My sister just graduated and has some money to spend, I have no job and time to waste, so we’ve decided that I’ll shape her a board. We haven’t yet decided on the shape, but it should be something good for her to learn and progress on, as well as being fun for me to borrow every once in a while.
She has very little surfing experience. She can paddle around decently, but hasn’t spent much time standing on a board. She hasn’t been in the water much lately since i stripped the glass off of the crappy funboard I was letting her borrow. She’s somewhere around 5’5" 135lbs and in ok shape. She doesn’t have a clue what kind of shape she would like right now, but i think we’re leaning towards some sort of mid-length.
This will be my third board that I’ve shaped, glassed, and finned. I’ve only used Pu/Pe, so I’m planning on sticking with that for this board also. I’ll most likely be making plywood fin(s) and glassing them on, since i haven’t bothered learning how to install fin boxes, and it’s cheaper.
Right now I’d appreciate some advice on the outline,size,rails, as well as fin set up. I’m leaning towards a single fin, but I’m not sure if it would be the easiest for my sister to learn on. Once I get started I’ll have her take pictures and update the progress here.
Most importaint for a beginner is a smooth rocker. No flat spots, no flip in the nose or tail. Just smooth all the way through. 4 1/2" nose rocker and 2 1/2" tail rocker.
I’d run a slight Vee the full length. That will keep it stable, while lending to a carve.
If she wants to progress in her turns, then a 12 1/2" wide nose. If she just wants to splash around then 14" nose.
Put a little break in the template around 14" up from the tail. Give it a little hip.
Use S cloth with epoxy, not resin. A little more money, but beginners really like to ding their boards.
For the artwork, something sentimental that she will like to look at. A little reminder that her brother made it for her.
The next time you try a new template out for the first time, try it out by drawing an outline of it on some concrete or asphalt in chalk before you put it on a blank. Doing that helps you visualize from a standing perspective what the outline will look like if you don’t screw it up while you’re shaping.
Living with an outlined template for half an hour or so before you actually use in on a blank is a good way to figure out if you can live with the results.
So yesterday we went and bought a 7’9H, and today I cut out the outline. When I drew the template, it seemed like the tail was too narrow, but my sister said she liked it. After cutting it out, I don’t like the outline at all. I think I’m going to shorten it a little so that the tail will be wider, and she says she might want the nose rounder. I wish I would have gotten this right from the start.
Hi codyguy, I'd suggest you to remove the crust first, thin the foam down until you reach roughly the desidered thickness and rocker.Make everything nice and flat, draw the outile and then cut it. It will be easier to be cut and it will look much smoother and precise.To have a perfect outline download the program boardcad (it's free!!), make your outline and print it with a normal printer (you will have to stick all the bits togheter).Don't rush!You're always in time to take some more foam off but you'll never have a chance to put it back again.Watch this video of D'Arcy shaping just to have an idea to how to do it properly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnRsdskxnZQ .
By the way your outline doesn't look that bad for a beginner ( widepoint foward, wide nose, pintail .....they will help a lot), the onyl thing i would change is to make a more precise and smooth outline in the tail area.
Thanks for the tips. I used boardcad for the templates on my other boards. I would print out the template and tape it together and stand on top of it to see how it would look while being ridden, but I ditched that for no apparent reason on this board. Oh well.
To make me feel a little worse at this, the blank fell and got some gouges in it. I fixed the tail outline, and I had it leaning up on the wall to take a picture. My sister walked up to the door and it slid down into a pile of junk. I thought she knocked it or something, but apparently the wind was to blame (and me). It’s not too major, but I’m not sure how I’ll go about fixing them yet. I remembered reading how a heat gun would expand crushes in the blank, so I gave it a shot with a hair dryer. Didn’t seem to do much. It’s on the bottom rail towards the nose, so I don’t think it can be shaped out unless I go for pinched 50-50 rails, but I think a beginner board would need much thicker rails.
I think I’m going to wait until tomorrow to do anymore work. I’m feeling unlucky and stupid today.
ding doesn't look that bad from the pic. i would just plow ahead with the shaping and get the board ready to glass. i'd avoid filling the hole with anything, unless u glue in a piece of scrap foam and then shape it down to the blank. even then u might have a glue line and then u would want to color the blank to hide the glue line. other materials have a different hardness than the foam and i personally have had a devil of a time shaping spackle, microballoons, etc in an unfinished blank. i wouldn't try any of them again. worst scenario would be when u finish shaping there is still a hole in the blank. i'd go ahead and glass it clear in that case and there wold be a bubble that u could cut out and then fill with mixture of resin and cut fiberglass and that would be clear as well. then u could treat it like a ding repair or simply lap the glass from the top layer over it after u sanded it down.
Howzit codyguy, Being a new guy you most likely don't know about the heat gun/hair dryer trick. Heating the foam wil make the dent/gouge come back to the original shape most of the time, just be careful and not burn the foam. It can be tricky but I have used it for dents and gouges with good success, it's in the archives.Aloha,Kokua
I’ve been busy lately so I haven’t been able to put much time into the board. I have the blank pretty much finished now, and I picked up the glassing supplies yesterday. I’m going to do a light tint on the bottom, and a fabric inlay on the deck. I hope I can make it look half as good as I’m imagining it turning out.
The hole in the rail still looks pretty big, so I’m thinking about just cutting it out and wedging a peice of foam into it and shaping that down.
My sister broke her camera so I don’t have any more pictures, but I’ll try to find one.
