An excerpt from one of our recent blogs on the role of volume in the shaping room;
What does surfboard volume mean?
No, I’m not going to waste either your time going into some overly complicated explanation about what volume is. I am sure you read all about it back in, like, 2013 on The Inertia or in Surfer or something like that. It’s height X weight X width, it’s in liters, and it’s pretty complicated to figure out in a surfboard. Right, moving on.
Taking it a step further, what does surfboard volume mean with regards to actually shaping surfboards? Well, not much really. It is a number that’s useful for the comparison of finished surfboards. To a surfboard shaper, volume will usually, at most, be a small number in the bottom screen of some CAD program that changes when you start clicking things. That’s about it.
The more important thing to consider here is what volume definitely should not be. For any shaper, new or experienced, volume should not be a goal. Going into any shape with the intention of coming away with some particular end number in your head should not (necessarily) be your main objective.
No matter what way you look at volume, it is actually not a design element of the board. Yes, you read this correct and would do well to forever commit it to memory;
Interesting and valid points made , but I don’t think that I would completely agree . IMO the volume of a board and how it is distributed through the board has a greater effect on how a board performs and should always be kept in mind when shaping , than that of any small or even many small details as stated in the article , yes it is a relatively new number to appear on a surfboard but shapers building boards for specific customers have always taken volume into consideration , a 9ft board for a 150lb guy would not be the same as a 9ft board for a 200lb guy the difference would be the volume that the shaper built into the board .
Re Stony’s , does buoyancy affect performance a , complex question , I would say yes , in both positive and negative ways. The most obvious would be when we have ridden boards that seem too “corky” and boards that “sink” its the distribution of the volume or buoyancy that is the trick .
its the distribution of the volume or buoyancy that is the trick
tblank wrote:
volume is simply distribution and foil
Certainly variables that are important.
Re-visited an old thread when this thread first popped up and believe your comments affect what was said. IMO now, the thread’s opening post is oversimplified. E.g. width is more than just planing area under the surfer. Thickness is more than rail shape. Flex is affected by thickness. But flex can be adjusted with foil i.e. volume placement – varied thickness.
Bouyancy doesn’t effect waveriding performance. Once your planning the lift created makes bouynacy too weak of a force to have an effect. Paddle performance is a different thing all together, and is greatly effected by volume.
[Quote=mataco] "Bouyancy doesn’t effect waveriding performance. Once your planning the lift created makes bouynacy too weak of a force to have an effect. "
[/quote]
I disagree. (I assume you mean “planing”?)
Lift is a factor but buoyancy comes into play when puttng a board on a rail, or simply banking in a turn. The volume in the rail will effect turning and performance. More buoyant rails feel much different from thin, knifey ones.
I used to ride a 6’9" round pin sngle fin that had a thin tail, but the rails were thick and boxy. It felt really corky in carving turns and like I was fighting to sink the volume of the rail.
Volume is a result of the sum total of the design elements of a surfboard, length, width, thickness, foil, rails, concaves, cross sections or profiles. You can’t take two identical boards and add volume to one, without changing one of the design elements mentioned above. In oder to add volume, you have to add foam somewhere. Volume is a measurable result of your design elements. Yes you can increase the volume of a nine foot surfboard made for a heavier surfer, that does not make it a design element. It simply means you would alter the design elements of width, thickness, foil, cross section, or whatever, adding foam, and additional volume would be the result.
I personally don’t consider volume in liters or any other cubic measurement, but it is still in my mind when I design a board, and as I shape it. Saying you should keep volume in mind while shaping is kinda like saying you should keep the board’s performance in mind while shaping, yes, but that doesn’t make performance a design element. Like volume, it results from the sum total of your design elements.
The volume of the rail that is too corky is not tied to the volume of the board. I personally think if it is too corky, it’s the rail that is planing not the bouyancy lifting the board. This board you rode could have had a concave deck with very little bouyancy and still would have been too corky because of the rail size.
I’m just beginning on shaping but I have been a good customer.
The market has really warmed to the concept of volume. When I ask people about boards the vast majority talk about volume first. It is the first thing on their mind. That is how the customer thinks right now. That is the market.
For a shaper it’s easy to look at dimensions and realise where the board will sit in the water.
But for the consumer the short and wide thing really mixed things up. It was just a lot easier to look at volume - it’s just a number. No sales speak, no need to talk about a surfers ability. Just a number that doesn’t lie.
Now, it might be a gross over simplification but somehow the customer wants to have an idea of where the board will sit in the water.
If volume is a pain for you, why not let a customer know at what level in the water a person of known weight will sit, or what weight of person (could be a range) will put the water line at navel level while sitting.
Or, maybe just write what weight of person or range the board is intended for?
If you’re using a computer program then volume should be easy to arrive at, if you’re handshaping you’ll probably have to guesstimate, or try to duplicate what you’ve shaped on a computer file in a shaping program. I think volume is a useful number, for a variety of reasons. Its just not the be-all end-all that some people think it is. But it really doesn’t matter, much of the commercial shaping industry runs on marketing myths and style trends anyway.
I’m sure every hand shaper has a caliper they use for thickness mearurements. Thickness is just a simple proxy for volume.
Sure volume in itself is not a design feature, but it’s a useful metric if you’re a beginner scraper like me who’s trying to get sufficient float to swim the board into waves and not a slow responding cork.
There’s many different foam densities on the market , with varying weights and densities…also quite a diverse rage of glass schedules and hybrid cloths available , and being widely used…targeting volume is just a panacea for most surfers , at best.
“it’s just a number. No sales speak, no need to talk about a surfers ability. Just a number that doesn’t lie.”
Numbers might not lie but they sure do not tell the truth. “Volume” has become the latest sales catch phrase…It is almost a meaningless term. I use the word “area”. You can have three different surfboards same outline and thickness= volume , simplified I know, but the “thickness distribution” is off you get 3 different feeling boards in the water. Numbers are a guidline to help a shaper get close but you have to develope the “eye” to see that all the elements are in the right spot…Takes time and practise there are no magic numbers that will reveal the truth.
Bullshit. It’s absolutely a design element particularly with the ubiquitous availability of computer based design tools. Some of the best boards I’ve built started with some general concepts one of which is volume. I’ve worked foil, width and thickness flow to the rails into keeping enough foam in a board for a bigger surfer or weekend warrior or going the other way, for a smaller kid; I wanted to keep volume OUT of the board.