We all have our hobbies. Sometimes they’re productive, like woodworking or carpentry, other times they’re just for fun, like cooking or crafting. Regardless of the goal, our projects and hobbies have purpose. We feel accomplished, and ultimately, we get to enjoy the finished product.
This guy’s passion, as it turns out is stand up paddle boarding. To challenge himself, he made his own board completely from scratch. Honestly, while I’m no SUP enthusiast, I definitely want to take this out for a spin.
He began the project by gluing two blue boards of insulation together; this would serve as the paddle board’s body.
share
The next step was to outline the shape of the paddle board. This involved extreme precision, one mistake and he would have to start over.
share
Next came hours of sanding needed to get the board in the proper shape. This is a very important part of the process as the shape of the board greatly influences how easy it is for someone to balance while standing up on it.
share
Here, you can see he carved and sanded out the standing area of the board, creating a slight indent in the area intended for maximum balance.
share
The fins are a subtle, but important, detail for any paddle or surfboard. They ensure that the board’s steering and directionality remains in control of the surfer.
share
Next came the fiber glass, lots and lots of fiber glass. It, along with the resin, ensures that the board remains waterproof and keeps its shape under the weight of a person.
share
The finishing touches involved the decorations – a simple white base coat is always solid.
share
Nautical blue stripes down the center completed the look.
share
share
(via Reddit)
I love paddle boards, and this is made even cooler because someone made it with their bare hands! If you’re not convinced of the benefit of building one of these instead of buying one, the builder claims to have saved $900 by DIY-ing it. So, maybe this whole do-it-yourself thing is worth it after all. After all, isn’t building something on your own always more satisfying in the end? I think so.
