Gentlemen, here’s the scenario: board is roughed-out, rail-bands are done, bottom rail (tucked-under edge) is cut in, and all tool marks have been sanded off the deck (lookin’ like a surfboard) leaving just the outermost edge around the perimeter of the deck to be eliminated. Do you guys go for the Shaping 101 method of rounding down with the dragon-skin followed by 80 and 120 screen? Or do you use the sanding block with 80 or 100 to split the edge,and then split that edge,and so on and so on rounding the rail to the shape you want? The dragon skin and screen method seems good for a 50/50 round rail when you’ve left yourself a lot of room in the nose and tail areas but it seems easy to tweak the outline with so much screening. The sanding block method seems better for the low boxy rail I want but, is there an even easier (hence better) way to get rid of this edge (walking the 80 grit screen on a foam pad from nose to tail?) that’s less likely to tweak the outline or apex of the rail? Or should I just tell my friends that the boogie board rail that I’ve so far come up with is the wave of the future? Thanks in advance
Gentlemen, here’s the scenario: board is roughed-out, rail-bands are done, > bottom rail (tucked-under edge) is cut in, and all tool marks have been > sanded off the deck (lookin’ like a surfboard) leaving just the outermost > edge around the perimeter of the deck to be eliminated. Do you guys go for > the Shaping 101 method of rounding down with the dragon-skin followed by > 80 and 120 screen? Or do you use the sanding block with 80 or 100 to split > the edge,and then split that edge,and so on and so on rounding the rail to > the shape you want? The dragon skin and screen method seems good for a > 50/50 round rail when you’ve left yourself a lot of room in the nose and > tail areas but it seems easy to tweak the outline with so much screening. > The sanding block method seems better for the low boxy rail I want but, is > there an even easier (hence better) way to get rid of this edge (walking > the 80 grit screen on a foam pad from nose to tail?) that’s less likely to > tweak the outline or apex of the rail? Or should I just tell my friends > that the boogie board rail that I’ve so far come up with is the wave of > the future? Thanks in advance First of all, NN (or “Eninen?”), I resent the implication of being characterized as a “Gentleman.” Secondly, I’m not a production shaper, so there are lots of guys who are more qualified to answer your questions, and many of them post regularly in Swaylocks, but I like the split the edges approach, because you can control the progress if you take your time.
OK - you have your edge tucked and your bands cut in on the deck? Try and visualize where your rail apex will be in the final stage… leave this apex line alone. You want to blend the deck and bottom to this apex line. Get yourself a 4" X 18" X 1/2" flexible rubber pad and contact cement some coarse sanding belt to it. You should be able to conform to your rail curves with this and finish up with some fine mesh screen on a soft foam rubber pad. Check the rail contour gauge (#392 in resources/tools) for an idea for a tool to keep your rails symmetrical.
i blend the deck bands with dragon skin(board deck up on the stand) until they meet the bottom band then switch to a piece of 80g screen (about the same size as the d-skin) and blend the whole rail with the board in the stirrups, using it like the dragon skin, then switch to full sheets of screen(80,100,120,180) and foam pad. i’m no prod. shaper or pro either but this works good for me.