yeah i had 2 batteries come from hobbyking from the aus warehouse and the customs taxes where the same price of the batteries. Safe to say I sent them back to the seller.
1 Like
Hey guys, the build is coming on good!
3d printed mast in PLA with 4 layers of fibreglass is extremely strong! Still 2 layers of carbon to go on it 
.
Board and foils are also coming along really well, we are taking our time and still looking at electronics.
Cheers, David.
3 Likes
Great could u send us more pictures of mast and foil ?
I didn t understand why u printed front and back of the board ? is this to have space to put electronics?
regards,
Hi there, the reason for printing the front and back was because the board is fully designed by myself.
printing the front and back and then gluing them to a block of foam in the middle gave starting curves to then replicate through the board. the rear of the board also has a hatch that in inset into the board and houses the electronics. yes I would be happy to send more mast and foil pics when they are finished.
cheers, David.
1 Like
@DavidC I think I’m going to do the same, I.E carbon fibre over 3D printed centre.
How is the flex of the mast?
How’s your build going?
Hey Glen,
My build is going good , so far the mast has 4 layers of fiberglass and is really strong. Two layers of carbon too go should take all the bend out of it.
Try trade me for fiberglass and carbon ! There is a cheap supplier in panmure. 40$ per meter carbon and 65$ for 10 m of glass.
Let me know if you need any more info .
David.
1 Like
Hey @DavidC,
Im a 16 year old from Wellington starting on my own Efoil build. Loving all the progress you’ve made so far. Do you think you could please post the links to the STL files for the mast? Im also building the foil from scratch and your idea looks like it works really well and id love to give it a go. I was planning on shaping the foils themselves out of foam and then glassing/carbon fibre over the top.
Thanks for the updates,
Edward
2 Likes
Hi Edward,
best of luck with the build, I will be posting more updates over the next few weeks.
are you planning on printing the mast and foil?. If so check out grabcad for files.
Grabcad mast: https://grabcad.com/library/kitefoil-hydrofoil-1 You can print it multiple times for different
lengths, but I would not recommend printing over 100 mm in height to keep the quality high also I have
printed the front foil but fear it is not big enough so I suggest finding another or designing your own.
Sorry the efoil forum wont let me upload my stl files for some reason.
10% infill 3 walls and 50-80mm/s PLA- 195 Bed-65
Cheers, David & best of luck, hola if you need any help.
3 Likes
Hi David thanks a lot for the link and print info thats really helpfull.
Just out of interest what model of 3d printer do you have? At the moment I am making do with our school printer but im looking into maybe getting one of my own
thanks, Ed
1 Like
Hi Edward,
I have an Anet A8. Very cheap machine but requires a little love and care to get it running. Print some upgrades and buy some cheap parts and you will be sorted. You will learn a lot about 3d printing too.
Cheers,David.
2 Likes
Latest updates! Built a vacuum bag system for carbon/glass impregnating the foils.
Because vacuum systems are extremely expensive we bought a 12v car tire pump and re engineered it to create a vacuum instead of pressurise a tire. We then bought 6$ vacuum storage bags and so far works great.
We also put the last layer of fiberglass on the board.
1 Like
Pro tip for cheap vacuum pump, use an old refrigerator pump (the black thing on the back) they are excellent vacuum pumps. Can run for long periodes of times with no issues. Normally these work on old refrigerator that are thrown away…
To get even better results you could make a layup like this: Wing, Fiberglass/carbon, PE plastic sheet with loads of small holes(Hardware store + home made hole roller), Fleeze blanket (IKEA), vacuum bag (a easy way yo make these are with acrylic/silicone paste and sheets of plastic, super easy to get airtight). This way, excess glue will be soked into the fleeze blanket and make a stronger and lighter composite structure. All of these things can be bough really cheap (compared to stuff made for this, which costs loads of $$$)
Some more details on the process here http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-kiteboardwakeskatelongboard/
Cheers
5 Likes
I have not thougt about the fleeze blanket but will give it a try, heard about the fridge pump but the 12v pump was cheaper and easier for me and works really well.
We just went to a electric store where people deliver their old electronics and salvaged the pump from a old refrigerator there, free of charge 
1 Like
oh wow, I wouldnt have thought of that. are you working on your own variation of foil?
1 Like
Yep will experimenting with some different profiles, we have also bought 3 china foils. We are using vacuum bagging to to build the board as well, really nice to use when doing complex geometries, such as the room inside the board, Then you can do all layers at once with near to perfect results.
Are you doing a releasable foil mount to the fuselage? would it make sense to do so, to experiment with different wings?