This is my first post and my first completed board. I would like to start by saying thanks to everyone on this forum. Thanks…Roughly ten years ago I decided to shape my own board, circumstances and a lack of resources thwarted my plan and life passed for years without any production, until recently when the urge surfaced again. This time I happen to have a garage and swaylocks… I have watched Carper’s videos (thanks to my local library) and whatever print resources I could find but still found myself without a clue. You guys have been the greatest help of all. I wanted to post sooner but each time I had a question it was already addressed in the archives. So here is the fruit of your labor, and a little of my sweat and frustration. A 6.1 thruster with futures and a home-made tailpad. Two lam graphics and some marker. Well I’m not going to ramble anymore, I will attempt to upload the pictures. Oh yeah, I also wanted to show you my planer mods. I bought a cheapy harbour freight unit and made a cam adjuster. A swing from left to right gives full adjustment in a little less than half a turn. Aloha, Josh
Nice board. what are the measurements? I’m really interested in your HF planer mod. could you go into more detail how you made that cam adjuster. Thanks.
INCREDIBLE considering it’s your first board! Judging by the pictures that’s just as good as any other off-the-rack thruster in your local surf shop!
I’ve shaped 4 and mine STILL aren’t that good.
Like I said awesome job.
How did you make your own traction pad? Where did you get the materials for it? Did you just get the rubber (or whatever trac pads are made of) and put it in a waffle iron?
Sorry about the extra large photos. I’ll work on that…
The board measured out at 6’1, nose 11.5", tail 14.5", width 19.5", thickness 2 3/8".
That planer mod took alittle trial and error, maybe more error… I scrapped my first several attempts, even though they looked better they sucked when it came down to business. The current set up looks rough but is smooooooth. I don’t have all the specs for the materials. I just sorta threw it together with stuff lying around the garage. First I did away with that super spring and replaced it with a weaker version, then I took a sleeve that fit nicely over the bolt for the front shoe. Cut the sleeve at an angle. used a nut tack welded to the upper part of the sleeve(this is where you get your adjustment to set up to zero). drilled a hole to insert and weld a lever of some sort to the bottom half of sleeve. A washer at the bottom, deburring the contatct surface and some grease helped things nicely. took a few minutes to get it all dialed in. The angle of the cut on the sleeve will determine the range of travel. I also did the whole fill and smooth of the shoe and base plate. hope this clears things up alittle. aloha josh.
As I was working on the last reply this one popped up… Ok so the trac pad was made out of EVA foam. this stuff is used everywhere. As soon as you are aware of it you’ll notice it all over the place I bought mine in sheets at my local craft store(Micheals). It is craft foam. 2mm, 3mm, and 6mm were availiable in my store. I used one piece for a solid base the built the pattern by layering pieces on top of each other with contact cement, built a raised area for the arch and for the very back just like all the trendy store jobbers. finally glued a solid peice over everything to seal the deal. super77 spray adhesive to attach to board. 7-8 surfs with great results.
Great first board, I love that you made your own deck grip, I’ve never thought ot doing that, but your’s looks just as good as the ones in the surfshop,
