In otherwords if I have already got my blank with the right rocker and I’ve skinned it, and I have my template cut out, where do I begin, the bottom or the deck?
MCmalibu,
You have choosen one of the most difficult of all board shapes. Be sure to figure on just how you want the board to surf and have a very close look at as many boards similar to what you want to build as possible.
Sit in silently on an accomplished shaper in the corner of the room and take copeous amounts of notes.
Ask questions after the board is all done being shaped.
Don’t interrupt his process!
Carefully scrutinize all stages of your projected process. and make sure you have you tools in good shape and with a fine edge. Once you start don’t hurry!
Hulls benefit form nicely foiled thinned out tail sections and very engaged rails, rather sharp one. They ride low in the water and need a good measure of flexibility to function well.
Shaping:
Dial in rocker, cut outline, true bottom and shape bottom contours as there will be no concaves you’ll want to be sure that the bottom fits into the rail pattern perfectly.
Consider how you want the deck to be shaped carefully and rough the deck into rail plan that has been sketched on the edge of the outline, getting the thickness and dome of the deck ready to dovetail into the rails.
Cutting rail bands gradually establish a general rail pattern.
Do a final blending of the deck, bottom and rails sighting and feeling the board regularly during the process.
Sounds simple enough but it ain’t.
No Worries, Rich
When shaping bottom, consider using sections of your template pattern to pencil in some guides… like marking rail bands only on the bottom. Something like this… (your bevels will likely be placed differently - this one would have a flat tail and bellied nose area)
Florian…are you out there?? Flo could help ya as he made some really fine hulls with tutoring(mostly phone conversations) from one of the masters…
mcmalibu surfs the cove…maybe you already know him!
Roger
document and take step-by-step pics, if you can – post here.
I second (or is it third) the “watch someone else do one first.” But we can’t all be that lucky. So…
I would do the bottom first. That way you can blend the bottom of the rail and bottom bands knowing you’ll still have some meat on the top half of the rail to work with when you fuck up (you will, trust me. No way to avoid it!). Also, you can adjust the S-deck fore and aft to fit where you put the deepest part of the hull.
Use a level or straight edge to check things from rail to rail. Do this a lot. Unless you have a lot of blanks to play with or you have a hundred boards under your belt, go easy with the power planer.
Keep this in mind for your first one…It’s not the destination; it’s the journey that counts.
I had the pleasure of working for the one and only years ago. Absorbed most of my glassing and shaping knowledge from him, just at the time I was into trifins and classic logs. At the time I did not fully grasp the importance of Hulls. I have made 4 so far (and adapted a hull idea to a few longboards) I just feel that I am ready to make really good one. I will photo doccument and will post as soon as I begin (Memorial day maybe). I own 6 of GL’s and 2 Bojorquez, so I hope I have the data. Thanks for this and any further info/ encouragement.
I thought the bottom should be first…
OOh and any other tips or warnings are welcome…
Ooops, my bad. I thought you were trying your first. Nevermind…
I would love to watch Marc or Greg…whacking one out with Skill from scratch.
I hope I did not come off strong, I always want input and criticism. My previous attempts worked but were definitely not a Smoothie, they were very fast but I feel they lacked the true feel. This time I wanna do it better…
You hull guys, I just don’t get it, but you crack me up anyway. Rock on dudes!!
PS I like Lee’s advice, but I also follow the motto, wax 3 times, fall one time…
once everything has been cut out and trued, do your rail bands(top and bottom)the rest will follow as you turn the rails…(that’s one way i’ve seen it done by a mentor. ) i’ve made a couple myself which has been fun but time consuming, so i’ll leave it to the masters until they retire, at which time i’ll probably have to do it myself…
hi mcmalibu,
i only shaped a few myself with the guidance of pg so this is what i did:
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cut the rocker in the blank and level it completely out (if the blank has a rolled bottom)
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cut the outline (you might want to do that after shaping the thickness flow,
that way the blank is more stable)
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shape the thickness flow of the deck (+ 1/8" - 1/4’’ so you have some material to work with when you blend everything)
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cut the triplane in the bottom
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cut the triplane in the deck
now the the whole blank is cubed out, it’s like a cubistic hull…
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blend the hull in the bottom
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blend the dome of the deck
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turn the rails
try to blend everything…easier said than done
i used a japanese blockplane for everything, that way you have more control but it takes forever (part of the reason why i haven’t shaped one for a while)
i feel i can get the job done, but it’s only 75% of a liddle or pg…
thanks flo. you said what i was saying with more detail,but that is the way i’ve seen it done many times and have done so myself… by the way, i finally got my new pg 8’8" into some decent waves.it’s a ripper!due to lack of surf and neck issues i have not been in water too much. now iam ready and the fin tuning process continues for that board…