I think the biggest cost is when the board breaks in half and your $2000 foil sinks to the bottom.
For context, this happened to a guy who is in the board building industry, so I figured buying a purpose built foil board would suit me.
I often wonder where all the prototype boards & sails end up, surely one could be purchased at a good price?

dantren said..
I think the biggest cost is when the board breaks in half and your $2000 foil sinks to the bottom.
For context, this happened to a guy who is in the board building industry, so I figured buying a purpose built foil board would suit me.
I often wonder where all the prototype boards & sails end up, surely one could be purchased at a good price?

Those are in pro-riders sheds, or with their windsurfing relatives, local racing buddies etc.. I have multiple prototype boards lying around and we use them on testdays.

Also, there arent too many protypes world wide for every single board.
Some prototypes are also completely destroyed when you're done, for example when testing cutoutshapes, brands just screw blocks in there with the drill and cut parts of the board off with a quick laminate over it. We also really push the boards in terms of durability to make sure they're market ready. You dont want those boards.

For the end phase prototypes we're talking 2-3 boards of a single type worldwide at most.

If you have a fairly good idea of what you're doing when designing a board you also dont need 15 pre-end phase prototypes. 1 or 2 are often enough.

Paducah is it this one for Prototypes.

duzzi said..

col5555 said..
Just wondering for those who have built boards how much in materials would it be to build a foil board.
How much do those cnc companys charge to cut a blank or cut out profile rocker templates.

I am thinking to go back to the future and build, so here a rough estimate for the U.S., for a 200 cm board:
EPS core: $40
1 Gallon Laminating Epoxy: $120
4oz S-glass: $5/yard. By 5 layers x 2.5 yards/layer = 12.5 rounded it up to 13 yards = $75
Divinycell: $200
Pre made Tuttle Box: $100
Inserts: $40
Paint: $50
Gloves/tape/sand paper: $50

Total: $675

Plus the vacuum equipment ... another $300 at least.

If you forget the sandwich subtract $150 (no divynicell but more fiber layers). Add $100-$300 if you want a CNC shaped EPS (shipment an be expensive). Triple the cost of cloth if you use carbon.

Thanks Duzzi I think you have some good numbers here.

I found the Divinycell more expensive than that mostly due to shipping and case minimums. It is hard to get a couple of sheets. One solution is square cut foam or balsa because it can be shipped in rolled in tubes. The scores add weight though because they fill with glue better to use this on the flat bottoms.

Cork can be had cheap to because it can be rolled it is a bit heavier than foam but not too bad.

CNC cut blank can be as cheap as $160 but shipping is the killer. I bought from Greenlight and grouped an order with a friend; we got 6 blanks shipped for the price of one.

I had a porch roof built with panels made from aluminum and eps core. The guy that installed it will give away all the cut offs. The aluminum peels right off and the cut offs can be glued up to size. Then find a local CNC shop and you can be off to a low cost build.

I built my board in carbon and let's just say that now I never question why new carbon boards cost so much. My spreadsheet shows I spent around $1500 on materials I stil have some materials left. I already had a vacuum pump set up for doing nose repairs!

I think if you want build a board for the first time, gearing up with all the materials the budget would be 2k

Then if you built a second one it would be a additional 1k

So one board from scratch first time builder nothing in the garage 2k

If you can talk a mate into doing one at the same time $1500 each

The numbers don't stack up compared to buying a good used board, but if you get pleasure in riding your own design you should go for it

Good luck have fun