This seems like a question I shouldnt even be asking after 5 boards but…
I have always believed that you took a blank, Planed off the crusty bits, trued it even, then laid down your template and cut out your shape.
Then and only then did you start planing it to the desired thickness…
But, I have watched numerous shapers in “youtube” videos after truing up the blank, BEFORE cutting the template shape, plane the blank down to the basic thickness of the board.
Both tail and nose. Wouldn’t that make it hard to keep the blank true and the edges parallel?
Next blank, which will proabably be another EPS blank, I do the plane to thickness first, maybe leaving a little on the tail for adjusting tail rocker.
We’ll see how it goes. I have always done the templae first but I see some advantages with this method. Less to cut through template wise and as stated more wiggle room.
its a lot easier to get a true shape if you plane rocker/ thickness first. BUT you need to already know the design you are shaping and the blank profile you are working with.
if its a new design or a new blank profile than it is hard to decide where to take out the thickness until you have the reference of having your outline cut.
I rough cut the nose and tail close to the finished length then plane close to finished thickness before cutting the outline. I’ve done it both ways but this is the way I now prefer.
An important, and frequently overlooked part of the process, is to first level the shaping racks. Then, and only then, you’ll be able level the blank, top and bottom. After doing that, I would check overall thickness, do a light cleanup pass on the bottom, and proceed to lay out the template for the board. After that, shape the surfboard you had in mind. There are many paths to the top of that mountain. This is the one I chose.
Length first, then thickness, then bands. The main reason for this is the planer will have more support for cross-cutting at the nose and tail using the full width of the blank. Makes things more even on each side since you’re starting the cut way outside of the outline. A secondary reason is to establish your “cut” rocker and then match your outline to that. Mark dots for the midddle, nose, tail along the rail since you’ll be cutting on the deck and bottom. It’s absolutely necessary to level the racks like Bill said, and I like to have a level line on the wall from where you sight down the shape to check side to side eveness.
Cool video. He measures rocker same way I do. It amazes me today to think what it would have been like to have these online video resources when I started out.
In addition to all the good stuff above, I’ve learned the hard (unfortunate) way to make sure my racks were the same distance apart as the glasser’s - before I did this my boards never came back with the same rocker I shaped into them.