That's the one! Hand shaped light-wind wing-foil board.

hand shaped light wind wing foil board.
light EPS core (17kg/m3)
200g carbon fiber / 100g glass fiber layup
epoxy
wood veneer sandwich

[@vince_ridge_foil]

That has to be the one board made with the most love I've seen on my life. Congratulations!

[@jordiort81]

You're an artist man!

[@moosebump99]

Amazing! I never really knew what went into the making of a board like this. I have a way higher appreciation for it now.

[@nidhisharma9842]

Incredible job Matty! You are absolutely brilliant.

[@WingsurfingMagazine]

Great video. Board looks amazing.

[@gindjensun]

Thank you so much for taking the effort to film and share your board build. There are a lot of useful tips in there and I am already using some of them while building my own board! Thanks again! ❤

[@dinwa276]

Great start to finish video. Your editing was perfect.

[@Andy_XT]

Amazing work. Congratulations!

[@jaherzog]

Amazing board and video!

[@sebastienpeyret2533]

So pro !!! A real pleasure to watch your video and job as you performed !!! thx a lot for share all tricks !!!

[@henriknordgren2432]

Oh my God! That shows how much time and skill it takes to make a board. Absolute loved to watch it and I have built boards as well but nothing at this level of detail. Thanks for posting

[@mawe6016]

Hi Mat, great skills and very nice result.

[@markusbroyles1884]

I've been making my own custom boards for 60 years or so ~ So nice to see the techniques and stages going into my upcoming projects before the moment happens. Got many foils made in the last few years too. Thanks so much for posting this... It will help a lot ~ Now to tool up ! ALOHA !

[@dr.i.kaiser]

I can not find any words! Congratulations!

[@grahamreed8443]

Thanks for sharing with the foiling community!!!

[@leewhogabrieli1609]

Looks amazing, good job 👏🏻 Also made it pretty light

[@jamalschott5547]

Thanks for sharing that process!

[@foilnautics808]

Great craftsmanship! Thank you for sharing your works! Gives great appreciation to the skill and effort in creating a board like this.

[@glynbritton9792]

Another amazing project 🤙🏼🫡👏

[@watermancallum]

Amazing work! I have built two foil boards myself and looking at building one of these light wind wing/ downwind sup boards soon so this video is very helpful and inspiring!

[@matshape]

Go for it, that style of board is great: use a smaller wing, starts early, very stable, and still feel like a small board with the tracks forward

[@studiofennec8778]

Amazing work. Congrats

[@blooskyy7]

Amazing build, thanks for sharing! And perfect timing for the light wind board build I'm busy working on.

[@matshape]

Good luck for your built, you’ll love it !

[@blooskyy7]

@@matshape thanks 👍🏻 you showed a few great tips which will really help the build

[@henrymahergmail]

That was fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you Mat for a great video.

[@waskaz]

You give me inspiration, thanks

[@gregstrickland9667]

Beautiful craftsmanship!

[@RomanovDK]

Spectacular!!! Well done

[@redwine1980a]

Woow…thx for sharing the process. Beautiful to watch Yours skills..❤

[@philipwalkenbach]

wow, amazing work!❤

[@jmp29]

What a pleasure to watch your videos ! passionate rigorous and incredible results. I' m so happy when I watch your video: I have great ideas after, always. So inspiring :-) Thanks so much to take the time to edit and share your great work.

[@wingcoachdavid]

Beautiful!

[@davidbeelen63]

Bravo. Nice work and dedication. Congrats

[@NamLe-sz9cj]

OMG! I can watch this over and over again!

[@sup-venture3653]

This is what Custom Made looks like, great work 😍🤙👍👌

[@ptj6412]

beautiful work!!

[@ericschweitzer2454]

I knew a lot of work went into these boards but I had no idea. Incredible

[@mariong4912]

What a beautiful Film….what a artwork…🙏🙏

[@victormoguersambruno7327]

Amazing work

[@00Munki]

Beautiful, great skill

[@gargamelgargamel2483]

Incroyable travail de précision ... Du grand art 👏👏👏

[@dw4861]

I love it when guys build boards in the kitchen

[@jandl743]

nice work! bravo

[@palhenriksen6156]

Nice board, and video! :)

[@matttcoburn]

brilliant edit too

[@rageboat1]

Good work as always 🤙🏻

[@sparky6612]

Just beautiful 👏👏👏

[@Dzjiefoils]

Great board. I love the way you use the tape as a guide for your hotwire. Never new this was possible i’m gonna try this next time!

[@Dzjiefoils]

Andd.. you should use a respirator while cutting carbon and fiberglas and working with epoxy. I also learned this because of some comments on my video, so I’m passing it on! Safety first!

[@matshape]

For once I finally started putting the respirator for a lot of the grinding, but not the cutting yet :)

[@matshape]

The tape works surprisingly well when it’s flat, I also tried for chimes where the tape was at 45 degrees to the wire, and it’s a bit less precise …

[@Dzjiefoils]

@@matshape thats a start! 👌

[@Dzjiefoils]

@@matshape nice!

[@philphil1308]

👍Congratulations !!

[@flymachine]

I’m in aeronautics, I’ve shaped tons of foam and done a million layups, I e always wanted to shape a custom board and a a few years ago designed a foil wing with aeroelastic junctions, improved twist and advanced profiles that I’ve still not seen anywhere else - I think I should give it the full go it deserves instead of watching others do it. Thanks for the inspiration

[@matshape]

go for it! the board is really not that hard and those new shapes are magic! and please publish a foil that is easy to make, fly easily with less drag and pump better :)

[@tinet20]

Amazing, super boulot👏👏

[@23lkjdfjsdlfj]

Whoa! Good job human !

[@OrtwinCyrus]

Excellent craftsmanship 👏👏👏

[@belovnino66]

Tigre! Svaka čast!

[@davidshlimak3902]

Fantastic build! Quick question - what thickness HD foam do you use for your boxes? And what boxes do you use?

[@matshape]

the HD foam is 25mm EasyCell75 Closed Cell PVC Foam from easy composites. and the boxes are cheap ones from aliexpress, the slot is 27cm long, and I prefer the type with flanges and the raised top that you can sand back to to avoid having to use a router to open them back after the carbon.

[@dirkgrobler2179]

Well done👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@laurentpastorelli1354]

splendid work

[@user-ye6bj1th9q]

Great video thanks a lot for sharing. How do you know where to place the foil mount on the board? So the foil is under the CG or is there some more magic to decide where it goes?

[@matshape]

Thanks. great question, now i based the position on measurement of previous boards that felt balanced, but i basically try to do the following: if you design the board in 3d software, you can get the CG... which will also be your center of buoyancy. When you're moving on the water before take off, you want your own CG a little behind the center of buoyancy (you can move with the tail underwater, but not the nose and how much is a little depends on preference, board length, volume... ). Knowing your prefered stance, that will give you an idea of where you back foot will land. Then, you need to know where your back foot is in relation to the foil mast (depends on the foil, prefered stance, riding style...). Then I just place the tracks so that the mast in my best guess position will be in the middle of the tracks. i hope this helps

[@norfolkfoiler6466]

Amazing build again. Can you share details of your hot wire cutter and source of parts. Thank you.

[@matshape]

it's pretty simple, I use 20AWG nickel wire, and a 30v/10A adjustable lab power supply, the frame is a few wood pieces and the opposite side of the cutting wire is a rope that I twist to put tension in the wire (like old wood saw). Wire is attached to some metal L-brackets and electric wires are connected there too. finally, I added a switch where one of my hand rests on the wood frame so that I can release it and stop a cut with the wire still in the foam. To find out the exact voltage needed, it starts from the current needed by the wire, and from there based on the length and ohm's law you find the needed voltage. There are good sites online (like hotwirefoamcutterinfo.com/Introduction.html ) to give you a starting point and from there fine adjustment with scrap pieces.

[@Vectorp47]

You are inhaling ALOT of styrene. Please use a filtration system!!! You do great work, but my god, that’s terrible for your health.

[@user-ld6eg6ff8e]

nice passionate job

[@stianmaurstad]

Omg. what a beauty. Such an inspiration and fun to watch. 🤙 How did you learn, and where do you source materials for such a build. Is there some kind of online forum one can join to learn from others? Thx.

[@matshape]

thanks, a lot of trial and error and KZbin videos, there's a surfboard building forum that full of good information: forum.swaylocks.com and a Facebook group : Board & Hydrofoil Building. For the material, it's a big mix: polystyrene and resin are found locally as it cost too much to get shipped from abroad, all the fibers, HD foam, fillers come from easy composite and the rails and various plugs from Aliexpress. but depending where you live, you can find shops online that have everything.

[@oskarhansson3744]

Very nice build! What type of tape is it that don’t melt when you hot wire? Thanks

[@matshape]

3m painter's tape, paper based by resist well the Hotwire .

[@user-wm8hn3ej5d]

Хорошо, когда знаешь, что делать, из чего делать и есть чем делать + руки не из жо...ы! Молодец! Респект!

[@grumpytex1970]

Not sure where you learnt to do that but bloody amazing talent! Pleasure to watch.

[@matshape]

Bunch of youtube, and trial and error... lot of errors :)

[@user-wm7be8rm8h]

Where did you get the traction pad material and style, was just what I was looking for. Thanks if possible.

[@matshape]

on aliexpress, those big sheets are perfect to cover a few boards.

[@sasha2007kaz]

heroistic job!!!

[@lanceburkhardt8265]

I'd love to learn how to shape one of these.

[@scubalukemaui1218]

I love it! question: at 4:22 - what are you using to route out the hull to deck join? I can not find any router bits long enough. I tried with a hand saw and its not straight enough :(

[@matshape]

it's a very long router bit I bought for my CNC, this one is 6mm by 150mm length, 100mm flute length , so even that one doesn't go completely through, but it give a good straight start that you can finish with a blade... be careful, it feel very dodgy though, you need to really hold the router or it will start wiggling and destroy your board. another solution can be a template on each sided and scroll saw shaped hot wire, it's probably safer :) below where I found the bit: (www.aliexpress.com/item/4001084716102.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.15.21ef1802IyP9dW)

[@nunomarty]

I was in fuerteventura in July 2023, 1 week before the PWA, unluckily we didn't met there. I was with family and couldn't try all the spots. Stayed near Waikiki, it has cheaper rental and for freeride recreation surfers is perfect. Next time I'll go with a group of windsurfers to Reni Egli. Full stop.

[@chrisurfeur5308]

Wonderfull !!!

[@maurofabianmariani8534]

Hello, congratulations on the work. What material do you use for the foil support base?

[@matshape]

thanks, I guess you mean the green plate? it's made of 25mm EasyCell75 Closed Cell PVC Foam

[@christopherai4066]

Thank you for sharing your work. I wish I could build boards by myself too! What in your opinion is the hardest part of building a board? I guess it is getting the board into the final form....is there another way doing it like having a machine doing it with you only stating the exact shape? And what is the math you are doing for ? A lot of questions, I know but I am just excited and inspired by your work! Thanx😊

[@matshape]

the trick is to never assume the next step will fix a defect.. it won't, so each step need to be as good as possible, but keeping in mind that exact symmetry is near impossible, if you keep chasing it, the board will end up much smaller. the most difficult is to be able to do the finition when all you want is to take it in the water :) For the machine, more and more shops offer CNCed blanks... I have another video where I made a CNC to make a board if you want, but in the end, I love the process of making the shape appear out of a square block. The math was to compute how much resin I needed to mix: as I don't want to move the fiber once it's cute to shape, I measure the weight before and subtract the pieces I remove. And then I mix around 1.2 time the fiber weight in resin, but for a first board, 1.5 or more is safer... :) Good luck!

[@christopherai4066]

@@matshape thanx a lot! Best wishes!!!

[@CaboVerdeSalKiteSurf]

Great work! Math is your friend.👌🏽😅

[@thomasmoyse3085]

Hey, well done. Where do you get your supplies (resin, airex..) from?

[@matshape]

the epoxy from a plant locally (it's sicomin surf clear evo), importing dangerous good is super expensive, for the polystyrene, it's from a local company too that can cut any size block of the density you want (I use 17kg/m3). And all the rest (carbon, glass, PU foam, vac supply...) from easy composite

[@sebastienmoisson5375]

Awesome job !!! Makes me want to try :) you dont do cutlap ?

[@matshape]

not unless it's 100% needed like for a surfboard with different colored laminations (with glass) bottom lamination on this one is some kind of cutlap except i didn't put tape on the boundary and relied on the extra thickness of the wood sandwich. As you can't see through carbon, cutting the lap along a tape before the resin cures is not very doable anyway, the best way for cutlaps on carbon is to use several layers of tape, let the resin harden and sand down to the tape... so kind of what i did :)

[@doctoresota]

The place where he is doing it, is incredible LoL

[@kevinwillard4443]

Great craftsmanship and editing! I'm sure all that filming added 20% more time to the construction. How many hours do you think you have into building it?

[@matshape]

thanks! around 20 hours I think... hard to tell :)

[@TheMitchell898]

Thanks for posting! I’m planning my own and this is so helpful. A couple questions: why did you go with fiberglass over full carbon? Why no vacuum bag on the bottom? And what were your resin to fabric ratios?

[@matshape]

I add the fiberglass on top to avoid sanding in the carbon when I smooth it out after it's cured. I tend to not used vacuum now, but for the top I had no choice because of the wood. for the ratio, the top was around 1 to 1 as I saturated on a table. the bottom was closer to 1.3 or 1.4 I guess as the polystyrene tends to drink a bit and I wanted to make sure the reinforcement was well bonded. Good luck for your board!

[@scottwallis7210]

The reinforced foam on the bottom with the three inserts take the foil itself I assume?

[@matshape]

exactly, it helps to spread the load from the foil.

[@gindjensun]

Hi Mat! Just another quick question. You mentioned that you tend to not use vacuum. What is the reason for that? I thought with vacuum you can make your layup even lighter and stronger? Thanks! 🙏

[@matshape]

In theory yes, you get the best strength to weight ratio with vacuum... if you vacuum at the right pressure with the right material. Main issue is that it's a lot more work, and when you do light layup like we do on boards, in my experience, just vacuum without the heavy fill coat gloss coat end up less ding resistant than hand layup without vacuum , light fill coat with microballoons, and light gloss coat (squeegee instead of brush). From what I saw strength is not really the issue with the boards I make, ding is usually the first failure point. And I get sub 5kg for 90+ liters boards with hand layup, so no real weight penalty compared to vacuum.

[@nataldiego]

Soooo cool🤙🏽

[@oliviergouezo1856]

beaucoup de details techniques vraiment interessants.

[@noomapollo5389]

Beautiful work!! So the deck is carbon, then wood veneer, then glass. How thick is the wood? It looks like you made this in an apartment! Wow! Did you sleep with your mask on? Or maybe you didn't get any sleep for a month until the board was finished. Very impressive!

[@matshape]

Wood is very thin, around 0.6mm but not extremely consistent, with the grain, I'd say between 0.5 and 0.7. Yes, all done in my spare bedroom with strict policy of dusty clothes stay inside, door always closed, especially when sanding fiber.

[@blooskyy7]

Think I've watched this 5 times already:) I'm interested to know what you use and how you mix the epoxy tint blue feature band?

[@matshape]

the color Is a liquid pigment from a "beach color" set made by Epoke. it's mixed with epoxy a bit a microballoon to sand easier and some silica to keep it from flowing.

[@blooskyy7]

@@matshape amazing, thank you

[@dannyduong825]

Great craftsmanship, skills, and beautiful result. What is the total cost of the materials?

[@matshape]

Hard to say as I mainly used leftovers from previous builds, I would guess it's roughly 300 to 400 usd ...

[@juergensplieth6068]

Thx for sharing. Your wire cutter looks very interesting. The thickness of the wire looks massiv. What kind of wire do you use and what is your power supply? Needs much electricity power for this long and massiv wire?! Best regards from the Baltic Sea

[@matshape]

I made it a while ago, but I think it's 20AWG nichrome wire. and I used a adjustable power supply that can go up to 30V 10A, but for that long wire, I set it up around 13V 6A. The important part is to have a tensioning system as the wire expands a bit when it, and you'd get wobbly cuts if the wire doesn't stay tight...

[@andreaspoke8273]

I did some paulownia wood kitefoil boards but for bigger ones I am afraid of the epoxy and fiber dust. Take care of your health.

[@ptj6412]

cool!!

[@onquarter]

The raw carbon looks so good to me. Have you considered skipping the white microballoons and just use resin/epoxy so you can see the weave for the whole thing? How is the finish on that stipe of black carbon? Are you worried about the black part overheating in the sun?

[@matshape]

I live in UAE, and right now, we're well over 40C outside and very hard sun, so an entirely black board wouldn't survive long. Also, the white filler hides a lot of crimes :) I picked the place for the stripe where the carbon was the cleanest, and did a few layers of just epoxy to get it flat with the rest. That stripe is also hidden by my wing attached to mast when the board is upside down on the beach , and is small enough to not get the whole board too hot. I also use a goretex vent plug, it's not perfectly waterproof I thing, but at least it avoids pressure to build up.

[@Dzjiefoils]

I have made several full carbon boards. And I’m always stressed when the suns out. Even when its cold outside the board heats up very fast in the sun. I always put it in the boardbag as fast as possible. Its very cool looking, but not very practical.

[@onquarter]

@@matshape That makes sense. I see some companies offer red and blue carbon cloth. I don't see any white carbon, but if that exists, this could be a good application.

[@mm74forums7]

@@onquarter LOL, carbon is always black. If it has a different color, then it is either not a carbon, or its fibers are covered with some paint. Any paint for sure is weaker than epoxy, that will make laminate's mechanical properties weaker.

[@brianhutchinson7863]

I thought the micro balloon filler left unpainted gives it a cool look. Second on the hotwire using tape as guide. I hadn't seen that done before. I've never made a surfboard but I'm looking at learning composites better for R.C. model planes and maybe full size aircraft one day. Maybe an R.C. Sailboat and Kiteboard, SurfSki or S.U.P. in there too. Nice Board.

[@bluestsky1999]

Amazing craftsmanship. Is it dangerous to deal with carbon dust?

[@matshape]

it could be... but for my personal experience, as long as it's a hobby, you wear a proper mask when sanding and you don't leave the dust around, the most you'll risk is to feel itchy for a few day when the dust come into contact with bare skin.a good soak in the sea tend to make it go away .

[@sebrabadoul4015]

Hi , What a vid , what a job !!! So good that i want to build my own boards 😁. First question : what's your vacuum system please ?

[@matshape]

thanks. it's a cheap pump from aliexpress that was supposed to be able to run continuously, but the motor/vacuum thing was crap so instead I added the mechanics from a clothe storage vacuum pump (even cheaper) from amazon inside, and some soundproofing in the box. my goal was to have most silent pump possible (neighbors). in the end, I improved it with a controller and a vacuum accumulator (PVC pipe) to shut it off when it reaches the required vacuum and start again when it drops too much. but vacuum is not mandatory to get a good board... I'm working on a downwind board right now with no vacuum at all and it looks like it will end up below 5kg for 115l, movie will be online in a few weeks :)

[@sebrabadoul4015]

Thanks mat , I used to build some kayaks when i was a teenager ( i'm now 51) , let's try to build some wingboards 😁. Have a good day . Waiting for your new vid .

[@Bido11561]

2 questions if you don’t mind me asking. Are the “ribs” necessary? And what kind of epoxy do you use that you have enough working time to laminate like this

[@matshape]

hi, if by ribs you mean the 2 "plates" that link the boxes to the deck, i strongly believe they do, and that seems to be the consensus with all the homemade boards builder. It's giving a path for the load between your feet and the mast. There are different ways to do that: a full block of high density foam going up to the deck, Carbon tubes... as this board is not made for jumping, I was mainly looking to reduce weight. Regarding my epoxy, it's some Sicomin surf clear with medium hardener. not especially long pot life. you avoid issues by keeping it as little as possible in the mixing pot and starting to spread it as soon as possible. When i laminate straight on the board, I do 2 or 3 batch and spread one before mixing the next. I also cheat a bit by playing with the AC to reduce the temp in the room (but do not raised the temperature after to speed curing as it will create bubbles under the fiber).

[@Bido11561]

@@matshape thanks for the quick reply

[@Bido11561]

@@matshape. What did you make the ribs out of?

[@matshape]

@@Bido11561 those were made with leftover divinycell , as it was quite thin, I doubled then. any HD PVC foam will work too.

[@murraybruce3802]

Great video. Thanks! How did you figure out the volume?

[@matshape]

I draw it on the computer to make the template, so that gives me the volume, and when the polystyrene is shipped, before adding anything else and weight it to compte the volume as it's a known density, and both agreed :)

[@murraybruce3802]

@@matshape Thanks! What program?

[@matshape]

@@murraybruce3802 fusion 360, not at all the right software, but I'm use to it and it plays nicely with the CNC :)

[@davidshlimak3902]

What is this very long router bit you are using at 4:22?

[@matshape]

look up "foam milling" on aliexpress, you can get some pretty long ones, slightly dangerous to use, but with light polystyrene it's manageable

[@damandany2k]

Looks great! I'm making a board of my own. What was the dimensions of the board? I'm trying to figure out how far up the board to put my foil box. Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

[@matshape]

that one is 6'7" x 19.5"x ~90L. to decide where to put the box, I start with the center of the volume of the board (benefit of designing on computer) but if you have the blank shaped without adding anything to the polystyrene, center of gravity should be the same. From there, I set ma stance so that my own center of gravity is a bit behind the one of the board (to avoid nose dive). That gives me my back foot position and depending on the foil you use, it gives you a good position for the tracks.

[@damandany2k]

Thank you for the response! Awesome board! @@matshape

[@brunow2953]

Bravo 😊

[@martinsaucedo7158]

Awesome the ribs are from wood?

[@matshape]

Thanks, they are 2 layers of leftover pvc foam

[@jeffalbritton3154]

Beautiful work and all done in an apartment…🤯

[@tjdubleu]

Wow man, beautiful board! Serious question- do these foils ever impact with wildlife, like turtles?

[@matshape]

thanks. I guess it could, but the few I saw were long gone by the time I got close, I guess they feel it coming, same for fishes jumping out of the way... only ones that don't move fast enough are the jellyfish...

[@dw4861]

way cool

[@MartialArtUK]

Hiya , how much do you think this build cost in materials and in time ?

[@matshape]

Hard to say as I mainly used leftovers from previous builds, I would guess it's roughly 300 to 400 usd and around 20 hours... I don't track them, so hard to say :)

[@Arkeopterex69]

Superbe Matt

[@nicolaskomen]

Amazing work!! And.. all of it done in a appartement? 😮your neighbours must love you😅

[@matshape]

it's actually not that noisy, only the sander is and disc sander is less noisy than orbital sander (and works better anyway), the vacuum pump could be noisy too, but mine is pretty small and doesn't make much noise... it also doesn't run continuously which helps. Making only noise during decent hours helps keep happy neighbors :)