alright, ive done all the research and stuff on shaping and im about to start my first board… ive heard several places say just go out and shape it and get one under your belt and youll get better as you go along… and ive heard other sources say to take your time witht the first one and try to get everything right… what do u recomend for the first board? any tips for a first board would be great… thanks alot john
shaping is a subtractive process, you cannot (practically) add foam once you’ve removed it. Some hints… Have a clear vision in your mind what the end product will be. Have the board you’re trying to make something like, close at hand to compare. Envision how each step gets you closer to where you’re going. Sharp tools. Did I say take your time? Take your time. If at all possible, have someone with experience standing by to offer advice/tips. Making a decent board, even for a first-timer, shouldn’t be that hard if you take your time (yes, again) and think about what you’re doing. Most people don’t have the patience or can’t accept the responsibility for their actions, so they buy off-the-shelf. In this way, shaping and glassing your own stick is an exercise in maturity. When you get into glassing, though, unless you are using UV activated resin, you’d better be quick with a squeegee. 20 minutes of pot life is enough time once you have a little experience, but pretty quick for a beginner. Suggest UV resin for a beginning glasser with no assistance standing by. That said, I don’t use it… yet.
thanks for all the help, yah im usin the uv resin cuase i tried shaping some smaller things to get the hang of it and the glassing was hard… i had problems with the resin gelling so i decided to go wit the uv activated for the full size board… any other tips would be great thanks again, John
John, Here are a few things I’ve learned as a begining shaper. l. Pick as easy shape. Rounded pin, squash tail. No wings, channel,etc 2. Choose a blank that is close to your chosen shape. 3. ASk questions. Watch someone shape if you can. 4. Assemble all the tools you need before you begin. 5. Make a good template. No wavy curves. 6. Cut the blank to length before you skin and foil it. 7. I like to do lot of the foiling before I cut out the template. 8. Draw your template on the bottom of the blank. Cut from the bottom. 9. Measure thrice, cut once. 10. In the befinning you will lean on your surform and sanding blocks a lot. 11. You can take foam off,but not put it back on. 12. Have fun and enjoy the process. Surfing is unreal. Riding a board you built with your own hands is unreal times 10! 13. There are lots of pro’s on this site. Use em and abuse em!
Mike I started making boards again last year after not making an since the early 1970s when I did 6-7 boards. This time around I had other boards to compare to plus plenty of time to do it. I worked about 2+ hrs a day for a week on the first one. I took a lot of extra measurements. A 2ft level was helpful to check for twist and flatness. I think one one the most important things to do is to have an accurate outline then be extra careful when cutting to stay perpendicular. Any errors at this point would be hard to fix. I did a lot of the rough sanding with a 2 ft 1x4 with 50 grit paper glued to one side. If you make any accidental scratches or dents don’t try to correct them or you might get a low spot. Enjoy the process
All great advice. First off, my first board i shaped came out pretty good. i stil ride it to this day. Do not think for a second that it is only a learning process with an expendable outcome. Your first boarrd is not unlike your first girlfriend. That said. the better you plan, the better your outcome will be. Choose your shape and get a damn good template transferred to your blank. The better the foundation the easier the rest of the shaping. I highly reccomend UV resin. Do the research on the proper techniques and you’ll have a much better outcome. Drew