I just started making my first surfboard (trying to emulate a Feather Fastback), and after my first go over with the electric planer, i loathe it. Anyone have any tips for me to help me get used to it more. Especially with the rough spots i leave sometimes. Thank you. Surf on.
You can do all the research and get as many tips as possible from the experts as i did, but when it comes down to it you just have mow foam until you get the feel and it will come. I consider myself a rookie and still very green so i’m no expert. My dad, i consider an expert (nearly 50 years shaping) this is the same advice he gave and continues to give me. Ben Aipa also told me the same thing. The longer and more you shape the more control you’ll gain over the planer and the closer you’ll get to where you want your finish shape to be and the less hand tooling you will need to do. I’ve watched an expert do two LB’s at the same time and have both boards 90% done in less than an hour without even toutching a hand tool except for the calipers. He used 3 different electric planers, all Skill 100s with different blades/barrels. Blew me away!! Aloha 808 shapes http://home.hawaii.rr.com/makani808shapes/
Everyone works differently. You can ask ten guys the same question, and you will get ten different answers. Find out what works for you and follow that path. Don’t get discouraged by someone elses critisim of how you work or what tools you use to get the job done. As I have always told my students “Strive for perfection. If you can’t achieve perfection, go for the illusion of perfection. Sooner or later you will achieve perfection.” Good luck.
This’ll sound really stupid, but I still have to remind myself sometimes…“The cutting barrel is in the middle, dummy!” Until you get that down you can put divits in the weirdest places. Shallow, long cuts and keep at it like the others say…
long smooth cuts and try turning your planer at 45 degrees and go fairly slow this lets the blade cut not get forced through the foam
I had this idea about practicing for beginners.Buy on of those cheap sheets of polyurethane foam and cut it up to practice on.The stuff I have laying around is some kind of cheap insulation and is an ugly yellow color,comes in 4x8 sheets around 2inches thick.Just a thought. R.B.
keep using it. When you get use to it, You wonder how anyone gets by without one.