So sohaole and I are done shaping our first boards, and we’ll be glassing them in a week or so…We’re currently in the process of making our own keels from some ply. Here’s a couple pics of our finished shapes, ready to be glassed…The first pic is me and the second is sohaole…
Here’s some more pics…
First two are of my board (5’8", 22"wide, 16 1/2" nose, 16" tail)
Second two are of sohaole’s…Not sure on the dimensions except that it’s a 5’11" and 22" wide. Those are the keels he’s made so far…
i have a general idea what stoke is (its not in the dictionary) so its safe to say i am stoked and i feel you stoking whan i look at your pictures. i like looking at pictures of the first few boards a person makes because it helps raise the bar for wannabe shapers. i wouldn’t mind seeing the first few that g. hunt cranked out, i bet there’s some flashes of inspiration in those.
Hey tenover, for a guy that sands his hands and puts them in acetone, you do a good job on a fish. Nice job. Sorry I hit you so hard on that thread. I was a safety officer for a while and I just snapped on that one. Bagman.
Lol…No worries…I know it was stupid, I just need to remind myself that beer+glassing=trouble 
Thanks for the compliment.
Waaahoooooo… They look great, boys. The fins, too. Mike
Looking good guys, be sure to post some pics of the glassing and the keels.platty.
ACK… are those bare hands on a finished blank?
…it just seems that you’ve been taking a lot of slack around here lately, so I though I’d chime in too. Just make sure you re-sand those rails (and I don’t mean 80 grit) before glassing. Are one of those coming to the lesson session down in San Diego for the suggested tint demo?
Nice job man… welcome to the addiction.
I was thinking of bringing mine to the shindig, but maybe not…and yeah, I’ll definitley give mine the once-over before glassing…
I just called Mitch’s, and the heaviest glass he carries is 6oz…Do you think that would be ok for these boards or should we go with heavier glass via mail order, or…??? Thanks for any sugestions.
I did my fish with 4 ounces and wish i did it with six ounce. It seems like a move around a lot more( harder) since it is so short. I really lay into turns trying to see how hard i can turn such a short board. Therefore, it already has a good share of pressure dings. I have been recently using six ounce on my short singles and i love it. I saw go with six all the time, they just last longer. Darren
Thanks darren…
Was just wondering if even 6oz. was too light. We found a local place that sells 8oz., as well as Volan, so I think we’re going to go with the Volan.
my 5’8 Mandala fish is volan and so far it seems to be bullet proof. doesn’t seem heavy at all, although i do prefer heavier boards.
Yeah, so do I…Not only will it be really durable, but you can’t beat the look of tinted Volan!
For anyone whos done a resin tint on a fish/swallow tail:
Do you do the cutlap around the entire swallow tail or do you just take it down the rail and do a “piece together” job down there? Reason I ask is because on most of the pics I’ve seen on Mandela’s site looks like he just takes it down the rail, at least on the bottom of the board…Can’t see any darker tint down by the tail…Thanks.
Hey Tenover, Try two layers of four ounce. Depending how good you are at laminating, its weight should come out between the six and eight, but much stronger. Worth a thought.
Here’s a Christenson…you can just make out the tail, I think…
This is actually my board…you can see the tail clearly. 
Another good view…
dub-
Dude, you’re killing me with thos pics of your Christenson…My God that thing is BEEEEEEAAUUUUTIFUL! That’s exactly the look I want to achieve somewhere down the road. You can see what I’m talking about on the yellow and light blue boards…See how the cutlaps seem to just run off the end of the board?? Hopefully someone who’s done one will chime in with a definitive answer…Thanks again for the pics.
Tenover, It’s been a while since I did one of those, and the yellow and blue boards look good to me. I remember lapping the rail like that, and I just let the cloth hang evenly inside the swallows. Turn it over and trim it when gelled, then lay some rovings in the hollow before the filler coat. If you are really fussy put a slice of cloth at the same time.
I think the Christenson is done the same way as the Mandalas. But here is a Skip Fryre doen at Moonlight…the deck and bottom appear to be done differently.
