Hi guys! I’m about to take a shot at my first board. First of all, Thank You to all the members of Sways. The amount of knowledge shared on this site is incredible.
Could someone have a look at the specs (see pic) and tell me what they think? I’m not 100% certain that I’ve got it right!. Any suggestions/refinements would be great. The board is intended to be a good paddler/wave catcher with some manoueverability thrown in. It’ll be ridden in slow, fat, 2’-4’ point break. I’m 30, 70kg, 5’9" and fairly fit.
As far as bottom contours go I was thinking V thru the last third of the board to help turns, flat thu the middle for speed with a slight concave in the nose (more to see if I can actually shape one than for any other reason hehe)
For rails I was thinking hard, 90 degree by the fins for release into a chine to help get on rail (is chine the right word? camber, chamfer?) with 50/50 at the nose.
The front half of the board looks like an egg, a good traditional shape that a longboarder (I assume you are, by your screen name!) would probably like. The back half doesn't look like it belongs with the front half, to me. Narrow tail, almost straight rail line, rounded pin / diamond? I'm new to board-building also, and like you, I design all my own boards. But I stick with proven shapes, with minor variations according to my tastes. No need to reinvent the wheel!
The size you picked, 7'8", is common for what some call "fun boards" (I know some swaylockers hate the term) or hybrids. If you do an image search on the internet for "funboard surfboards" or "hybrid surfboards", you'll get a plethora of images that might help you.
Other, more knowledgeable shapers will probably post up soon, and can probably give you more and better specifics.
Look forward to seeing pics of your first home-built surfboard!
move the widepoint back and put more curve in the tail. I would lower your rocker too. When I first started designing boards this kinda looked like what I was designing. Eventually you realize the extremes of design are bad, and that a happy medium is what you are after.
Thanks for the input. I've curved the tail more and lowered the rocker. Does this look any better? Also, any suggestions as to tail/nose thickness? I have absolutely no idea what they should be!
Huckleberry, yeah I've been riding longboards for a year now and love them. My surfing's improved, wave count has soared..what more can you ask for lol I'm currently on the McTavish F4 9'1" with a quad setup. It flies!
Riderofwaves, thanks mate. Guess I got just a little too enthusiastic first time round lol
You shouldn’t worry too much about nose and tail thickness right now… if you use a close-tolerance blank, then the thickness will already be pretty well proportioned with the rest of the board… although the tail tends to be a little too thick depending on what you want. Just measure out the center thickness, plane the excess and go from there, for starters.
If you’re a fan of that type of surfing and those types of boards, why not take a look at them and see what kinds of widths and rockers they’re using in those lengths? Note their tail widths - not even the girls’ boards are THAT narrow. No matter how new you are to surfing surely you’re stronger than a 50 kilo girl and can turn a wider board.
With what you’ve got going there I think your current shape is closer to the Roy Stewart school of design. That’s fine if it’s what you want, but from your description of what you’re trying to do I wouldn’t have otherwise guessed it.
