Great stuff. What do you use as the power supply for the hot wire?
Transformer from a hairdryer.
I put a 1k resistor onto the wire for my lab supply today stopped it going into current protection. I think cause the nichrome wire is on such a short small hotwire there is not enough resistance. Am in the process of prepping to build an extra big wing. all went pretty smooth so far.


also mocked up a full size template of a board to get a feel for it...still got to chop 6 inches length off it as per paceys suggestions. footstrap positions feel a bit wide might add more inserts than I originally planned on. picked up eps on the weekend...better order some supplies asap.

also mocked up a full size template of a board to get a feel for it...still got to chop 6 inches length off it as per paceys suggestions. footstrap positions feel a bit wide might add more inserts than I originally planned on. picked up eps on the weekend...better order some supplies asap.

Looks good. Extra points for the way you have balanced out the proportions of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow from your toner cartridge, very economical
I'm in total awe of you folks! Aside from the cost of time and effort, and clearly the stoke of building your own, do you save a lot of money doing this compared to buying something new from a shop?
Hi Brendan,
Its mostly for the fun of doing it (in my case anyway). Costs are lower than retail but then resale is zero compared to commercial product, though the finish on others boards on her looks fully pro. There is lots of good info on the web and people to help out with advice. I think planning is the key thing for me, once i mix the resin you are working to a bit of time constraint so organisation makes things run smooth(ish) and helps you to deal with things not quite going to plan. You don't need a lot of tools to get into it but having a good space to build in is the way to go.
Prob buying good cond secondhand is the most effective cost wise and keeps your life simple.
I like building over the winter down here in Tas cause i am usually out of the water for 3 months, it helps to keep me keen and thinking about getting back in when temps are a bit more enjoyable.
Hi Brendan,
Its mostly for the fun of doing it (in my case anyway). Costs are lower than retail but then resale is zero compared to commercial product, though the finish on others boards on her looks fully pro. There is lots of good info on the web and people to help out with advice. I think planning is the key thing for me, once i mix the resin you are working to a bit of time constraint so organisation makes things run smooth(ish) and helps you to deal with things not quite going to plan. You don't need a lot of tools to get into it but having a good space to build in is the way to go.
Prob buying good cond secondhand is the most effective cost wise and keeps your life simple.
I like building over the winter down here in Tas cause i am usually out of the water for 3 months, it helps to keep me keen and thinking about getting back in when temps are a bit more enjoyable.
thanks highvolume, makes sense - good luck, I think there's something really cool about building watercraft and I wish I had the time/space/skills to get into it.
I'm in total awe of you folks! Aside from the cost of time and effort, and clearly the stoke of building your own, do you save a lot of money doing this compared to buying something new from a shop?
You would overtime for sure... For the first few ones, certainly not. Set up cost can be quite dear unless you have access to essential tooling.
I started with building low volume strapless kitefoil boards which are a lot easier to make and also cheap.
Now onto building my first wing board and I can tell there is a lot more work going into it, especially when adding footstraps. I had to build tools and jigs, get a better router, extra long router bits, etc.... I now understand why wing boards can be a lot more expensive than prone foil boards.
The other advantage of building your own is that you can experiment ultra light builds. Most manufacturers won't offer these kind of builds as they are generally quite fragile and they don't want to deal with warranty claims.
The most valuable thing you'll get out of it is the ability to do your own (proper) repairs, including extraction and replacements of broken tracks which in most cases would otherwise end up in landfill.
Materials are not that expensive: $100 for foam, $160 for carbon, maybe $120 for good epoxy, $65 for 3mm divinycell for deck, 4oz glass is cheap, $60 for deck pad, plus 2 fin boxes, strap inserts, vent and leash plug, lots of sandpaper, gloves, masks, squeegees. So maybe $600 for a good strong carbon board. Which if you make it well, will be able to sell second hand for more than the cost of materials .
But setup can be costly, you need a good pump setup, and a pump failure can result in the board being scrapped, so it's worth getting a good one. You probably need some hot wiring gear, a good orbital sander, a router, shaping stands, a shop vacuum cleaner etc.
But if the setup is not prohibitive, building the board is not that hard, and you can get an outcome like this one we glassed a couple of days ago, 5.5 kg before the filler coat:

That board looks nice!
been thinking about cutting some concave in the deck, do you think it is worth the hassle? i was thinking off peeling 10mm off the deck cutting out the grip pad area and then gluing it back on the blank.
Has anyone got any good tips on wire to use in a hot wire, i am just using unwound guitar strings atm but sounds like stainless wire may be better.
That board looks nice!
been thinking about cutting some concave in the deck, do you think it is worth the hassle? i was thinking off peeling 10mm off the deck cutting out the grip pad area and then gluing it back on the blank.
Has anyone got any good tips on wire to use in a hot wire, i am just using unwound guitar strings atm but sounds like stainless wire may be better.
I have two boards with concave decks and don't see any advantages. I think both of them are worse for the volume they lose due to the concave. I prefer the predictability of a flat deck.
For hotwire I use 28 AWG Nichrome wire from Jaycar
Thanks ill scrap the concave deck, it was going to be more aesthetic than functional i think. I'll get out to Jaycar and get some proper wire, the other local electronics store was saying that vape stores carry nichrome wire as well... just in case you are stocking up on some vaping supplies and need some hotwire gear (dunno what gauge they have tho).
Faaaark that is Awesome ! Well done ,where did you get the deck grip from?
From YOB in Perth, they sell it by the metre. Made the heel wedge from a chunk of EVA I already had
Finished my board yesterday, still waiting for some wind to try it.




Top-shelf Andy ![]()
Reckon Neil will offer you a job ![]()
Thanks, also do you know how much it weighs ?
I think 7.25 kg before the pad went on. It's built to be bulletproof though
Finished my board yesterday, still waiting for some wind to try it.




Top-shelf Andy ![]()
Reckon Neil will offer you a job ![]()
Thanks JJ, but building boards is too much like hard work to be anything but a hobby!
Lacey, that looks genius,
what was your layup got this board?
13-15 kg/m3 foam EPS for the blank
one layer of 4Oz all over to seal the blank
Then 3mm divinycell on the deck
Followed by 280 gsm twill weave carbon together with another layer of 4oz glass, all vacuum bagged, for both deck and bottom.Then fill, sand and paint