After reading through all of the topics on here I think I am almost ready to start on my first board. I was thinking on a mini simmons (5'8" x22" x3" with a 4" rocker on the nose and 1.5 on the tail). Do these dims look right? I'm 6'2"/180lbs. I was planning on getting some eps foam from lowes and doing a stringerless board with maybe some bamboo skins so that it doesn't ding up too easily. Does this sound about right? How difficult is this to acheive? Any help/advice would be appreciated (even if I'm completely going in the wrong direction for my first shape...which is a high possibility).
Welcome to sways. Maybe some of the guys who use foam from Lowe's and bamboo can come along and help you also. IMO it might be simpler to just do a substantial hand-lam, unless you have the vac equipment needed to properly put down the bamboo. It's your first board, keeping it simple might be best. Have fun!
Without the bamboo skin would I need to put a stringer in there? Read about a few made on here with epoxy glue used as a mock-stringer. Any tips so that it doesn’t ding up too easily?
Also, I’m real limited on space in my garage to set up my shaping area. How much of a detriment would it be to not have lights on the sides?
Don’t sweat it. Stringerless + veneer is plenty strong, especially if you’re going with a 3" thickness in such a short length. Do a decent rail lap.
One of the most popular veneer-based builds right now is a stringerless 1.5# EPS blank with veneer on the deck and a regular wet lam on the bottom. A couple of the regulars here are just using the veneers for deck patches.
For glass they use 2x4 on the bottom and a layer of 4oz under the deck and another one over the deck. They do those for performance boards. The rap on using veneers on both sides is that the boards end up being stiff.
With a Simm shape you might also have some difficulty with wrapping the veneers around the contours on the bottom, too.
gdaddy, you make a good point. Do you think that with my first board and also not having a vacuum bag available I should just keep it basic and stick away from the veneers? Was thinking on taking Mike’s advice and going that route
In terms of being difficult to get right I think bagging veneers is possibly one of the simplest processes to learn. It’s way easier than laminating or sanding, for example. But if you don’t have access to a vacuum rig that kind of simplifies your decision making, doesn’t it?
Choosing a Simm for your first board is kinda gutsy. I salute you. I think you’ll have your hands full just shaping and glassing the blank. If you decide not to go with a veneer you can still go stringerless on a 3" blank. You just have to make sure you use enough layers of cloth on the deck. Like Mike said - and he knows better than most of us - just sticking with a conventional build this time around will make your task a lot easier. I mean, it’s not like you’re just going to stop after doing your first board.
You may want to give your board the full super upgrades but trust me keep it simple, i made a 9 foot log last year, rode it all winter this year and it’s been more fun that a playboy theme park, super satisfying!
I’m making a mini mini simmons for my new on this year as my second board, i’ve spoke to loads of guys on here and read alot of threads, if your having a mare give me a shout we can work it out together! mines on a smaller scale though!4’ long, 11.3” tail, 12.7”
nose, 15.3” wide, 2” thick.
So finally begun to shape my sims. I had to shave off a little foam to correct an error I made (doing it out of lowes xps....buying a blank for my next one for sure) and am now left with a 5'5"x22"x2.5" board. Before I shape the rail bands into it I was wondering if this is going to have enough volume to float me (6'2" x 180lbs)? Thanks for all of your help. I'll be putting up a build thread once I make a little more progress.
i bet that will be fine, if you keep it wide like plus or minus 19 a foot from either end, maybe 20 a foot from the tail? maybe dont go quite as stylistically knifey with the rails to keep thickness going around? or hell just slap another one inch sheet like 3 feet long onto the middle of the board and make an s deck that looks like a camel, ha…i weigh 185 am 6’1", making one of these right now, also 2 and a half thick, but a hair longer and wider, i know just by lookin at the thing it will be more than enough float. rails more complex than ive done before, but turning out ok. I like making my own blanks too; its a perverse theory of mine that even though it takes longer and may end up just as expensive, at least i didnt ruin a perfectly good blank. Weird, huh. Starting from raw materials doesnt feel so bad when things dont go as planned. Almost feel confident enough I might buy my first blank next year, maybe. Have fun
they look easy coz the planshape is square and rocker is minimal but they are a challenging little thing to shape, especially fist board, expect some issues...but best of luck....someone above said they are doing a 4 fter, I did a 5'3" and feels as small as I would go coz my back foot almost wants to go off the back, just caeful you dont go too small if its ya first mini-sims, just my thoughts, you may know exactly what ya doin......pleae joing the 'bars of soap' thread and add pics...it has to be one of the best threads seen for a while, soo many pics....and great info....
Believe me, I am far from knowing what I am doing. I'm completely expecting alot of flaws with this board but all in all it was a blast to shape and I learned alot. Already thinking about ideas for #2.
So after a long winter and some other obligations, it has finally come time to glass this board (or at least I think?). Through shaping I noticed some imperfections, especially within the glue line stringer. There are a few small gaps along the “stringer” as well as a small ding hole from the construction of the foam close to the rail. Are these going to cause issues during glassing and lead to possible delam? I just don’t want to glass a board that is going to fall apart in 2 sessions.
Thanks for your help. This warming weather has really given me the shaping itch again.
You sizing is fine for your simm I’m 6’6 190 and ride about the same size as that. For the little holes near where your stringer is fill them with resin use a resign syringe and for the chunk if its not to deep use light weight spackle
