question… do you guys think that if I went into a surf shop and asked if I could template a board, they would be cool? thanks!
No
It depends on the shop. For his first board, a friend of mine walked into a South Bay surf shop and templated one of their longboards. Though they were cool with it, I wouldn’t recommend this. In the long run, you’re better off playing around with some of your own lines. Start with some basic dimensions for the length, nose, mids, and tail, then connect them until you’re satified with the outline. It’s not hard to do and a lot more satisfying.
Check the surf mags for one of those design sections with the nice outline shots. Take it to a copy machine that can enlarge it - use a final 1’:1" ratio. In other words, if you want an outline 9’ long, scale the enlargement to exactly a 9" image. (If the original image is 4 1/2" long, use a 200% enlargement.) Measure at 1" from the nose and tail and also the widepoint and as many intermediate points as you like. Connect the dots and you’ll have a workable outline very close to the one in the original picture. I’m not here to duscuss the pros and cons of copying vs your own design - this is just a way to do it.
the one time i tried that i thought the shop employees were gonna burn me at the stake. the answer i got was a definitive NO…