Non-shaper here thinking about adding another board to the quiver and have a question with regards to float etc - not sure if this is even applicable - just trying to be a little more educated in what size board i should narrow my search to ... so here goes. So i have a board that i am happy with in regards to how it floats, paddles and performs (6'8" x 20 3/4 x 2 3/4 - diamond tail - not sure what the cubic volume is). So lets say if I'm looking to pick up a different design board (a shorter performance fish perhaps) for different conditions and want to make a best guess as to what would give me the similar amount of float, paddling without sacrificing performance .... outside of using a CAD program to determine the cubic volume is there any general rule of thumb to follow?
Oops…double post.
I reckon posting pictures of the current board will be very helpful simply because there’s so much variation that can occur in foam distrubition that I doubt many shapers could advise more than ballpark dimensions on a new board with just those basic dimensions to go on. Please feel free to educate me if I’m totally wrong and shape me a new board gratis to show me the error of my ways. 
I’m just an interested observer but I’d be measuring width 12" from nose and tail. Thickness in nose and tail. Also advising on nose and tail rocker and rail shape to give the best idea with accompanying pictures.
Without fancy stuff like a volume tub/cad program, measuring width every 3-6" and thickness, you can get pretty close.
My opinion is, forget about the volume…
Choice no. 1 is go and talk to a respected local shaper about your needs, get a custom.
Of course that costs a lot, so second-hand might be what you’re after.
I’d start from the beginning and work through these questions, asking yourself:
-
What waves will you be riding it it?
-
How do you want to surf or expect to surf in those waves?
You should eventually be able to pick a broad style of board from those Q’s, like a fish, egg, mini-mal, performance shortboard etc etc.
Then you need to get the right size for you, for that style of board, so a couple more questions:
-
What is your ability level? Weight?
-
What are other people your size and ability riding at your local spots? Are they surfing how you want to or imagine you could, given the right board?
Then there’s a whole lot of info to be found and people here who can start sizing that particular style of board for your needs.
And disect every design feature, if you wanna probe that deep!!!
Now, i’m not the one qualified enough to answer all those questions, but they are the ones I’d be asking if I was in your position.
The key sequence is to figure out what you want to do in the water,
It will all follow from there
Hop this helps and doesn’r confuse more…
Thanks for the replies ..... was just asking in general terms. I plan of taking a couple demo boards out from a local shop and just trying figure out a good starting point. Especially, with a design like a fish where I see guys much larger than i riding boards that are 5'9" etc. Surfing ability aside - it's hard to get my head around the board being able to float him. I am curious though ... i have a tremendous amount of respect for the craft .... from a shaper's point of view of when a customer walks into the shop and wants a board shaped ... what is the most important thing he can tell you or you take away when determining what to shape - or is it mostly experience and gut instinct?
[quote="$1"]
My opinion is, forget about the volume....
Choice no. 1 is go and talk to a respected local shaper about your needs, get a custom.
Of course that costs a lot, so second-hand might be what you're after.
I'd start from the beginning and work through these questions, asking yourself:
- What waves will you be riding it it?
- How do you want to surf or expect to surf in those waves?
You should eventually be able to pick a broad style of board from those Q's, like a fish, egg, mini-mal, performance shortboard etc etc.
Then you need to get the right size for you, for that style of board, so a couple more questions:
- What is your ability level? Weight?
- What are other people your size and ability riding at your local spots? Are they surfing how you want to or imagine you could, given the right board?
Then there's a whole lot of info to be found and people here who can start sizing that particular style of board for your needs.
And disect every design feature, if you wanna probe that deep!!!
Now, i'm not the one qualified enough to answer all those questions, but they are the ones I'd be asking if I was in your position.
The key sequence is to figure out what you want to do in the water,
It will all follow from there
Hop this helps and doesn'r confuse more......
[/quote]
KK - good advice - no confusion .... i'm not planning on making a decision strictly on that alone ..... i've gone the off the rack and the custom shape route on previous boards. I've had boards that i liked and some that i ended up not liking from both sides and others that i just out grew ..... and to be fair - unless a shaper actually watches me surf - he can only go by what information i'm giving him and maybe i'm not as good as i think i am or not giving myself enough credit. My 6'8" is a Stewart Swinger - and i like it but i'd also would like to try riding other style/design .... i really interested in trying a Speed Dialer or Creekfish type board for summer (SoCal) - and possibly as a daily go-to board.
Volume is a great tool to use in equalizing or ranging bouyancy across a quiver. For your purposes, it'll be much quicker to open boardcad (it's free), and model your shape. There's still a lot of measuring - interval thicknesses and the amount of deck roll are important - but unless you're a math whiz that likes to crunch #s, once you have the measurements it just makes sense to use the computer. (if you're reading this you're using one anyway...)
That will be the closest you can get without a scan or displacement tank.
http://custom.firewiresurfboards.com/custom/config
Try this link. It’s Firewire’s CAD program for (slightly) modifying some of the boards in their catalog. You can play around with the numbers to see what it does with volume. What I think you’ll see is that adding width or thickness has more effect than adding or subtracting length. I ran your numbers on a CAD program and applied them to a performance shape with a drawn in nose and tail, and ended up with around 41 liters. I’ve got a 5-5 fishie that’s got only slightly less volume than that.
I think if you’re already comfortable on a 6-8 you could probably drop 4" without a problem, maybe more. I believe the primary limitation with board length is wave judgement and timing more than the physical attributes. You need enough float to paddle comfortably but that’s about it.
Wow - that's pretty cool ... i'm a computer systems engineer by trade ... so it'll be fun to mess around with.
Hey Gdaddy - thanks .... kinda of where i was driving at - if you have a board at a certain length and want to go shorter .. how much wider and/or thicker does it have to be to provide roughly the same cubic volume. I remember reading an interview Matt Biolos did where he kinda got into using cubic volume for designing a board and i guess with more and more shapers using CAD tools - cubic volume is becoming more prevalent. I agree with you - in that - board length effects your take off point. With paddling - i'd say i am a decent paddler - catching waves is generally not a problem unless i'm having to compete with a bunch of longboarders or a crowded lineup and i typically try to hit the more popular spots on weekdays - still i would rather sacrifice a little performance for a little extra paddling power. I'm thinking of trying out a 6'4" and maybe a 6'2" and then try to gauge it from there ...