Beak nose for fish & foil/rocker question

General Discussion
1

I will be shaping another old school fish this weekend and I want to put a beak nose on it. I’m using the clark 7’3" (the phil becker plug) - bottom length= 72" - 17"x21"x16 5/8", 6" deep swallow, tips 11 1/2" apart and around 3" thick. Twin fins out of plywood.

I want to keep the thickness running throughout the board and want to do a beak nose. I’ve never shaped one before. I’ve looked in the archives and got some info and have a couple older boards to look at (not fishes but with beaks), but I just want to double check some things:

The length of the beak (from the tip of the board into the deck area) should be equal to width of the rail band? Cut the beak length first, then cut the rail bands and blend the two together? Keep the deck as flat as possible?

Any other pointers would be appreciated. Also:

I’ve only done one other fish like this before (the previous had no beak), and in looking others on line I’ve noticed that when looking at the rocker and foil profile a lot of them carry the thickness throughout but the ends of the swallow section are thinned out. In other words, say the swallow is 6" deep, these boards seem to have the last 6" of the tail thinned out (looks like it’s taken off from the top). Does this make the board easier to set on a rail?

Thanks for any info.

2

Mikedwalrus,

Sounds like you answered most of your own questions. Build it, ride it, and have fun. Mike

3

On the beak nose deal you were right about turning the rail bands.The detail that make it look right is leaving the stringer bump at the top so when you look down the deck the nose looks pointed.Hard to explain.I used to shape 6 a day of this type board and I always finished the deck first…the tucked under rail came last.If you want to leave a chine on the bottom go ahead and tuck the edge and the come back with the flat sanding block on the bottom.This is what brings up a really straight clean line on the chine.(like poetry).