i just completed board #11…and after some reflection, i’m starting to realize that might be missing some crucial tricks.
whats wrong with my shaping procedure:
i cut out the template. clean up my edges to 90 degrees. next, i start stripping the bottom crust (planer time). i put in the bottom contour(s)…then, i use a foam pad (with drywall screen 120) and clean up some of the deeper gouges. now i begin the bottom rails (using the “FRED” thing Carper talks about in Shaping 101).
after i’m done with the bottom, i flip over the board and start on the deck, getting my rail bands and adjusting my foil a bit more. i clean up rails with drywall screen and smooth out the entire board.
the problem: my bottom contours are getting seriously changed after i do the bottom rails and do the rough out phase. after i clean up the gouges with a foam pad and drywall screen, my board’s bottom contour is not what it was!
how do i clean up all the gouges from rails and planers without f%&*#ing it up???
to measure the foam (most mising this step…) several plugs, no matter the brand, have a lot of bad issues (mostly thickness)
take measurements in the stringer and in the middle of both Pu parts (at 1´, 2´ from nose and from the tail, and in the WPoint) (mark lines perpendicular to the stringer to do that. So in every line you take 3 measurements.
check the rails
2 (roughly)
do the bottom (contours, rockers, thickness of the board, balance)
.when you finish the bottom and rockers (depends on the bottom config) check again measurements (in the square rails and in the bulk)
Perhaps a single most important FIRST step, for any shaper, and one overlooked by many, is to LEVEL your shaping racks.
Then when you proceed through the other steps, you have a baseline for reference. If you first level the blank to the racks, it makes everything else easier. Try it, you’ll like it.
If you can, read up on the Terry Martin interview in a recent issue of Surfer’s Journal. He describes the evolution of his shaping style as he trimmed time off the process. As I recall, he developed (over a period of years) a step by step process that remains consistent to this day from board to board. If he misses any of the steps while shaping, it ends up taking time to correct the mistakes that result.
The shaping processes outlined here seem pretty basic but it is surprising how often something gets overlooked and causes problems later in the process. I don’t know if “good enough” is part of TM’s vocabulary while shaping. From what I gathered in the interview, he has a definite plan for every step and he sticks to it.
Make sure your template is symmetrical and your rocker is how you want it before tucking your rails. I generally tuck my rails first, sand my edges and blend to the rail apex before doing the top rail bands. It can get tricky bringing them together right at the apex. Too much indiscriminate sanding at this point will alter your template.
So you’re losing the bottom contours during final sanding? I’d say shape the board without the contours and fine sand the whole thing before carefully adding your bottom contours as part of the final process.
Use whatever tool(s) you’re comfortable with but use them with precision. If shaping your rail contours and edges is part of an earlier process, don’t dull them with a soft sanding pad later and then try to recover with further soft pad scrubbing.
A soft pad can be your worst enemy as you deal with foam inconsistencies and warbles that you may have introduced during the final sanding process. If you try to sand out a crust line or hard spot in the blank using a soft pad, it’s only going to get worse.
The soft pad with fine screen is useful but I generally use it as a last step.