Hello Everyone, so I am in the process of shaping my first board and I wanted to make a board that would work particularly well for me. I’m making a 6’10" single single fin and right now I have it about 3.5 inches at it’s thickest point. When doing research on new boards, whether you’re buying or shaping, you can see something along the lines of “get it .25 inch thicker and 6-8 inches shorter than what you normally ride”. Well if you take a look at most surfers, they’re not very big. I’m 6’4" and weigh around 240, I’m not huge but I’m a lot bigger than your average surfer and I am far more comfortable on a longboard. Has anyone shaped an abnormally thick board, is keeping my 6’10" at 3.5 thick asking for problems in the water with a finished product? I definitely do not want to go below 3 inches but I realize 3.5 is pretty thick. Are there any big guys out there who have tried making a thick board that shed some light on the topic? And is 3.5 a ltitle too aggresive, should I try out 3.25 and see how that works? Thanks!
Abnormally thick for a small person is not abnormal for a big guy. Get that out of your head. You will never, never, never ever fit into a 6'2" x 18 x 2 1/2 thruster.
So now we got that out of the way, yes make a 3 1/2 in thick board, Make it 20 3/4 to 21 wide, fill out the nose at 13, and push out the tail to 14. Keep the deck full and dive the rails at the last 6 in.
A big guy can sink a rail on the thickest boards made no problem. Spend more time on getting the rail, rocker, and fin placement right, thats where the board will be make or break.
Once you try that, then you can adjust to a thinner or narrower model. But at 240, and surfing a 6'10" you need volume to have fun. Go to thin and narrow and your going to be a plowboy only getting good surf when it's double overhead.
I have made some 4 1/4" thick boards that my big friends love. In my book 3.5" is not weird.
The secret is to get the rails right and step up to the deck. When making the step don’t make a mound in the middle or it will hurt your stomach. Check out the Southpoint SUP boards rails and deck for insperation. But at 3.5" you may just want to blend it out nice. The shaping software programs help with min volume. Go to Board Cad or AKU shaper and put in your normal size boards or the smallest board you can ride well and record the volume-beers. Then punch in your new board and compare.
Have fun,
3.5 is thick…might be tough to duck dive the board in our beach breaks.
I’ve been going to wider boards…more beam is better than more length or too much additional foam, IMO…planes up early and gets you on your way but you can still bury the rail on a turn and duck dive it when we get those relentless spring windswells with 10 wave sets.
I have an EPS board I just got and the thing is feeling like a dud…floats up and hangs in the lip…hard to get a rail in to get the quick pump off the take off that we need for our fast breaking surf.
I think the previous gentlemen’s points are sound if you are keen on staying at that thickness…make sure you foil out those rails!
smalty,
i'm 6'3" 235lbs 51yrs old
7.3 greg liddle muskgo hull x 23 x 3 1/8 single fin
6.6 arrow(dane perllee shape)moontail fish x 25 x 3 1/4
7.0 arrow(dp shape) morninmg of the earth stub x 23 x 3 1/16
7.6 arrow (dp shape) inner most limits stub/bonzer x 23 x 3 1/16
8.6 arrow(dp shape) sea of joy/hot generation nat young frankenspud x 25 x 3 1/8 single fin
iin most of the arrows have center boxes along with multiple fcs plugs...
i hope this helps
if i didn't have the attention span of a gnat..i'd be able to post pics
pm an e-mail address and i'll send pics
Here is a suggestion: Take a look at US Blanks 8-2A big boy blank. You can make a semi-gun, cut a few inches off the nose and tail and it will make a great big boy fish.
Here is a suggestion: Take a look at US Blanks 8-2A big boy blank. You can make a semi-gun, cut a few inches off the nose and tail and it will make a great big boy fish.
Thanks for all the help guys! I wasn’t sure if 3.5 was just too thick or not, now I just need to get to work on those rails.
It’s called math Steeeeeeeeve. Riders weight, board weight, skill level, then let shaper determine proper volume is the skill. How that volume is shaped is the art. I suggest losing some weight