Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of designing a sandboard from the ground up. I've never
ridden one
before, but I'm an avid snowboarder in California looking to extend my season.
With Pismo
Beach 3 hrs north, Dumont 3 hrs east, and Glamis 3 hrs south, Los Angeles's got
plenty of
prime local spots. I plan on building the board in the same process as a
homemade
snowboard, with a composite sandwich over a wood core (some cool sites for that
are:
http://www.grafsnowboards.com/index.htm and http://www.skibuilders.com/howto/ )
Being inexperienced on the sand, I had some questions about different design
points:


- What base material is best? I want it to be light, so metal (stainless steel
mainly) is out of
the question. The top candidates right now are graphite reinforced UHMWPE,
Formica/
Laminex, or Acrylic (plexiglass). Race Base? Don't even think about it. Venomous
is
paranoid about their secret formula.

-I plan on using it for mostly freeriding (no freestyle/jibs). Should the
sidecut be shifted
back (directional board)? What about binding position, should that be shifted
back too?

-Are metal edges necessary or are they just dead weight? On the snow the edges
are
meant to cut into the surface like an Ice Skate. But the edges become less
useful in deep
powder. From what I've read, the sand is more like the deep powder. Would hard
plastic
like the UHMWPE be a good substitute for the steel rails?

-What level of stiffness is right? This can be adjusted by core profile and
thickness. Should
a sandboard be more or less stiff than a snowboard? My gut feeling is that it
should be
slightly less stiff. Not LOOSE, but more flexible. (remember no jibs or rails,
so I don't need
that extra "POP")

-For bindings, my idea is to convert a wakeboard boot to a fully adjustable and
openable
boot (no slime), and then fit that into a regular snowboard binding. This
configuration
could be worn bare-footed or with socks, and would provide the ankle support of
a
snowboard boot with the ventilation and comfort of neoprene staps.

-Sidewall or Cap construction? The same old question that hangs in the balance
in the
snowboard industry. Sidewall seems simpler and more durable to me. No edge roll,
no
pre-cured topsheet business... But if anyone is a hell-bent supporter of cap
construction
please feel free to state your objections.



I'll appreciate any help I can get. Don't be afraid to tell me how completely
wrong I am, and
if I'm right please confirm my assumptions. Send this to any sandboarding
friends you
have, I need all the help I can get. If you have other suggestions sen those
too. I'm sending
a copy of this to "Dr. Dune" as well to get his take on it. Don't use my yahoo
address, you
can reach me better at mystrdylan@... (no underscore between mystr and
dylan).

Thanks so much,

Dylan Brown
Taklamakan Sandboards