Covid-19 has forced me home from college to sunny and flat SC and all this time indoors has finally given me enough free time to throw at some foam. I wanted to keep a thread going to document my progress and get the inevitable feedback I need to improve my craft.
I’m planning on mostly copying a 7’8" Ryan Lovelace Fat Lizzy as it will fit a nice gap in my quiver and looks like a wonderful board. Planning on doing a 2+1 fin setup, some art, and some extra fin/deck patches.
Today was my first day of shaping and I made some good progress albeit instantly gouging foam from my saw blade that kept bending. Starting the rocker, planing, and keeping things even has been pretty easy and satisfying otherwise. Next up is finishing the rocker a little more and then working on the bottom contours.
Right on man… Keep the progress pics going and what you learn along the way. I have been really wanting to build a lovelace lizzy recently and may do one after this fish is complete so this will be good to follow.
Out of curiosity I would be interested to hear why you picked the lizzy as well?
I did some research on performance midlengths and hulls and decided on the Lizzy because I wanted to make something a little more accessible and versatile than a full hull - I feel like the Lizzy is a little better suited for rough New England Winters and sloppy Summers while still allowing for some smooth surfing.
I have a question for anyone that can answer: After I finish the rocker and fix some gouges, which part of the triplane do I start with? I’d assume I mark off where the chines will be and dig out the middle plane. I’m also planning on taping off the center of the middle plane so I can later blend that middle bump over the stringer seen in the Lizzy.
I haven’t kept up on Lovelace’s designs but I had previously thought that the Lizzy was aimed at bigger and faster conditions, and NOT all that versatile. When I think of a hull or semi-hull design that’s aimed at the wider range of conditions I think of Andreini’s Vaquero. That’s a refined design where all the elements are in moderation: template, foil, rocker, bottom contours, rail profiles.
Personally, I also wouldn’t bother with a 2+1 on a pintail. It’s not like youi’re going to be coming off the top on a design like that anyway. A centerfin isn’t going to lose its hold on a pintail design that’s being surfed in its element. If he wasn’t doing such a heavy chine on the rails he probably wouldn’t be using the bonzer runners, either. IMO
But yeah, you can tape off the chine on the rails, but before I went after the rails I would try my best to get the dead flat bottom as the starting point. I would use a long sanding block (like 24") at the 45* to fair the bottom out. Walk that sucker from end to end for however long it took to get the flat bottom. You also need that stringer to sit flush before you even look at doing the rails.
One thing I will say about convex contours on a board is that a little goes a long way. Even a 1/8" chine off a flat bottom will really smooth out the rail-to rail transition, and you definitely can go too far. I know Lovelace has been working on the edge board designs for several years now so that’s what I’m seeing in his Lizzy design, but that was an evolution he and his riders came to after they got bored with the hull designs, and so their style has also evolved. If you haven’t been doing hulls the way they have been then your results might vary.
On the plus side, I think the general design of a midlength with tri-plane bottom is a really good choice for a first board. I wish I had been smart enough to do that.
I appreciate the advice and will take it into my shaping. Lovelace is using a 1/4" chine so I think 1/8" will work perfectly as you said. I will probably keep the bottom a little mellower too while keeping that nice triplane - to double - to flat. Probably keep the plugs out of the mix too since their bonzer runners are so damn expensive.
Do you think the general plan of 70/30 softening to rounder rails on the deck will still suit me well? Should I keep the same fin position?
I’ll defo be keepkng an eye on this thread. There’s no doubt Lovelace has a wonderful view on surf design. I have not ridden anything from him but have had a close up of several models, there all very individual but seem pretty special
I made a 7’2 midlength, looking at your foil across the rocker it looks very parralel at the moment, I’ve found on the longer boards it’s kind of hard to see it till later on.
I wasn’t trying to talk you out of doing the tri-plane. That’s a legit design. I was only mentioning the point that you don’t need an extreme chine to smooth the board out, particularly in the narrower lengths. You might use more angle in a 23" wide board than you’d use in a 21" board, if you know what I mean.
The other thing is that if this is your first effort at building your own then simple and basic is good. Really good. Flat is fast when you’re in trim. Single fins are faster than clusters when you’re in trim. And with a 7-6 length it will be that rail line that provides your drive, not you pumping a fin cluster off a pin tail. Us backyarders are notorious for adding a bunch of extras to our first builds prior to acheiving control over the basics. It’s common for noobs to add resin tints and pinlines and S-glass and concaves and the like before we’ve figured out how to get the symmetrical template or the functional foil or the flat stringer or the hard edge in the rails at the tail.
McDing says shape comes first. He also says that you can’t fix a problem in a later step that you created in a previous step. Those are words to live by for us backyarders. Take your time, perfect each step as best you can prior to moving to the next step. Stick to the basic designs until you’re ready to start adding the extras. And most of all, enjoy the learning process because that’s the thing when you’re building your own.
I’m back after some school projects and some teachable moments that involved a sizeable purchase of Q-Cell. Those moments have been omitted but let’s say I was too enthusiastic with an overly flexible saw.
Spent the day hollowing out the middle plane and double concave in the back. I used tape to block the chimes and the vee area (which I taped in 2 stages). Pretty hassle free as I used a Varirad and three densities of sanding blocks to take it out slowly. Gonna smooth out the bottom tomorrow and get ready to do the chines and rails
First of all, let me congratulate you on taking the step of building your first surfboard. I like to say that building a surfboard is not particularly hard to do, but its pretty doggone hard to learn, and its also pretty doggone hard to do it well. So its a challenge worthy of your best efforts.
Welcome to swaylocks, where building surfboards is what we’re all about - which you know since you have been lurking, which is time well spent.
I like your work area, it looks up to the task. And so far, you are off to a good start - well begun is halfway done, or something like that.
Keep those progress photos coming! (and let me add: if you keep your photo files in the KB not MB you will find they will post with the correct orientation, and help the page load faster for many viewers)
Absolutely correct on Andrenni’s Vaquero and flat bottom first. Establish the flat bottom like it’s a canvas and then build in the details, contours etc., blending the various elements at the finish stage. Hulls or complex bottoms, channels etc. are difficult even for Pros. For a first shape you will have a lot to deal with and make it work. Most of the time when a shape like this is attempted on a first board everything comes out overly exaggerated. Not subtle, not blended correctly. A guy usually does something wrong and then is unable to correct it. Which becomes a chain reaction, causing other elements in the design to not be close to what you intended. On the other hand; the elements of the design are pretty self evident, so can be seen and understood easily. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to discourage you. I’m sure that if you establish a process and slowly go thru it one step at a time, you’ll be happy with it.
More progress, I’ve only been working once a week or so to drag it out.
Y’all were right when you said that problems casued in prior steps will come back with a vengance. This caused me to have to pivot and downsize the total length by a 4 or so inches so I could get fresh foam back on most of the rail area.
The outline and rails are looking much better now and I’ve carved some thickness and bottom contours off!
Shaped the down rails earlier this week, filled in some more dings, and narrowed out the nose and tail a bit more.
Had my first foray into glassing today, way harder than I thought and had trouble fully saturating the laps. I had another dingus move of leaving some strands on the edges that will be a fun sanding challenge.
Lots of smoothing to come before a better lamination job on the deck.
Took a while to post my last update but here are the Finished pics
had my girlfriend attack the top and bottom with Poscas over hot coat - wish we did it on foam but it was too late in the process. Turned out pretty well! Did fin box and leash plug with a borrowed dremel and router.
Glossed with Suncure because I was in a pinch and got a ton of orange peels and fish eyes over the Posca and from moving the board. Kinda knew it would happen but I had to finish the board so I could move back up north. Dry/wet sanding and polishing with automotive polish made the finish way more acceptable and shiny from the right angle.
overall I’m happy and now have floaty a board for winter break in Florida. Excited to try another hull with a little more forethought and steady sawing so I can get the foil right next time.
