Help on a summer board for a smaller person? Now a build thread!

General Discussion
1

Well, I’m new here. Been reading this board for a while but never registered. I’ve been surfing since 2009, and am currently studying for a chemistry major. I surf central jersey. I’ve only ever owned one board cause I vowed to shape the next one I own. I like making stuff, I’ve been reading about design theory and techniques. I’m decently handy, I’m fimiliar with making longboards (skateboards) with bolt presses and vacuum bags and am now looking to try my hand at a surfboard. I’ve been skateboarding forever and doing downhill for like 2 years now, I’m a lightfooted surfer becuase I’m so used to skateboards. Summary at the bottom if you don’t wanna read.

The problem is, I keep reading about small wave boards/summer boards for the “average adult” but I’m 20, so done growing. I’m like 5’5 and 125lbs with a suit on. Probably could run a grom board… My current board is this, it’s 6’4"x21"x3" according to my measurements. Barely sinks when I sit on it, no problem catching waves on it though! 

Shallow rocker, about 3" nose and 2" tail, about 15" wide at 1’ from both the nose and tail. Deck is slightly domed (I think.), rails are roundish on top and harder on the bottom, maybe what you call a “hard” rail. Goes from a softer transition in the nose to more angular rail at the back. Just switched to futures t1 without the center trailer, it’s definitely looser and pivots a bit more. Sometimes it feels like too much foam still. It’s hard to duckdive for me, and it feels like it fights me and is too much weight swinging around. It’s fast if I just go straight, but I’m looking to loosen up my style and make more/sharper turns. I’ve ridden my friends standard shortboard shapes and the light weight/less foam makes them much easier to maneuver. I feel I’ve gained enough skill to step down to a much shorter, fishy type board. I’ve arrived at this design using boardcad.

Still unsure on rocker and tail shape. The big question right now is blank choice. I was planning on grabbing the 6’2" EPS blank from greenlight and one of the glassing kits, I have plenty of abrasive tools and things from making longboards. I read somewhere it’s better to get a longer blank and find a more shallow rocker in it rather than trying to shape a shallower rocker (Right?). Possibly 3.5" nose and 2" tail. So ignore the rocker dimensions in that picture. Plus there is a bit of extra foam to learn on. That, or the 5’10" EPS blank and just go with the 4.5" nose rocker, 2" tail rocker and 2.88" thickness. I’m not sure if that is too much for smaller, weak summer waves. I’d think the volume of the design might counter the effect of increased rocker? I’m trying to avoid shaping rocker since this is my first one. No concaves, vees or anything fancy either. Probably round rails.

TL;DR So basically, I’m looking to make a more responsive, easily maneuvered, looser and shorter board for summer jersey conditions for a 5’5" 125lb, lightfooted surfer who is in pretty good shape. I’ll probably throw in 3 fin boxes, but mostly use the twin setup and put the center fin in if I feel I could use it. I’m hoping the decrease in length, width and overall volume will increase responsiveness but the design will still be optimal for weak summer surf/groveling due to volume/thickness/rocker. I’ve been looking at fish type board dimensions, but most people reference heavier and larger surfers than myself when talking about floatation. I keep hearing surf it shorter than you are or your height, but a 5’5" board sounds a bit short right now. Not looking for a typical shortboard shape of little volume which needs more powerful waves to get it planing, so hopefully I haven’t designed that.

Sorry for typing so much. Off to read more about surfboards.

 

2

Have fun, and if you want to post the process.  Learn from your mistakes, and try not to make the same ones on the next one.  If someone calls you out on something thats clearly wrong, accept the criticism, and learn from it.  Have fun, and share your insights.  Always show at least of a modicum of respect for those who are experienced and have put their time in to learn the craft; they might even want to help you.  People like myself want to help people succeed, but personally I don’t want to help those who are so full of themselves that when they open their mouths its smells worse than the morning still breeze at the River Jetties.

3

Im in ocean county nj and just made my 3rd board with supplies from greenlight. Its definately something thats achievable and if you have the right materials and take your time to stop and look at what you are doing your board will probably be something your happy with. Start with a really good 1/2 template made out of something sturdy(masonite or thin plywood) that has the exact outline you want. If your gunna go around 19+ wide I would reccomend going down to 5’8 and 2 1/4 with a pushed back wide point.

I suppose the 6’2 US PU blank would be a good choice from greenlight if you want a more hyrbid shortboard with 2 1/4 thickness. If your set on some solid thickness spend a little more cash and get a 5’10 fish blank. Eitherway I think you would be happier if you went towards the more hybrid design because you will get a lot more performace out of it but will still be able to catch smaller waves (just with a little more effort and paddeling). I’m 5’11 150 lbs your age and have been surfing longer but I just made a 5’4 x 18.88 egg/biscuit type board thats about 2 3/4 and kills it in small racy long beach island shorebreak. I would reccomend trying a quad if you like the twin fin feel or you can always put the extra fin plug in so you can switch between thruster or quad or even quad +1. If you have any questions or even what some help with glassing I’d be glad to lend a hand even though I only have 3 boards under my belt.

Heres the 5’4 I just did a couple weeks ago

[img_assist|nid=1066714|title=2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]

[img_assist|nid=1066753|title=fin2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640]

4

The egg/biscuit shape has been interesting to me, and good point with the set back wide point. Your wording made me realize why the widepoint being set back create more turn, it’s set between your stance more than one further towards the nose. You learn something every day.

I’m messing with my shape and moving the wide point now, what exactly defines a hybrid shape? A shortboard with a bit less curve, more volume and more relaxed rocker? If it can turn easily and plane in summer mush then it sounds good. I see they have this

I’m guessing this qualifies as a fish blank? And I’ve read on here the PU blanks (Which that is, right?) are slightly more forgiving becuase they don’t tear out/lose chunks with surforms or similar tools. Sounds good to me. That blank is 2 15/16" thick in the center, so that’s probably reason to go an inch shorter. Or perhaps not as wide. So maybe I’ll go with the 6’2" pu blank. There’s so many options. I’ll have to decide on a shape before I pick a blank I suppose.

I’ve done this, much more egg shaped, wide point further back and a bit wider of a tail and straighter nose end.

I think the nose end at 2’ from the nose could be slightly skinnier, but I’m not sure. It looks slightly odd right now. I’m gonna do some reading on eggs and biscuits. I’ve always heard boards that are very short are hard to surf, but perhaps that advice is always geared toward beginners. The shortest I’ve ridden is a 6’3" shortboard. I’m gonna go to greenlight and hopefully look at the blanks in person at some point. Thanks for the help.

Just wondering, how did your first board go? I’m gonna make sure not to over shape, one reason for going with slow hand tools. On longboards (skateboard) I’ve done in the past I’ve overshaped trying to make something perfect, meanwhile the asymtrical quality of it was hard to detect and you’d have to know it was there to see it. And was glassing crazy or did that go well? The one you’ve posted looks nice.

 

 

5

Yea you seem to have written the idea of what a hybrid is but that board on boardcad doesn’t really represent that. Start with pulling that tail in and the nose, unless thats what you want. Hyrbrids can have a pulled back wide point but eggs sort of look like eggs ya know ovals. I would also reccomend buying the US blank from them becuase like you said they are slightly easier to shape with hand tools and they are made with polyurethane foam. Btw my first board came out pretty asymetrical and bad by most standards becuase I started without a template and the right tools. Eitherway it still works really well and I actually like surfing it and learned a lot from it. Ive only used Resin Research Kwick Kick Epoxy to glass and its really easy to work with and drys super fast. Just make sure you mix right

 

6

FYI, the wide point on a Biscuit template is forward of center.  

For your shape, the top one is fine, just pull the nose in a little - maybe somewhere in the 14" range.      The wide point is near the middle and the tail width is plenty for someone of your stature and experience level.  You can cut the length down some, too.  Once your lengths get below 6-0 it becomes a matter of volume and how flat a rocker you can handle.  If you take a 5-8 length out of the middle of the 5-10 RP you’ll be close to the 3.5" in the nose, and you can either add a little more in the tail or just leave it as is - as a quad for small waves it will be fine either way.  

As for thickness and volume I think a finished thickness at 2.5" will probably be more than enough for you.  Depending on how you do your deck and rails the volume will probably still be in the 30-liter range.   If your fitness level and paddling are somewhat reasonable you could probably go thinner than that without a problem, too.  I think a 3" thickness in these lengths is way too much for a 125# surfer - it will be really corky and hard to handle.  For reference, my youngest son weighs 140# and surfs a 5-2 Biscuit-style quad that I shaped out of that blank and he says the 2.5" thickness / 30 liters is a fair bit more than he needs.   My middle son weighs 190# and says the 5-6 Biscuit (2.75" thick and 39 liters) is way too much for him.  These alternative shapes carry a lot more volume than their lengths would otherwise suggest.  

 

7

Alright, I’ve done some more shape editing. This one looks decent, to me anyway. I’m liking the idea of the widepoint slightly towards the back for easy pivoting. As far as flat rocker, I’ve learned to prevent my current, decently flat and longer board from pearling on steeper faces so I’ll probably be fine. Taking a 5’8" out of that blank sounds good too. The idea of a wider tail also appeals to me.

Nose now around 14, tail got slightly skinnier too, 5’8" in length. Still need to do some reading on rails before I decide, I’ve read rounder ones are good in mush and turn easier than hard, flat ones on the bottom of the board so I’ll probably go the rounder route. Tail is probably gonna be like that but with rounded corners, so squash I guess? The idea of a shorter board is also appealing more and more to me, since I’m used to throwing around a 32" skateboard.

 

Thanks for all the help, this will turn into a build thread once I acquire materials. I’m gonna see if I can ride a sub 6’ board sometime soon, that might give me some insight.

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somethin like this might be fun…

www.MOREsurfboards.com

600×600 88.9 KB

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That board does look like fun Pridmore. And the wide point is often pushed back on some hybrids not on eggs or a biscuit type board. If you do deciede to go with the 5’10 Pavel fish blank it should be pretty easy to keep the rocker at around 2.5 in the back and 3.5 in the front. If you plan on keeping it wide dont be afraid to loose some thickness and maybe add some v for easier manueverabilty.

10

I’ve changed the design a bit, got the 5’10 us blanks fish blank and traced my template on the blank. Went to greenlight, they were helpful. Bought my template in, and asked for help with the choice. Also got a surform or however it’s spelled, cause according to my reading and the dudes at greenlight it’s very useful. It’s looking like a nice shape, although it maybe could use a bit more curve in the back, the tail is so wide right now. I can always take some foam away later. Are there any downsides to the wide tail? I’ve read a board with more curve will turn sharper, which is what I’m after. It will generate plenty of lift…

It looks a but uneven near the middle, but it’s not uneven near the tail, that edge is just rounded a bit so it appears that way. Gonna do some measuring and fix the middle.

 

And I’ve actually added an inch to the width by spacing the template, so all those dimensions are +1". I rode and 5’10"x 21 3/8" x2.25" pelican speedfish quad today and it was quite fun even though the waves were awful. It’s likely that I’ll grab a handplane and plane it to 2.75" thick or something, after I read up on the art of planing. I’m trying to keep it simple, so I’ll opt out of the vee unless I feel very comfortable with shaping. 

 

And this question has been bugging me; do you plane the top or bottom to make it thinner, or does it even matter? I keep reading that a polyurethane blank has a harder outer shell, and you’ rather leave as much of that on the top. I plan on giving this a durable glassing schedule anyway, I’m not Kelly Slater, I’m not gonna notice if my board is slightly heavier than normal.

I’m gonna go to home depot tomorrow morning, grab some 2x4s and make the all important shaping rack.

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www.blendingcurves.com

check it out

I dont see your picks

 

12

Pretty much done with the shaping rack, I’ve got some thick carpet or foam or something around here to line it with. Unfortunately I’ve got to go to work to pay for all this stuff so I’ll have to stop here for today.

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some advice from a fellow backyarder

I’m sure it will do ok, but you might reconsider the position of the top crossbar, unless you make the saddles really shallow.  Also iIf you will be using it to hand shape I guarantee those racks will move around even if they are bolted to the floor. Assuming you continue to make boards you’ll be surpised at how much more effective and true your shaping can be when your racks do not move, and tripping over 2x4’s get’s old real fast

14

 

 

 

Making some progress, shaping is fun. I’ve also glued up some wood, I’m gonna copy my futures T1 s in wood and glass them on here. Can’t decide if I want a tiny center fin. Twin is so fun. Now what do I do about small dents etc in the blank, spackle? Something else? 

15

nice outline Dr.

got a few bumps there

take the time to clean em up before you band

16

Took a break from the foam and went to make some fins. Here’s one so far, flat inside and foiled outside. I copied a futures t1 but made it a little larger. I looked at the foil of that fin as well people’s wood fins on here.

 

It got a bit more sanding and smoothing of the foil after this shot. It looks pretty cool, hopefully it preforms well. I’m planning on stining them a darker, chocolate shade or something. I’ve read water based stains will not interfere with fiberglass adhesion. 

17

Seems like a pretty good/bad galss job. It’s good up front, but terrible at the back. Gonna require a lot of sanding. I mixed a bit more resin than needed per greenlight’s online tips page, but I got too into making the laps good at the front and about 4oz of resin started to exotherm badly in the pot and hardened. Noob mistake. Otherwise it looks good. My laps are a little bigger than necessary, the parts going over the rails are properly wetted out and intact, so that’s hopefully a plus. Teal too.

So blobs of exothermed/cured resin on the board don’t spell death for the board, do they? Specifically the back… I’m hoping it just means a lot of sanding.

 

Edit: alright now that I have some time I’ll elaborate so others don’t make my mistakes. All was going well, although I could have cut the laps a bit shorter becuase they required a bit more resin to wet out all the way. While doing the laps, I needed more resin. I reached for the pot, which was quite hot at this point. SInce I needed that resin still, I figured I’f I spread it on the board it might dissapate some heat and slow the reaction. That was FALSE. I poured it on, and it continued to increase in heat and reaction rate, and hardened in clumps on the board. I tried to smush them down and remove them, but I couldn’t get it all. There’s a chunky region on one of the rails, near the nsoe and several smaller ones near the tail. I’m gonna have to sand them out. The color doesn’t look totally uniform, but I’m pretty sure the wetout is good and the bond will be fine.

 

18

So I never updated this cause I was doing other stuff, but I finished. Learned a ton, as with making anything I’ve already noted thing to change for the second time around.

Some nice 6:30AM light before heading to the ocean.

This was before the hotcoat, “art” done with an acrylic paint pen from a craft store. 

In lieu of a proper rocker shot, you can see the flat-ish rocker in this shot.

 

The board is 5’7" x 18.5" x well actually I have no idea about the thickness. I just kinda kept going till it looked right. It’s certianly on the thicker end, probably around 2.75 and carries most of the thickness to the nose and tail. I figured I try a bit of an expirement, I made the board more shortboard like but kept the flatter rocker and thickness but kinda lower rails. It certainly doesn’t dissapoint, it’s been super fun in small waves. It definitely requires better positioning to get into a wave, but it’s still capable of getting and riding the smaller stuff without too much fuss. Nothing like the 6’4" x 21" x probably about 2 7/8" thick board I’ve been on. That thing is like a longboard for me. But it turns on a dime and I’ve really been enjoying the pivot it has. Plus I love the color. 

It’s not the prettiest board in the lineup but it’s decently symmetric, floats and I already had 3 great days surfing on it. I’ve learned a ton from doing it and cant wait to shape another one. I’ve also gained respect for those who shape. Chopping up foam is the easy part, making a surfboard is the hard part. Also props to the dudes at greenlight, they’re cool dudes, advised me on what to get and helped me save a bit of money while doing it.