Ok my lurking, and my ding question has inspired me to try a board (long term project). I want something in the 8 foot range, thick (3.75) and likely a single fin. can anyone suggest the appropriate blank? I want to do this on the cheap, as I suspect this one will be a learning experience. Also, am i crazy to start with an epoxy board? I have done some boat work, and am used to epoxy.
I have an infinity 9-6 cluster, a frierson 9-6 triple striger, and an in the eye 8 foot hybrid thruster. I think a thick single fin 8 footer would be fun for small beach break.
unless you weigh a lot, a 3.75 inch thick 8 foot board is going to be very corky. About the only clark blank that thick is the 9’3" and you’d have to cut that down a lot to get an 8 foot board out of it. I’d recommend you try somthing a little thinner! Or you can make your own blank with a hotwire, etc.
At 225, it takes alot for something to stay corky under me. The infinity I have is 3.75, and i like it. it is my impression that if i shave down a 9-3, i will get into some weak foam. IS that the case with length as well as thickness?
Making my own foam might be biting off a bit more then I want to on my first try
Depending on skill level man, I dont think you would need a 3.75 thickness on your black. (HAHAHA)
I mean, that seems just a bit too thick for me, and the amount of foam you’d have to cut off would just counteract what you are trying to achieve with the thickness.
Go less thick, or make a bigger board. That’s my advice. Since you are already working with two bigger boards, I would suggest going a little less thick.
I’ve seen people surf WAY thinner shortboards at your weight, so you definately dont need it to be that thick. Go thinner, my advice
The 9’3" Sid Madden ( keith’s post) should do the trick. Your want to take most of the thickness off the bottom, anyway, so don’t worry too much about the soft foam. I have a buddy who used that blank to make a board. He likes em really thick, too. No problems. Mike
even that blank is “only” 4 inches thick, so if you’re shooting for a 3.75 inch thick board, you definitely won’t be getting down into any soft foam. In fact you’ll be lucky to get the crust off and keep it to where you want it…
At 225, it takes alot for something to stay corky under me. I weigh 230 to 235, I’m 6’6" and my steady board is a 7’10" x 20" round pin singlefin with a 12" nose, 3" thick. More thickness is too much, in most cases way too much. What does it get you? My next board (currently at sanded hotcoat stage) is another 7’10" three-fin hybrid shape. Under 3" thick, and I’ll not exceed that thickness until I get to making another 10 footer for someone. There are physics issues, with negative effect, when your foot gets too far from the bottom surface, fin, and pivot point of the board (IMHO).
I guess I am basing a lot of my plans on a conversation I had with Steve Boehne (sp) at Infinity. I am an avid, but pretty bad surfer. Inland living and a new daughter makes surfing tougher and tougher.
I am heavy, but a decent paddler with good lungs. Look more at home on a rugby pitch then i do on a board. I appreciate the input from you guys. Truth is, I don’t know any shapers, have never seen it done, don’t have a template - or a clue where to get one- so I suspect “too thick” will be the least of my issues here. I just think it will be fun to try and make something I can ride.
Smart money says my best riding boards will be the ones I buy, but they may not be my favorite.
where do you live? If you’re in driving range of San Diego, I’m going to be shaping some more boards either this weekend or next, you’re welcome to swing by and carve some foam if you want… I have extra racks & tools you can use.
what a great offer and thanks. if I leave now i can be there in about 4 days. I am in Maryland, not far from the Chesapeake bay. I got some strange looks paddling my longboard on the Severn River last fall. I actually could have surfed Isabell last year on the river, otherwise its about 2 hours to the MD/DE beaches. Its easy to surf when you live on the ocean.
WOW, I am thinking as a type here. Maybe my first board should be a monster paddle board for training and screwing around. I am guessing a pretty good margin of error there, and I could actually use it weekly
Thanks though, that was very cool of you to offer.
Hey no problem. I actually drove from Calif. to Wash DC in 58 hours once. 4 days would be leisurely compared to that… I used to have some fishing/waterskiing friends that lived right on the Chesapeake Bay, just the name of the place brings back nice memories…spent a week sailing there once too… For some reason when I first saw your post I thought you were asking about a board for Blacks’ beach (in San Diego) so I thought maybe you were around here…
Well, perhaps some Swaylocker in your neck of the woods can help out. And the paddleboard idea is not bad, either… just don’t use too much rocker or you’ll be slow!
58 hours Keith? I hope you were not using anything stronger than coffee. I drove from L A to Tampa Florida in 3 1/2 days and thought I was hauling ass. Of course, my wife had already been there for 5 weeks. I was a salmon charging upstream if you know what I mean. Mike
The 58 hour trip, trying to get home for Xmas. I drove it in a station wagon with 4 drivers total – always 2 in the front driving, 2 in the back sleeping. Lots of coffee, & at one truck stop 3 of us ate eggs but the 4th ate pancakes – he was the only one that didn’t get food poisoning. What a trip. Bleah…
I’ve done the cross-country drive 7 times in a car, once on a motorcycle (never again!) and once on a BUS (DEFINITELY never again!)… airplanes are wonderful things!
Took me and my buddy 6 days to make the trip from South Carolina to LA, but we took the scenic route through Denver and Vegas
Chris, My dad’s friend now works in DC - and used to shape in Oahu when I was little. I’m not sure if he still makes boards or not - but regardless, I’m sure he can help you out in terms of what you would need. I can try and get some info from my father and see if his friend wouldnt mind offering a hand. He’s a really nice guy who is stoked to talk to me about surfing and shaping everytime he calls even though he hasnt seen me in years. I can get the number from my old man and see if he would be willing to help you out.
Bryan, Thanks for your kind offer. I sent you an email.
Im grooving on this paddleboard idea. an 11 footer that gave me some river fun, but could do double duty as a crazy tanker on ankle high days with nonsurfing friends. So Ill continue to drag this forum down to the kindagarden level here … how do unconnected ding dongs like me find a template? can you buy them? would i be crazy to get a pretty close blank and add my own gofasters? divot here/tweak there, maybe a bbq grill and a ledo deck?
Any words you guy got to spare will be put to some use.
Looks like I will be buying the glassing and shaping videos.
Hey Jim - the car we were driving started to shake & shimmy like a wild thing over 55 MPH (I think it was an unbalanced drive shaft, but it wasn’t my car so…). Most of my cross country trips were way faster than that, avg. driving speed…at least we didnt’ get any speeding tickets that trip…although we did get searched in the middle of the night at a road block by some cops in Smokey the Bear hats who claimed they were looking for an escaped prisoner…
