Fly rods for outlines

Im sure this has came up in the swaylocks archives…or maybe I have a good idea…I needed a tool to come up with my own surfboard shape, I have templates but I didnt get one to my liking so I looked in the corner at my 9" high end fly fishing rods and said “perfect”…I started at the nose and put screws in all the guides then I looked at the shape made some ajustments and bam I got a good shape, one thats my own…traced the patteren and flipped it over and bam…both side done… da done done…fishing has taken a brake all I can think is shaping and surfing…

Yup, pretty sure Herb has recommended that trick in the past. Those, and sail battens. Good reminder, though!

I started on battens and the same method you use. I learned from JC’s shaping 101 video. But I learned an even better repeatable template trick right here on Swaylocks. All you need is some experience using Adobe Illustrator and a laser printer. I wish I had the thread link, if you poke around I’m sure you can find it. I’m even more of cheater, I’m forever downloading various jpgs from commerical shaper’s websites and importing them into AI, then I just create bezier curves over them and adjust to proper size. I do a little tweaking (obviously photographs are not dead on) and voila, I have at least a template nearly as good as the pros. Lastly, I tile print, tape together, lay over blank and transfer with pen. That’s the easy part, you know the rest.

Solid fiberglass rod (1/8" to 1/4" dia.) is excellent for templates, too. Its especially useful because its durable with great memory, as well as functioning as a multi-directional batten providing very smooth flex lines in 2 opposing directions at the same time. http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=Fiberglass+and+Fibergrate&product%5Fid=Fibergrate+Dynaform%AE+Round+Rod

pluckin chicken yes use what you know an you know them rods…you will never be able to see em again without drawing a template in your mind and worse while they are whippin the template posibilities will be explosive… hey is it a FISH?..ambrose …finished laminating the 12’3 out of the giant blanks that were blocking the toilet door… white bob got another house behind pascoes place behind the church accross from onos he’s gonna rent it… cool pad and big 3bedrooms…bought it from a guy that moved back to oregon … the place where dewey the mechanic used to live thats white bobs new place

While fiberglass battens are nice, we boatbuilding types have been using thin, straight-grained strips of wood for centuries. Pine lattice stock is good, has a nice flat edge so you cn draw right on your template stock with your pencil rather than shakily projecting it as you have to with round stock. Cheap, available in any decent lumberyard and you don’t risk buggering up your very expensive fish pole. hope that’s of use doc

Tent poles work well if you have a couple people to assist you…flexible aluminum. Fly rods though…good idea. Canuk

How do you secure the fiberglass rods or wood to your blank?? I like the fly rods because they have places to put your screws in(guides) and I have a 10 foot spy caster for the longies…wild steelhead are up in the rivers now but I drive right by them on my way to surf…ambrose.does white bob need a carpenter to turn the house into a cool surf hostle or is the side kick scott on that…I lookin for a reason to get in some warm water…

"How do you secure the fiberglass rods or wood to your blank?? " Ah, you see, you don’t secure 'em to the foam. Instead, you secure them to masonite or cheap thin plywood or cardboard or whatever you like or have handy ( thin brad-type nails are good for this) , trace your outline, cut the template material to that shape and then use that as your pattern, trace it onto the foam. This lets you keep your template for reference if it works and have something to refer to and modify if it doesn’t. It also allows you to have something that lets you check symmetry and such from side to side. Imagine how unintentionally asymmetrical something would get when the shape on either side was governed by something attached to foam. Kinda like nailing a bent spring to snow, y’know, your fasteners are definitely either gonna slip or be so heavy/long/just plain big that they leave hemongeous holes that you gotta deal with somehow or other. Not good. On the other hand, if you have a template that’s like a sheet of _____ that you just set on the blank with a fair amount of precision relative to the centerline and trace the curve, well, then you have it. hope that’s of use doc…

side kick scott disintegrated…phone white bob 8088225469… the house is ready to go only no furniture…the fly rod deal is pure genius 10 pointsrent bobs place for two weeks ride your new board…ambrose…

lay out one side true up then trace template onto masonite and do both sides …doc’s right making em match is hard enough with a template.the wiggly rod could get downright asemetrical which is awhole other trip…ambrose…

…choice #3…A whip antenna/battan from a sailboard sail,nice tapered fiberglass rod.Works great for this application.Can be rolled up to a 2-3’ diameter. …choice #2…Find a large fishing outlet, either on the web or by foot.Look/ask for a telescoping pan fish pole.Mine is 1/2" diameter x 4’ colapsed, 15’ extended.The only eye is in the tip and no reel seats.perfect! nice tapper and real flexy.They also come in 16’lengths. …choice #1…I have 2 lengths of spring steel.A 12’ X 5/8" ,AND A 11’ X 1-1/8" both roll up to 6" or less diameter ,and can be used in any curve possible…I also use them for my toe-in from the stringer.Herb