sweet thread... board's looking good so far... cool to see pops in on the action
Way to go Mike, looks kick ass so far!
This article by Rusty on surfline helped me a lot designing my fish:
And I didn’t see anything in there on fin placement, but this is another Rusty article that breaks down quad placement pretty well:
Also Brian’s (of Greenlight) fin placement suggestions for quads are really good too, at least for quad-fish type boards.
Clean shape, nicely done. You doing Greenlight’s bamboo cloth or just standard epoxy + 6/4oz cloth?
mnecky,
im a 19 year old eastcoatie new to shapeing as well, ive made 6 boards 4 of them fishes very simmiler to yours and one a quad mini simmons so i know where your coming from.
i was just currious if you were foiling the fins yourself cause i tryed that a couple boards back and it ruined my board, go futures or loxbox for best quad fish options just a thought board looks good though
Another update for ya
I haven’t been able to get much done lately as I haven’t been able to get a ride to go get my glassing supplies but I should be able to within the next few days. I am still trying to figure out fin placements and am having a little trouble. I am going to go with the McKee setup but I do not know how far to space the front fins from the rail. From what I have read on sways 1.25" should give the board more of a twin feel to it which is what I am looking for. My other stupid question is when people give the distance from tail to fins, are they to the back or front of the fin?
Also here’s some picture of the tail that I never got around to throwing up
Thanks
Mike
The shape looks great. It’ll definitely surf. If you’re glassing this yourself, make sure that stringer is planed down as level with the deck as possible. Better to have some rough edges in the foam next to where you took the stringer down than to have a stringer that starts off being a little taller than the foam before you even glass it. That’s a recipe for delamination.
On a board with a wide tail - like a fish - I’d stick to keeping the rear fins closer to the rail. I always thought of the McKee setup as aiming to make a quad surf more like a thruster, and being more appropriate for shortboards with the narrower tails rather than fishes. Of course, opinions on this will vary.
What fins are you planning on using?
Try to get that nose foiled out a bit thinner before you glass it too. If you want it to surf "fishier" than do an edge setup rather than a Mckee. Mckee's have a lot more drive though. also considering foiling some plywood keels for your fish. keep it up
good luck
really diggin the thread keep up the good work man
Beak it!
Wow haven’t posted in a little while here but the board is all done. Between vacation, waiting to borrow tools, the kickass hurricane swells and most of all sucking at glassing, the board has taken me along time.
first time signing, gotta say I was pretty scared I was going to mess up
fin guidelines drawn in
and then it went down hill from here once I started glassing
If I were to tell you glassing went well, I would be lying. Glassing is by far the hardest part of building a board. This is largely due to the fact I thought i was going to run out of resin so I didnt completely saturate the laps. If there is one thing any first time board maker takes from this thread, please saturate your laps or you will add hours of unneeded work and it still looks like shit.
anyways I did get a copy of the the swaylocks logo from pcinsc and I made sure it got on the board. I feel as though this was the only appropriate way of saying thanks to everyone who helped me around here
After the hot coat and the fin boxes and leash plug I began sanding. Since I didn’t have a polisher or power pads I started sanding the board by hand. For some strange reason I had the idea that wrapping my sandpaper around a 24" long piece of wood would be a great idea. All this did was lead to many burn throughs which you can still see now. After a few hours sanding by hand I decided screw this im going out to by a polisher and power pads. Luckily Jamie Kelly, a local surf artist in ocean city nj who makes some awesome art btw, said he could lend me some power pads. I went out and got myself $30 polisher at Harbor Freight, and once I started sanding I realized I should have just done this from the beginning. Sanding with a polisher and powerpads was a breeze and once I got up to 400 grit paper I put on two coats of future floor cleaner which I found at home depot after reading tons of heated debates on this site about the proper way to finish a board.
So I think for my first board I did a pretty decent job. Im stoked to start the next one which I haven’t decided what I want to make yet. Lucky for me my dads friend found a old yellow clark foam shortboard blank sitting in a pile of trash someone was throwing out and gave it to me so that should save me some money.
anyway thanks everyone who helped out with a little tip here or there
I’m goin to be taken her out this weekend for the hurricane swell so i’ll tell you on monday how she rides
Mike
Lots better than my first board, I tried to do a splash and got mud. Had no clue what I was doing. Almost 40 years later, I'm starting to figure all this stuff out, haha.
IMO your trailer placement is whacked for a fish, but maybe you've discovered something. Ride it and find out! If it's OH you might like having ''split trailer'' effect. (there might be room for another set outboard of existing, do it and try both positions)
Looks pretty sweet. Nice job for a first effort. Whenever you get the opportunity watch others in how that approach shaping a board. Read all you can from the masters of shaping. Don't be afraid to ask to sit in most shapers would be stocked to pass on some knowledge. Keep posting and asking lots of questions.
…looks good,
the glass is not the most difficult part as you say, the design is the most difficult part and understand that then see a blank to see if your design can fit in the plug.
Shape a board is not the same that “follow” the lines of a plug.
Glass: to prevent those grease spots showed you need to have clean hands to grab or touch the board.
Good stuff!!!! I'm not the only swalokian building boards here in Ocean City, NJ. Keep it up!!!!
Here is a shot of my 2010 OC built quiver.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v456/mako224/100_2203.jpg[/IMG]
congrats!!
ride report?
sorry for the ridicously late ride report but any way im absolutely stoked on the way it rides
the board is very smooth pumping it down the line, but can be a little resistant on late drops.
regardless of how it surfs it feels great just being out on your own board. as soon as midterms are over i’m probably going to start another board and try to make my own fins for this.
thanks agian for all the advice everyone gave me
Very cool board, great shots, thanks for posting - looking forward to the next one!
My favorite thread of 2010.
Mike D, I agree this is a great thread. good on 'ya Mr. Necky! As I read through, the grin on my face just got bigger and bigger. It made me think of what a Bi#$% it was 40 years ago to shape your own board at home when I was 16. Foam was impossible to get a hold of (for a kid) and glassing supplies were even worse. With all due respect to Grubby, I’m glad Clark is gone. Look how easy it was for young Mr. Necky to expedite his numbah one!!! My first piece of foam was green floral foam and it was a real piece alright! Things are wide open now and due to sites like Sway’s and Greenlight, Foam EZ, US Blanks et. al. We’ve come a Looong way Baby! Keep shaping Mike Necky! If the planshape turns you on…odds are you will really like how it surfs. From now on; as the late GREAT Mr. Morganfield, said, you " Cain’t be Satisfied". This is the start of a lifetime of fun and possibly a living. Most important, don’t stop learning, refining, and trying new things. KEEP GOING LI’L BRAH!
ps. Had to insert Segway in the mix, Ken is extremely helpful, Gracias. And to ALL the Sway’s posters!
Good board! Don’t worry the(the boards) tend to get better as you go…
Learn from your mistakes.
Fyi- I shaped 3 re-shaped board with zilch tech info-other then me asking a shaper while he shaped me a custom board a few questions… Sometimes the best way to learn is watching! Lol
But book, vids and asking questions will speed it up! But "think outside the box"from time to time and you can figure out other ways to get the job done in simpler ways.
An idea I thought of was to use calipers in 3 points-which turned into 6 points… I would gage my foil and eveness of my shaping by taking measurements at mid point, a foot down the nose, and a foot up the tail. And at each section-you can check in 3 spots middle and sides. Dunno, but it helped keep my boards even. Also, use a level, count strokes, feel etc…
Fwiw- that is what I’m doing. Other do it dif, similar or have their own ideas. There’s no right or wrong-just dif approaches. No shaper is going to shape exactly the same as the other guy. You’ll basically have your own style based on what you’ve learned and know.
As for fin placement, gen I heard on twins and quads you want a 1/4" tow so that your front part of fin aims straight at tip of nose. As for camber its going to happen nat with vee… But I believe guys are cambering them out 5-8 percent? I have to figure that out myself. But like I said, if you put vee in-the camber is gonna be there already.
How far is fin out the edge? It seems like about a inch to inch ad a half. Fins on a twin are usually 10-11" up-not sure about quads? Prob close. I’d prob chop down the rear fins down a bit to tone it down… Heard they tend the be waaay drivy.
Think about doin a Typical short board man! Something for all-around surf sm to overhead. That way you have a get up and go board reminiscent of a past surf culture…where survival and making the wave meant more than cool… More glass ons and maybe one box @ back… Just a thought. Have fun! Live and learn, and be open to tips from pros and peeps who been there and have knowlege.
Check out youtube! Good vids on glassing etc…