First shaping - First board (rocker and plan input wanted)

General Discussion
1

Aloha kakou.

Having read this site for a while now (posted a few times too) I’ve decided to wade in with my first request for help.

I started surfing in September last year, and have been heading to the coast on a regular basis since around Easter (March/April) this year. Being temporarily short on funds and starved of waves being about 3 hours from my nearest break, I’ve decided to shape my first board.

I’ve been talking to a couple of Shapers (including at least one who sometimes posts here) and got some very useful input - but thought I’d ask on the forum to get some more input.

Oh - before I go on - I’ve had some (very valid) input from people saying I shouldn’t shape my first, but after careful consideration I’ve decided to ignore that advice and go ahead with a bit more caution that I might originally have had. If you want to discourage me - feel free to try, your input will still be graciously received and considered, but most likely will have little or no effect. Haha!

Right - I already have some EPS sheets waiting for me to find the surfboard hidden inside them, so that’s a given. I’ll be sticking in a stringer once I’ve found somewhere I can get Balsa and Redwood (cos they are old and traditional and look sweet and I’m that way inclined) - as far as materials are concerned - I’ve had a ton of advice from nativeson and I’m not sure there’s much more for me to ask outside finding local suppliers and finer details that all come in after I’ve shaped.

What I’m really looking for input on is the shape.

Mainly planshapes and rockers (including measurements if possible) and how to go about achieving them. I’ll be making a hotwire cutter as soon as I can get hold of the bits and pieces, but it won’t be much use to me until I know what shape I’m making.

I have to glue 2 sheets of EPS together to get enough thickness, so if I can get a decent idea of rocker I’ll be able to glue a curve in to begin with and so avoid having to mow quite as much foam (huge bonus considering I’ll probably be doing it without power tools)

It’ll also mean I’ll can be sure to have enough thickness in the nose and tail parts of the block to actually achieve the rocker without running out of foam.

So far I’ve been renting/borrowing boards, all Bic (7’3", 7’6" and 7’9") so don’t really have anything I can copy planshape, rocker or anything else from.

I really enjoyed riding the 7’6" “performer” compared to the others - while the 7’3" was my tool of choice in the big (for me) waves I was in last weekend.

I had some interesting advice earlier on today but before I post it up here I’d like to see what others have to suggest. I’ve told the guy who I’ve been bugging for advice (thanks again Rob) that I’m posting this so he might chip in with what he recommended. Rob - if you want to post up what you suggested - please feel free.

Here’s what you’ll need to know.

Me:

6’2" ish.

Skinny (no idea what weight - don’t own any scales - but smaller than I should be - working on piling on some extra weight though)

I windsurfed a fair bit as a kid and lived in the French Alps for a while (daily snowboarding) so am comfortable on boards - I pick things up quite quickly.

My waves:

Mainly beach breaks. Highest I’ve been in so far (and likely to for a while) has been chest-head high (though I was only riding the chest high non-set waves).

More typically around the 3ft range, doesn’t tend to get much smaller as I have a long drive to the coast so tend to be a bit of a blow-in when things step up a bit above flat.

Not ridden any barreling waves yet (though have dreamed about it - haha)

My standard:

Until I get tired I can pop up fairly consistently.

Turning has clicked and I am working on balance and positioning to get smoother and tighter turns without falling off.

I’ve got on the clean face a couple of times but it (as you’ll know) rides differently to white water so trying to get used to that.

Managed a quick cheater-5 on a 7’3" in 3’ or 4’ waves before pearling and getting wet last weekend.

In total I’ve got about 4 or 5 weekends of surfing under my belt.

I’m not so much after a wave catching machine or a tanker that I can stand on really easily; I am a reasonable swimmer so can paddle quite well. I’m after a board that I can use to start to work on turning and learning to ride (and stay on) the clean unbroken face, and not feel like it is lacking once I move a bit beyond that stage.

I’ve tried searching the site for templates and rockers to go for. But all I’ve been able to find for “beginner” and “first board” are people who can already surf and are shaping (sometimes very impressive) #0001 boards.

I don’t have any rockers or planshapes to copy so will be doing it pretty much from scratch.

Looking forwards to your replies.

Thanks.

2

Hey Dude,

I’ve only shaped two boards after buying customs over the years. Definitely addictive when you surf your own creation. I’ve only shaped PU boards which have close tolerance rocker and stringer etc. Not sure about EPS but sounds like you are going the hard way about it such as putting in your own stringer and shaping rocker. As far as I know you can use epoxy on a ready to shape PU blank which would also mean you could concentrate on getting the shape you want. You also have the advantage of choosing a blank with rocker close to what you want. Believe me, this takes a lot of the pain out of the shaping process.

As for templates and the kind of board you want – why not a wave catching machine and something stable to stand up on? Nothing worse than flailing about on a potato chip. Do you want a modern style thruster or something like an egg which are great paddlers, catch waves easily and teach you to turn properly. After all, if you aren’t catching waves, how are you to improve? You said you’ve tried a few boards and you’ve liked one of them? If so, why not trace the plan shape from that board onto some template material like plywood or mdf? That way at least you have a solid starting basis for a board you know works. That is my 0.2 cents worth. Hope it helps. PM me if you want anything more specific.

Ado

3

Hey.

Definitely addictive when you surf your own creation.

That’s the one thing I’m kinda afraid of! I know I’ll be shaping a lot more after this.

Not sure about EPS but sounds like you are going the hard way about it such as putting in your own stringer and shaping rocker.

Pretty sure I am going about it a hard way - I can live with that though - plenty of spare time - pretty sure I’m capable though having spoken to someone who has done it this way.

As far as I know you can use epoxy on a ready to shape PU blank which would also mean you could concentrate on getting the shape you want. You also have the advantage of choosing a blank with rocker close to what you want. Believe me, this takes a lot of the pain out of the shaping process.

Probably the main reason for not using a PU close tolerance, is cost. I’m pretty tight on funds now so the less it costs the better.

The extra time and effort doesn’t really worry me as I can’t get to the waves as often as I’d like so this project will keep me going for a while nicely.

Also (as I understand it) - the lighter weight of an EPS core means I can add on more glass giving a stronger board for the same weight - very appealing to me.

As for templates and the kind of board you want – why not a wave catching machine and something stable to stand up on? Nothing worse than flailing about on a potato chip. Do you want a modern style thruster or something like an egg which are great paddlers, catch waves easily and teach you to turn properly. After all, if you aren’t catching waves, how are you to improve?

I don’t want a tanker as I don’t want to make things too easy for myself. I’d rather have something a little bit more advanced. I’m definitely not after a chip though. What I mean is that I don’t want something super thick, boxy and so stable that I’ll feel odd moving to a more progressive board after. Same as I did with my snowboarding years ago: I’d like to start with something a tad more progressive to learn on once I’ve got the absolute basics down (basically catch, pop and turn) which is the stage I’m at.

Just trying to say I don’t want something that does most of the work for me. While I might get more time standing up on something like that, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t progress as quickly on something too stable (I’m a bit of an “in at the deep end” kind of learner)

I’ll still be catching the waves and improving - I’ll just be putting in a bit more effort than I would on a super floaty beginner board.

Someone else mentioned a “Performance Egg” to me - he said it sounded perfect for what I’m after.

If by a modern style thruster you mean a thin shortboard then most certainly not. I don’t imagine I’ll be on something like that for quite some time yet.

You said you’ve tried a few boards and you’ve liked one of them? If so, why not trace the plan shape from that board onto some template material like plywood or mdf? That way at least you have a solid starting basis for a board you know works.

I liked one, but it still seemed a bit too floaty. Again I’m not looking for something I sink to my armpits when I sit on it in the lineup - but something I can at least get a bit under a wave with and have growing-room as mu surfing improves would be perfect.

As for tracing - I could give it a shot, but it will be a while before I’m at the coast and can rent it again, and even then I won’t have a flat surface to get a decent tracing on either. I’ll do that next time I’m down there anyway (can’t hurt to have more templates and profiles) - but I’d quite like to get started on shaping my own before then too - gives me something to pass the time when I’m climbing the walls knowing there are waves to be had and I’m nowhere near them!

Anything specific you want to share regarding length, rocker, nose and tail shapes and so on would be most welcome.

Thanks for your $0.02 - food for thought and much appreciated.