Foam Core Kiteboard

Learn to make your own foam core fiberglass kiteboard! This will provide you with a stylish lightweight ride at a fraction of the cost of commercial boards.

The price of boards seems to have skyrocketed here in Canada over the last season. Why buy what you can easily make? This is a great beginner fiberglass project that allows for tons of creativity and fun.

Step 1 Materials and Tools

Materials:
- 3/8 in 4ft x 4ft Core-cell or Dyvini-cell foam. $40 CAD
These can be found at marine supply stores and generally come in 4ft x 8ft sheets. Look for appropriately sized 'scraps' to save money. I found the core-cell to be extremely durable and resistant to dings while building.

- 3m x 1.5m of 6 ounce bidirectional fiberglass. $22 CAD
This should be enough to put 3 layers of glass on the top and bottom of the board.

- 30cm x 50cm uni-directional carbon fiber. $9 CAD
This will provide added support under the foot straps.

-1.25L of Marine Epoxy. $55CAD
West Systems 105 and 205 Resin and Hardener worked very well for me. The pumps made measuring the correct ratio of Resin to Hardener a breeze and allowed me to work with smaller amounts of epoxy at once.
-Glass micro bubbles. Commonly referred to as 'Micro'. These are mixed into the epoxy as filler and result in lighter weight. Use a mask so you don't inhale.

-Hardware $10 CAD
-Stainless threaded inserts for the foot straps and grab handle
-Stainless Screws for the foot straps, handle and fins.
-finishing washers for the fins

-Fins and Footstraps
This is where things can get expensive. Foot straps are easy to build. See some of the other great instructables for more information on making your own. I found old Dakine ones for 30$. One can probably get away without fins. Fiberglass kite fins sell for roughly $150 CAD, I found plastic ones for $50 CAD. There is also the possibility of shaping fins into the foam as you see on some wakeboards.

-Paint
A one or two part polyurethane should do the trick. Forget about spray paint.

Tools:
-Utility Knife
-Sandpaper
-Drill
-Scrap wood
-Old credit card type plastic card for spreading epoxy.
-Scissors
-Dremel

Comments

[carsony124]

In the glassing step do you put epoxy on foam, then put glass down, then more epoxy, then glass?

And is there a layer of epoxy on the last layer of glass?

[slattermatter]

or you could paint the foam with latex based spray paint or just latex based paint.

[arhodes18]

 awesome ible. faved +5

Im thinking of making the same thing only a skimboard version, any suggestions/tips? 

-thanks

[Rockout101]

Well done... Thanks for your knowledge!

[MegaMaker]

I'm guessing this would make an epic trampboard. Some things just like this that are made for trampboarding $99.99 and up.

[Waxhead]

Hi Waterfox, Great job. A couple of questions. What does the board end up weighing. Also could you use scrap pvc foam used for packing around fridges etc. It's freely available and can be cut with a hot wire. Comes in simlar widths and lengths. Also are the rails hard from one end to the other. Havent used a twin tip yet using a surfboard when kiting. They have hard rails at the end going to softer rails. Thanks for this Instructable, it is great.

[Waterfox51]

Hey Waxhead, To answer your questions: Before painting the board was relatively light compared to commercial boards, I've yet to weigh it but after painting it got a little heavier but it is still well within my desired performance margin. You can save even more weight by Vacuum bagging during the construction process but otherwise just use epoxy sparingly. As for using PVC foam, I've heard of people using it for twin tip boards but some did have problems with the boards breaking easier. Core cell is a little heavier and more expensive but both of those disadvantages would probably be offset by having to use more glass and epoxy to strengthen the pvc board. For the small difference in cost and the fantastic workability of Corecell i would recommend it. Also, i may be wrong but i think I've read cutting PVC with a hotwire produces very toxic gas. Go crazy on Styrene but please double check this for PVC before cutting it. The rails are pretty much hard from one end of the board to the other since you will be riding it regular and switch like a wakeboard. Happy kiting!

[John Smith]

I had no idea that you could do this at home. What about wakeboards? Could you do those at home?

[aplauche]

yes, wakeboards are VERY similar to kiteboards. the key difference is that they have more rocker and some have rails and other fancy stuff on the bottom, but depending on what type of wake board you want its very doable. one other thing to consider is the bindings. you might want to pruchase pre fitted female threads to sink into the foam core so you can switch out bindigs

[John Smith]

cool. i'm kind of bored with the paint job on mine so i think i might paint the top, what should I clear coat it with? some kind of epoxy?

[aplauche]

a good method for spraypainting boards is to put one layer of fiberglass on then spray paint on it, and then cover that layer with another thin coat of fiberglass to keep the paint from coming off the board. make sure no paint goes to the foam though, or you'll be in trouble

[aplauche]

great intructable! ive been snowkiting and landboarding because i dont have the money for a kiteboard right now, this will definitely help!

[xcookiexmunchxmonsterx]

awsome. do you think id be able to use this tenuche ( forget my spelling ) to make a wakeboard?

[Waterfox51]

Yes you could! I'm considering it myself. You'll find wakeboards have more features of the bottom of the board, built in fins and rails which may be a challenge. Just use more glass to make it stronger for those big jumps and increase the rocker.

[Rahdzhillaxxx]

once you get to where you are going how do you get back? wait for the wind direction to change? Looks like a blast for some small kayaking type of boat too.

[Waterfox51]

Kiteboarding is just like sailing. You can sail pretty much anywhere you want however the you cannot point directly upwind. You basically zigzag upwind to get to where you want to go.

[ewilhelm]

Excellent work! Where is the picture in step 11 from?

[Waterfox51]

Thanks man. That picture was from kiting up on Lake Rousseau last weekend. Its near Bracebridge Ontario. I hope to do most of my kiting on Lake Ontario in front of Kingston and on Cherry Beach in Toronto.

[ewilhelm]

I learned to kite in Boston. During the summer, do you have to hold out for low pressure systems to bring awesome SW wind, or are there other factors you look for?

[Waterfox51]

It is in fact the South West wind we pray for in all three of the locations I mentioned. I hear Kingston's wind system is almost completely due to thermals and cannot be forecast very accurately. This agrees with the fact that I've been owned the last few times i've been up there in a light aircraft on a clear day. After last summer of windsurfing there I would say we get about 2-3 days a week of good wind in mid summer and 4+days in September. Its a pretty sweet spot for all wind sports and kiting is really starting to catch on.

[Ginger Magnus]

Im sure these steps could be used to manufacture any style board. Here in West Texas we have a bunch of sand dunes and board there. Im thinking Ill make a sand board and kite for here. Lots of wind = Lots of fun!