I’m going to buy my blank today at Mitch’s for my first shape.
I still haven’t decided on some good dimensions for me though.
I’ve ridden a 9’8" and and 9’0" about 10 times combined. But i’m mainly a shortboarder. I want a longboard in my quiver, something that I could learn to noseride on.
I’m an average surfer. 5’7" 160 lbs.
Could someone give me some help? I was thinking in the 9’0" - 9’6" range.
Thanks a lot.
9’4" – 9’6" should do ya right.
Walker foam is the way to go.
the 9’4" Walker blank has a good rocker curve, but wouldn’t leave you much room for error.
the 9’6" Walker blank is a little flat in the tail for my taste.
the 9’8" Walker blank has a good curve, and will allow you plenty of room for adjustment to get the perfect foil on a finished board from 9’4"-9’6".
here’s some sample dims, but remember it’s the rocker and rails that really makes a noserider work…
Nose: 18" to 19"
Center: 22-1/2" to 23-1/2"
Tail: 15" to 16"
Thickness: 3-1/4"
Thanks for the reply
What types of rails generally work best? I’ve seen a lot of conflicting information. Hard? or soft?
For rocker, … minimal nose rocker, correct?
And lots of tail rocker?
soft rails all around. pinched out 50/50 through the midsection. very knifey out the tail. a bit down at the nose, and maybe a bit up at the back.
you’d probably appreciate some nose concave. a little belly through the midsection, increasing out the tail.
minimal nose rocker, and a nice kick in the tail…but nothing too extreme on either end.
being a shortyboarder at heart (for now, at least!), a board that turns well would probably be best. take a look at the Bing “Gold Standard” – a board like that could really do ya right…especially if you wanted to ride the longboard in shoulder+ surf. if you want something for the shin-slappin’ days, something a little more subtle would be better.
download APS3000 and play around. start with those numbers and find a curve that’s pleasing to the ol’ eyeballs.
So I couldn’t get the 9’4" Walker. It was 25 bucks more than this 9’3" Y US Blank.
Hopefully it won’t matter? I just won’t put much nose rocker in it.
I started shaping though! I can tell that I’m really going to like this. So far I marked out some points. And then I just hand traced an outline. ( I couldn’t find anything to trace it with, and I once read somewhere here that it would be fine just to connect the dots by hand).
I then cut it out with a hand saw and sanded it to the line. (that took forever!)
And then i traced it on to a bunch of sheets of paper that I taped together and made the template.
Then i finished cutting out the other half of the outline.
Sweet, now time to start sanding the top and bottom.
Question: I already tried using the block planes 6.5" and 3" to start shedding some foam off the top. And Neither produced a nice smooth cut. It was jagged and uneven. Are there any tricks to using it? or should i just use a surform and sandpaper to take down the deck and bottom?
i find the U.S. Blanks foam to be a bit spongy – better for more of a performance board; while Walker is nice and crisp – better for a log. but no matter…for $25, i’d have gone with the U.S. Blanks, too (“green” density, i hope?).
when taking the rough cut down to the templated line, use a 5.5" surform and/or some 40-grit on a sanding block…should go rather quickly.
your planer blades may not be sharp enough, or you may be trying to cut too deep in one pass. sharpen the blades, and round off the edges if you can. cut at a bit of an angle, and don’t try to take too much with each pass.
how would i tell if it’s green?
It’s written in blue letters, this may be a dumb question but doest that mean it’s blue?
is green more dense?
is it that big of deal?
I adjusted the blade so it wasn’t so deep, but i decided to use a sanding block and surform to take off the top.
do your self a favor buy a power planer, block planes are just a pain in the butt with foam except for the stringer. for a pure noserider, 50/50 all the way around. if you want to turn more than ride the nose(but still be able to) just slightly turned down 60/40 and knifey
yeah, i was thinking 50/50 all the round originally …
and a flat bottom
yes, green is more dense…but no, it’s really not that big of a deal at all…just my preference.
and if you are going to be doing more than 1 or 2 boards a year, definitely invest in a power planer.