Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Rail strips going into place!


So I've been working on the rails for the past week or so now, which is a bit time consuming because I have to cut each strip (1/4" thick and 3/8" wide), and then use my router to route each side of it into a bead and cove strip (see picture explaining this method here: http://afedbearisadeadbear.blogspot.com/2012/02/chine-strips-glued-into-place.html) . Above is the router in place, with featherboards to guide each strip accurately.

On one side of the strip I put a bead on it-basically a half circle

On the other side I put a cove into it - an indented half circle

Then I glue them in place, one at a time. Here is a pic of three of them stacked on top of each other. Each strip runs the length of the board and since there is the bead and cove routed into each strip, it fits right on top of the strip below it, and is ready for the next strip to fit right in on top of it. I just glue them in place, following the curve of each rail section, and it all blends together. Pretty pumped how easy it is to glue into place when I have routed the strip well.


Here is another pic of them clamped in place. This rail section is more towards the tail of the board, so you can see as the rail progresses up, it goes inward kinda harshly too. The picture above is the rail section towards the middle of the board, where the board is thicker, so the rail has a slower curve inward


Another pic, without clamps or tie-downs

And here's a pizza Mel made this weekend. Spinach, mushrooms, cheese and egg! Try it out!



Saturday, February 25, 2012

Portland


Our president's day weekend was spent in Portland, exploring our surrounding and hanging out with the best of company. Jessica went above and beyond, by being a brilliant tour guide. Our first day there we headed out to the coast towards Cannon Beach, the day was cloudy, rainy and windy and couldn't have been more perfect. The first stop was Ecola State Park, in which we found ourselves in the windiest conditions of our lives. The scenery was beautiful with dramatic cliffs looming over a turbulent ocean. The wind was so strong, that raindrops stung has they met our faces but the weather conditions positively added to the experience. We hiked around some in a lush wooded area, where I was blown away (pun) by the beautiful shades of greens. By the time the hike was over all, but our torsos were soaking wet. Then we were off to Cannon Beach in search for a hearty meal, and settle on Sweet Basil's. The warm soup was just what we need.
After lunch we drove up to Astoria, to see where the Columbia meets the ocean. It was a neat looking town and we stopped to get some coffee to prep for the drive home. The remainder on the day was spent grocery shopping, making dinner and relaxing for the evening.


The following day Jessica drops us off in the pearl district, where we checked out Powell's Book. Jessica had told us it was a huge bookstore but from the outside it looked pretty unimpressive, but looks are deceiving. It was huge and it's apparently the largest independent bookstore in the nation. We hung out there from a good while, getting lost among the many floors and color coated sections. Afterwards we checked out Deschutes which was participarting in Zwickelmania brewery tour. We got there a little early so we ordered a sampler, even though it was only eleven am. Then it was our turn to do the tour which was free and included a beer. Their brewing setup was cool and since we've been home brewing recently, we had a good understanding of the process. Then we were off the next brewery, Rogue, which was less impressive and we didn't get any free booze. Jessica meet us there and then we went off to Hopworks brewery, which was much larger than the previous two but by then I was pretty over the whole beer thing. I started too early and was ready for a nap but I soldiered on. After that we headed over to St. Johns neighborhood, to meet up with Jessica Collins. From there we went off too the By and By for some food and drinks before heading back to Jaylah's to rest up for a night more food, at Dove Vivi and dancing at Holocene in celebration of Jessica Collin bithday.

On Sunday we had brunch at Portabello's, which as quite unique and delicious. We were all pretty tired from the night before but we gathered up the energy to walked around Forest Park and I'm glad we did because it was quite pretty. Later that day more food was made and hangs outs occurred. (I'm clearly losing interest in writing) On Monday we went up to Mt. Hood for snowshoeing. We rented shoe on the way up for only $12 a day, pretty good deal. When we first arrived there were a good amount of people near the parking lot but once we got hiking we didn't spot another soul. It was breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful. On our way back we even came across an abandoned sled, so we took advantage up the opportunity and made our way down a hill. It was incredibly fun to be in snow. Once again thanks to Jessica Latus for showing us such a wonderful time.


For only a few days in Portland we sure did a lot.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

National Geographic slideshow of conservation photos

Pretty awesome to check out if you have a minute -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-power-of-the-picture/2012/02/18/gIQAgXHtPR_gallery.html#photo=23

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Chine strips glued into place

So I made some good progress this week. I have all the bottom skins glued in place now, and this week I glued in the chine strips on each side of the board. The chine strip fits into notches I cut in the bottom outside corners of each rib. It acts as sacrificial meat to be sanded away on the rails and still have some structural strength there internally. below are some pictures that probably display this better than I can describe.





These are cross sections of the rail, with the end of the rib showing. The top pic just shows bead and cove strips being used, whereas the bottom is just square rail strips being used. So the chine strip is glued into the notches. Then the rails of the surfboard are built up from the bottom up around the curve of each rib by gluing in 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch strips of wood that run the length of the board. Each strip is glued on top of the previous and follows the curve of each rib. Then since, you don't want squared off corners on the bottom of your surfboard, you sand away some of the wood to create a bottom curve (seen in the top photo) (these photos are from Tree 2 Sea, and I did not create them or this idea).



Chine strips being glued into place


Board trimmed up along the chine strips and looking good!

Here you can see how the chine strips define the outline of the board. The chine strips are thicker up towards the front of the board where the rails will be softer, or more curved on the underside, and I therefore needed more meat to sand away up in that area. I just built up the chine strip in layers up in those areas.


another view- the single concave in the tail can be seen here! psyched it worked out!

The underside of the board, roughly trimmed up




Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Mustache

Oh yea, I have a mustache right now. We'll see how long this lasts...I think I look like my dad...

Got a garage!


New garage, out back, pumped!

Here's the setup. Only a matter of time before it's cluttered...



Other view


She was already in there. Awesome

The board is looking good too!

Bike skateboard rack!

I made a skateboard bike rack the other week and its working out pretty well, after redoing it once already. Psyched on it!


I bent some 3/8" steel wire/bar I got into the shapes I wanted. This took some creative clamping and tool use, but it bent well once clamped. I first tried just attaching it all with JB weld, and it held for one ride, but after that I could see that some welds had already broken. So I took it apart, sanded off the weld junk, and redid it with welds and some thin steel wire twisted tightly around each weld, and then clipped the excess wire off. This is working well now and no rattling. Super pumped!


I feel like it looks like a shotgun on my bike, or some other badass looking thing

SF and Amtrak train

After the work stuff on Thursday and Friday I got to stay up on Berkeley and SF the rest of the weekend. It was an awesome weekend to say the least...

Building in Oakland
I rented a bike on Saturday by the Fisherman's Wharf and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge and up into a park area and a few little towns


I cut off onto some dirt roads. This was a struggle to come up


my hybrid cruiser

chillin up top
Then I rode down to the beach and took a quick nap


Pretty nice scenery down there


And nice barreling waves the hole time!


Sausalito, CA

Sausalito, CA

View from SF after I came back across the bridge


Surf spot under the bride. I've heard the current is pretty gnarly here, but I couldn't see the guys drifting around much



I boarded the train at Jack London Square in Oakland. They had a replica of a Jack London cabin he lived in in Alaska for a while.


Off on the open tracks

Here's the setup inside. As you can see it was pretty empty


Cheesin

I was in the last car, so I had this view from the back door
Hit some tunnels just north of San Luis Obispo. Artificial solar eclipses


This looks like an instagram type photo on the edge, but that was just the edge of the window frame looking blurry. fooled you


Again, not instagram. Coming around a cool bend


Had a good watercolor setup going for a while too


Then we hit the coast and it was awesome! Just south of San Luis Obispo is where we finally got out by the ocean

That splash is a humpback whale we saw jump twice! It was crazy!


Nice coastline


Again. The coast made the trip worth it for sure


Out the back end


Here's the sight-seeing car they had open to whoever