i'd upload some photos of my progress. All three boards are ready to be oiled. This is my first time building Paipos, but i'm sure i'll be doing it again. I have no idea how they'll ride, but it's been a lot of fun! The first set of photos are of the wood i was selecting for the three boards. The wood came from a barn that i dismantled, that dated back to the 1840's.

[mwallace]

Here are some more progress shots. The boards were all hand shaped. I carved out the concave with a pull shave and my block plane. I didn't bend the nose, but i've shaped it back about 8-10" from the tip.

[mwallace]

And the last set of photos. I'm lucky to have a friend who has a laser, so i designed a logo and had him etch the three boards. I've hand sanded them up to 400 and will be oiling them all with linseed oil. The last photo is me with my board and my 65 VW. I can't wait to see these babies in the water.

[krusher74]

laseretch ooks awesome!!! , nice boards

bahama bue 65 bug?

[mwallace]

Thanks! My buddy has a laser and etches tags for most of my furniture, we were able to hack his machine in order to get the boards in. I love the etching.

Yep, 65, Bahama blue!