My Custom SUP project

So yes, I am a kayaker by heart, and that will not change, but Stand Up Paddling is a great way to check out some beautiful places and spend some quality time with your girlfriend.

For Christmas this year I gave my girlfriend a leash, fin, fin box, and paddle with the promise to build her a custom SUP for her very own. At worst, I will be able to use this as a practice if I make one for myself. With a ton of help from Mike Horton and Nate Longton of UP Custom Surfboards, it is finally taking shape.

As a college student this SUP will be built on a budget. For blanks I am using 3 pieces laminated together of DOW polystyrene purchased at the local hardware store. We bent the rocker into the tip and tail during the lamination process. The major problem laminating 3 blanks like this is having areas that the glue does not cover, and even 3 weeks later I am still finding spots that haven’t dried. Possibly it has to do with our glue mixture of Foam calk and wood glue.

The stringer is a 3/4 inch piece of Pine. We used a power planner to take the stringer down to the deck and hull.

Yesterday, I finally got to cutting. The first cut was the most stressful. We used a jig saw to cut out the original template.

Next I used the power planner to square off the edges.

Then I got to shaping down the deck to the rails. The belt sander worked better to take off lots of material but the power planer was much more controllable and precise.

Shaping the nose.

I finished with a piece of sand paper by hand.

I’ll continue to post with my progress so check back. The final board should be 11.5′ and 32” wide. This is my first time at this so it’ll be my learning experiences coming out to hopefully help yours. Don’t be afraid to get dirty and try it yourself.

Till next time,
Ross

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