Hello everyone, finally shaped my first surfboard. It was the most amazing process ever! Tons to learn from and hopefully learning from all the mistakes I made. I just finished with the hotcoat so next comes the sanding. I need advice on this process; I dont have the efficient tools that might be required to get a good sandjob. I have porter cable palm sander and a makita angle drinder/sander . I dont have anymore $$ at my disposal. IS it possible to work with what I got? any advice appreciated. I want to give a big shout out to Tenderlion Tom for all his advice and hooking me up with tons of goddies to get me started. I decide to go with Inami surfboards (good wave in Japanese) , this board is 7’4x 22 1/2x 3 . I caleed this , “The Tamago” shape. Template I used was from Blending Curves but I modified it by making their 7’6 template 2" less and a little more full at the hips. thanks again
looks nice
Nice looking shape.
Truth be told, sanding of a hot coat can all be done be hand. It’s a bit tedious. That’s the way I did it on my first board. It’s a lot safer and you won’t have to worry about sand through. You could also use your orbital sander just use long strokes and keep it moving. I’d start with 80 grit paper and work up from there. Do the rails by hand.
I just finished my first board a few weeks back and am getting ready for my second. I did the entire board with just an orbital sander and by hand. Definitely tedious but what i realized is if you took your time and didn’t rush (sanding laps instead of saying good enough) it makes your time sanding easier.
Most of my first board went fairly smoothly but i did have a few problem areas. What i found was it was better to hit those high spots with the orbital then “finish” it by hand to prevent (or try to attempt) burn throughs. Besides that, just take your time. The tools make it easier, but it can be done by hand. All your doing is removing material. Whether your doing it by hand or with tools you’r doing the same thing. One way is just quicker.
Thanks Jaymac, its so good to hear from someone who recently finished their first board. Your process is still fresh in your mind and can relate with what I am dealing with now. Sometimes these veteran master shapers get a little technical and I get lost with some of the specifics. I appreciate your advice. I will move forward then.
I have made about 2 dozen boards. I always hand sand them with a sanding block (at least until I get to the wetsanding grits, only then do I lose the block). I enjoy the process, I don’t find it difficult or tedious, but to each their own.
My best advice for sanding, whether by hand or power tool, is to have a rock solid stand for the board to sit on, at a comfortable working height, with a good “grippy” traction surface like spongy foam, so that the board stays put while sanding. Sanding is all about control and resistance, you need both to do a good job. You want to put your full body english into the sanding process, you don’t want to be divided between sanding with one hand and trying to steady the board with the other.
And just visualize that you are still shaping when you are sanding, even if its hardened resin and fiberglass, you still need to make the same sweeping motions you made while shaping the foam.
I keep a ready supply of different grits on hand, and keep my sandpaper freshened up, I don’t try to skimp by using worn sandpaper.
BTW, I get a crooked neck from looking at those big MB picture files that load sideways, so I resized the files down to KB size, here they are.
How the hell did you do it! I resized and during preview I still got them sidways. first time this has happen. thank you!
Paint is a Windows accessory that has come with every computer I’ve had in the past few years, makes it easy. Just open the photo file, and re-size down. I resized yours at 35%.
I will try this next time. thanks Huck.
…hello, do you say to have a Makita sander grinder. Grinder is a no no for surfboards, but an angular sander/polisher is DA tool to use; those are the tools for sanding surfboards; buy a pad to place (stick) the sand paper. There are dedicated brands of pads to sand surfboards, like Power pad.
I guess that you study Japanese? Tamago (egg/s)
Nice flooring.
Sand at lower RPMs, use the pad between flat and 15º. Orbital sanders do not work good with the sanding; could be use with the gloss coat.
Rails are finished by hand
After the sanding, you have more than one option. Best options are the ones that seals what you sanded; hence the gloss coat or an speed finish (done with an spray gun and air compressor)
oh man, Sanding is no joke, fo realz! is it pretty standard for a rookie to sand just the bottom for 2 1/2 hours by hand? I used a palm sander for the fin but did the whole bottom by hand. tomorrow is top.
Sounds like wrong grit, or bad technique (either in the sanding or the glassing). Either way, I doubt it will kill you, but you need to work on using the right grit, with the right technique. You’ll have the same issues with a power sander, but probably less soreness the next day, haha. Of course, you can also damage a board faster with a power sander. But this is why I didn’t “recommmend” hand sanding, I only state its how I do it, so I know it can be done. I have developed my methods over time for the way I like to work, and its not for everyone. Hand or power sander, the whole process is a learning curve. There’s a reason a lot of shapers have their boards glassed by others, its a whole different skill set, with different requirements. And you’re not gonna master it on the first board. Why don’t you post up some pics of your shaping stand, sanding tools, work space, etc. Be easier to give you some guidance if we could see what you’re doing.
These guys obviously know more and have more experience than me. But on my first board i was sanding for awhile. I wasn’t timing myself so i can’t give you an exact time frame. My issue was some minor problem areas.
I wouldn’t worry about time. It’s your first board and your learning as you go. If your using the grits we talked about then you should be fine. Possibly problem areas caused in the glassing process or technique would be my guess. Post some pictures and give us a little more detail like suggested.
But like i said, it’s your first board. Things take a bit longer as your learning. I did deck and bottom all in the same day and i got to say it took at least 3 hours, possibly more.
You should go to another thread that just got bumped up to the first page called “Advanced Sanding”. It will enlighten you. With access to that thread, it’s not necessary to go over a lot of old ground here. Also there are several posts in that thread from 3 or 4 people who are or were expert sanders. Their advice should be heeded. The only advice I wouldn’t take is machine sanding at 3000—-5000 RPMs. If you are going to hand sand you can start with coarser grits. You’re not as likely to burn thru by hand.
Bill Thrailkill was nice enough to bump an older thread on the subject of sanding, but anyone diligent enough to search the archives will discover a plethora of past discussions, and even some tutorial videos, on the topic. Sanding is just one of the many skills to master in the process of surfboard making, and so far, it’s one that hasn’t been relegated to a keyboard simulation of actual hands-on skills.