Surfboard - Thruster with glass-on fins

thingiverse

Full-size surfboard designs are possible with rideable models now. The three-dimensionally printed part replaces traditional foam cores in these boards. However, fiberglass lamination is still required for a durable build. Check out meshelldrake's cardboard design at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4764 and http://www.sheldrake.net/cardboards/. The full-size surfboard here measures 6 feet 2 inches in length and 20 inches in width, with an impressive thickness of 2 and five-eighths inches. Initially weighing around 6 pounds, after fiberglassing, it tips the scales at a whopping 10 pounds. A tad heavy for most users, probably due to excessive fiberglass usage. I experimented with 3.5 kilograms of filament for this project while incorporating some practice glassing sessions with spare parts on hand. Just last year during a morning breakfast session with my son, we stumbled upon a remarkable idea - why not build our own surfboard using the 3D printer? I opted to upgrade my 6"x6" Solidoodle 3D printer into a custom model featuring a heated bed that measured 12 inches square, thus reducing the amount of prints required. The surfboard's STL was designed with BoardCAD (check it out at http://boardcad.com for more details), and I documented our experience in depth on my website: http://hobbies.boguerat.com/3d-printed-surfboard/. A notable update includes a high-resolution image showcasing the remarkable translucency of the printed material. After getting the board wet, it demonstrated impressive buoyancy with only a few minor mishaps - water entered through seven tiny gaps during a two-part leak pattern. Future enhancements are being planned to seal off these weak points and restore water tightness. Later on, I took this incredible creation for another ride out in the ocean, but the results exceeded my expectations as the surfboard remained sturdy with nary an issue in terms of its laminated construction, though some minor dents appeared due to close calls. To improve my next project - a larger tri or swallowtail board suitable for me, I've got work cut out to achieve just that! Additional improvements and modifications were implemented after continued usage which has yielded outstanding results overall despite initial hiccups along the way! For the uninitiated here are some handy details: the original 6.5 x 6" bed was upgraded using 3x the volume on an extruder at its core! Also used custom printed STL slices using three layers with Gcode as it needed much stronger printing material. More comprehensive tutorials can be accessed via these two webpages: Instructions for recreating a board exactly as it appears here are fully described online at: http://hobbies.boguerat.com/3d-printed-surfboard/. I designed this board by rescaling the default Shortboard template from BoardCAD to fit larger dimensions that make it feasible to handle and use like real surfboards, however it needed additional tweaking so SolidWorks helped me drill out a precise circle at just 0.8 of an inch diameter, but with the actual full STL model not slicing properly, the file had to undergo another editing session using Netfabb before slicing successfully for further assembly via RepetierHost. Final assembly calls for some glue (Acrylic Solvent cement), glass reinforcement on its frame according to standard processes applied also at cardboard surfing's mesheldrake technique, that has given surprisingly smooth ride.