Hi vincentv , nice job on the repair , sorry perhaps I should have explained a little better but I wanted you to cut the rail band from the top or innermost 1in line to the 3/8 line , please do this all the way round the rear board up to the center of the board and then post pics , the next thing I want to talk to you about is the top deck , it looks like the surface of the moon , ignore it , forget about it , it does not matter it will have no effect on how the board surfs you are going to be standing on it , when you have done everything else MAYBE you can make it look better . Next we are going to talk about the three most important ellements that will effect the performance of your board , ( we are going to ignore the fins at this time ) bottom , rails , rocker , the bottom of your board is flat and that is good enough , you could put all kinds of concaves , channels , vee , but I dont think you have the tools or the experience to go that route and I am not sure that there would be any advantage on your board , remember flat is fast and fast is good . rails and rocker go hand in hand when shaping and will allow you to control the board , guide the water flow over and around your board , the old style fish had low nose rocker , low nose rocker will help your paddling but with just enough rocker to help you take off without pearling , the wide fish tail will help the low tail rocker add control when turning , the bottom is set the rocker is set , now you must get the rails correct or at least the best you can with what you have to work with , I just want you to take it slow , you cannot put back what you take off and the back 2/3 of the board is the most important to get right . carry on .
vincentv , in the second to last pic you posted the 3/8 line goes to the fish tail but does not go around into the fish crack , please make the line go all the way around the fish crack , then cut from the 1in line to the 3/8 line , post pics .
Hey gb, Thanks for the compliment 
You can’t see it very well on the pictures but i allready sanded the second rail band on the back part of the board until the center. I made a 3/8 line down from the top of the first rail band like you explained and sanded from the second 2inch line until the 3/8 line.
It might be confusing because the line that you can see on the pictures is one that i made in the middle of the first rail band (like the guy explained in the youtube movie).
Took out my best paint skills to make it more clear.
1= 2nd 1inch line on the deck
2= 3/8 line down from the first top rail. (I already sanded the 2nd rail so you can’t see anymore that it was 3/8 down from the top of the first rail)
3= Line i made like explained on the youtube video i posted earlier. (in the middle of the first rail band. This line is useless i guess and is just chilling there waiting to dissapear when i smooth everything out)
Note: I also sanded down the fish tail until the crack from 3/8 to 1inch line.
If you look closely you can see the abrupt stop of the second railband at the meeting point with the center line.
If you like more clear pics i can try to make some
@gb
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What’s the reason for going down only 3/8 and not until the middle of the first rail band? Keeping volume?
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I am ready for the part above the centerline, what’s your idea on how to do it? Keep going on the 3/8 line?
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My gut says NO NO NO on keeping the part you refer to as the moon. What about going in with a dremel about 1/2 inch and filling this up with new agave with enough tickness so that i can sand it down afterwards evenly with the rest of the deck, Just like i did the rail repairs.
vincentv , OK use the line that is there that I thought was the 3/8 line , measure in 1in from that line and cut that flat , the reason I am asking you to do this in small steps is because so many people think that rails need to be much more sloped than is really necessary , please take another look at JMs fish pic , look carefully at the slope of the rail to bottom , and remember you will still have to blend all the flats together to make a curve , please post pics of the tail of the board after you have made the next cut , stand back a little to show how the rails are .
just to make sure , measure up 1in from the # 3 line then cut .
Hi vincentv , happy new year , I have not heard from you I suspect that you downed too many of those Belgium beers , I have to leave town again so I am going to leave you with the last lot of instructions , these are the big ones vincent , no rushing , I am presuming that you have made the last rail band cut so now it is all about blending the rails , what I am going to ask you to do is not what I would do but I think it will help you keep everything under control , first I would like you to measure 12in along from the fish tail on that 1/2in do not cross line on the rail , do this on both sides of the board and then draw a line right across the board so you now have a line across the board 12in from the tail . now looking from the rear of the board start to blend the right hand rail from the rear up to the 12 in line and the right hand fish tail STOP do not rush , the idea is to remove as little wood as possible , the shape of the rail should curved like a soccer ball make sure that you do not cross the 1/2 in rail line and make sure you do not cross the top / inner rail band line , be like a little kid that has to color between the lines . take it slow and when you think you have got it right STOP , now do the same on the left rear rail up to the 12in line and fish tail obviously the objective is to get both sides the same , when you get there STOP , its always better to not remove enough wood than to remove too much . You now have a feel for shaping the rail bands , so you now have to continue those rail band lines that you drew from the tail of the board up the the half way line on up to the nose of the board , you are going to need to cut those rail bands before you sand BUT you have a problem toward the nose of the board where the board is thinner , perhaps you should first cut the bands on the thick side of the board , and then use the lines that are 6in apart across the board to measure the thickness on the thinner side of the board to see if you will be able to get both sides equal thickness if not you will have to adjust the thick side , when you have finished cutting the rail bands , sand the rails to match the rails at the rear of the board , GO SLOW , remember the Agave wood has different consistances , some will be hard and other parts soft , try to use a long sanding board and do not cross the lines , good luck , post pics , I will talk to you when I get back .
Update;
I started cutting and sanding the second rail band. I started on the left side (thinner side) which soon i realised this was not the best way to go so i stopped. I went over to the right rail band and cutted/sanded this one down trying and hoping that i will get more or less the same thickness on both sides. Unfortunately this is not the case.
So, unlike gbzausa explained to leave the deck like it is. I can not accept this and i like to get as close to perfection as i can with my skills. I will go over the rails now with my self made ““caliper”” and see what tickness difference i am dealing with here.
For the low spot on the left side of the deck i am looking in to raising it up with agave the same way i fixed my rails before. It will be a little more tricky but i don’t see it as an option leaving it this way.
Now some pictures of the second rail band on the right rail, the nose (which evened out a little more) and a picture of the left side where you can see that i started cutting the second rail band and then stopped.
This ‘‘problem is not ideal’’ but i am confident i will make it work.
Oh yes, and a happy new year to everybody here!
More pics please. Very nice build.
Hey all, it’s been a while. Mostly working and no time for shaping. I will post an update though either tonight or tomorrow.
There we go.
Update with pictures.
So I took out a couple of mm’s in the low spots on the deck and placed new pieces instead. This way i can make the deck nice and smooth like i want it.
Also i blended in the rails, still have to do some fine tuning but i’m happy with the result.
Now picture time…
The shape looks very good. Especially for Agave.
Thanks McDing!
For now i will focus my attention to fins and fin positioning.
I want glass on fins, preferably build alsp from agave but considering other types of wood as well.
I’ve been looking around and found one DIY agave fins topic.
Glass on is for aesthetics and it seems to me more easy then making finboxes,replaceble fins,… I don’t want plastic fin boxes in there.
Any links, insights and opinions are more then welcome.
Hi vincentv , well done , nice save on the left front rail area , and the deck , the board is looking good .
Board is looking fantastic!
Glass-ons are the way to go. Here’s some old vids I did foiling bamboo fins and glassing fins on. Hope it helps a bit. I’d go with Agave to keep the board consistent.
The fins in the foiling vid are for a fin box. No need for the base tab and hotcoat as you’ll be glassing them on.
Yep - your shape has come a long way and is looking great!
Wow. Just came back and had a look. Your board is looking great. This is Sways at its best. Help a guy out and he ends up with a nice board. Mike