Hello, I decided, since Im 2 hours away from an east coast ocean ( I know I know, I miss home) - that I would give shaping a board a try. I’ve had a 6’1" Clark Foam supergreen blank sitting around for awhile in my quiver - Im not even sure how I got it. So…I decided I would try to make a 6’0" stick out of it. Ive drawn the design on a 6’4" sheet of cardboard about a hundred times, having 3 different cutouts. Im not really concerned with how the board ends up, in the facet of design. If I end up with a 5’11" because I cut a bit much off, that’s fine. If the rocker isnt perfect, that’s also fine. Of course, I would much rather have everything be perfect, but Im trying to be realistic here. Basically, I’m pretty satisfied witht he rocker already in the blank, and the width seems VERY close to what I want. Im not sure I can cut 1/2" -3/4" off of each side to get the width perfect. The blank is 20" in the widest point in the middle, and I was looking for an 18-18 1/2". My thought, being a first time shaper, is that it might be better to leave the width as it is. Thoughts? Any advice on the first board would be much helpful, if anyone would want to get in touch with me and kind of have an in depth discussion on this, I would be much appreciative too. I ralize it is a long LONG patient process for someone who hasnt done it before, and Im willing to do that. Things that come easy and quick are often not worth it. Basically Im just trying to make my board the best it can be on my first try. All I am concerned with now is actually shaping the thing, I’ll worry about glassing and such later. Yes, I’ve seen JCs shaping 101 and glassing 101. I’m simply trying to get all different advice from all different angles before I actually start this. Thanks for your time. Bryan
Cut it, don’t try to shape it as is. You can easily saw it down from 20 to 18.5 wide. Besides, cutting out the outline is fun, and a big step in shaping a board that is yours (not the factory’s). Just keep your saw vertical, take your time, and stay outside your pencil line so you have room to clean up later.
Ok. Here is another thing Im not quite certain on. Do I cut it before I shave off the layer, or do I shave the layer orr first? Whoever had this blank before me kinda scribbled all over the outer layer. And in the videos they obviously dont have that on their boards. So Im not sure exactly when the process of shaving these things off is. Also, I am not using an electric planer. Do I get a hand planer, or a surform?
I cut mine before I shave off a layer, although I have seen it advised to the contary here. I did my first 3 boards, longboards, using only a surform.
Ok thanks. I’m probably going to start cutting tomorrow morning, then work on other things. If anyone wants to give me their contact info and help me along the way, I would really appreciate it.
I’ve done it both ways but would recommend skinning the blank first, then mark & saw. (or, if you want to practice, template the board first, then skin it, then re-draw the template. Practice makes perfect!) I’ve always used an electric plane, and would recommend that you try to borrow one just to get the feel of using it. But based on what others have posted here, if you have a SHARP hand plane, that’s worth a try. If you can’t get nice clean shavings off the board, or if you’re ripping up the foam, don’t go there. Surform will do the job but will be a bit messy when you’re done – a bit of sanding will clean that up. Whatever you do, have fun!
The thing is, Im not wanting to spend the money on an electric planer, not for my first board. The mess I dont mind. So I should just make sure my hand planer is nice and sharp, and use the surform?
Right – if you can’t borrow a power planer, make sure your hand plane is sharp (you’ll need it for the stringer no matter how you skin the board). If its sharp enough, use it to remove the skin off the blank. If its not sharp enough to do that, use the surform for skinning. You shouldn’t have too much trouble. Just be patient when you get up near the nose of the board, that’s the trickier part because it’s curved and thin (easy to break stuff).
Another question: Sorry to be so drivel about this. I can do the whole thing with just surform and sanding paper? Or…should I go ahead and get a hand planer and all sort of other stuff? The shaping 101 video assumes I have access to things I dont think I have access to.
I plan to not even mess with the nose till the end. It’ll have the basic shape I cut it out with and Im not thinning it or anything else till the rest of the board is in the “touch up stage”
you really need a plane for the stringer, but a small Stanley trim plane will do the job and only costs $8-$10. Yup, and you need a hand saw to cut out your shape. Again, nothing fancy, nothing expensive. $10 or so. I suppose if you were really short of money you could do it with a serrated kitchen knife instead of a saw!! which reminds me of the stories of using cheese graters instead of surforms… hmm, I am envisioning a Swaylocks contest done on Emeril Live during the commercials (or Iron Chef!) – build & laminate a surfboard using only kitchen tools…take down the stringer with a cheese slicer. Whisk that resin! (look he’s using a pair of frozen turkeys as a glassing stand!)
well when i shaped mine i tried to use a power planer and i hated it. so i returned it and it turned out fine with sand paper ,surform , and a 1 inch pocket plane . worked fine for me but i guess it takes a wile.
A surform and a pocket or block plane should be all that you need to get started. A power plane can be a bit scary if you are unaccustomed to power tools. A cheap power plane can be bought from Harbor Freight if you want to go that route. The main thing is not to get discouraged and keep at it if you think this type of stiff is for you . Good luck!
I do use a wisk It’s quick and mixes great
i mean a power plane shiuld leave everything level right?.(hence the name plane) but i bought a pretty good hitachi how ever its spelled…and each pass was a different depth a that didnt seem to be helping on my first blank …i mean shouldnt a power planer cut an even 1/16 across the bottom or what? cause if it did it shure would have been faster!
I’ve just started too, on my fourth board, using block plane and surform, plus two grits ( 80 and 120 ) of sand paper. one method I’ve found to take down foam eaiser is to shave everything off with the planer, then smooth out with the surform. Then take more down with the planer, then surform… continue untill satisfied. Also helps to keep the planer at a 45 degree angle to the stringer. Not exactly sure why this works though. Also, try to make long strokes with your planer, its real easy to finish with super-thin spots where your board rests on the stands…
Cool. Thanks for the advice guys. [smile] I’ll probably be coming here and asking many many questions during my shaping process. And the kitchen knife idea was a GREAT one! Man that thing worked 100% better than the saw! j/k [wink]