Stopped by a well known blank supplier here in San Diego to pick up a blank the other day. Ended up walking out with 9’9" Clark. Stoked. Looked like a nice one too, not many blemsihes, looked straight, etc…After skinning it, drawing and cutting my outline and shaping some off the bottom, I sight down the stringer, nose to tail, and notice that the stringer bows at LEAST 1 1/2". So now I’m wondering…Do I just go with it and have a big bananna board or see if I can exchange it, or what?? Just curious what you guys do in this situation. Blanks aren’t really all that cheap (to me anyways)…Thanks.
if you’re worried that it might twist when it flexes you could glass it heavy. if you’re just worried about aesthetics you could use opaque pigments and hide the stringer. was it advertized as a second quality blank?
I’m not too worried about either of those things…I’m more worried that because I based my measurements off the stringer (every 6", new shape, no template), my board will literally be bent like a bannana/sausage!
snap a calk line then use a template. my last 2 " balsa stringer was over 3/4 of an inch off.
Austin
Jim Phillips told me awhile back that his first step is always to snap a chalk line…and this is why. no biggie, though…just find your true center line and shape it from there…you’ll wind up with a great board, i’m sure.
Howzit soulstice,Every blank should be snap lined before it's shaped. One shaper I worked with never used one and there were times when I would look at a shaped blank he brought me and think, why does one rail look flat. Well I would measure the total width and then check to see if the stringer was centered and sure enough it wasn't. He now snaps lines. This is not so important if you are using full length templates but if you use spin templates it's a must do.Aloha,Kokua
absolutely…JP said chalk was the most important thing in his toolbox
Damn it…
Oh well, learn something new everyday. I cut my outline before skinning, and it’s already at 22" wide (I was going narrow on a 9’6"), so I don’t have much (if any) room to play if I want to keep the length…
Just this morning, I started templating a new 6’9" blank that a manufacturer had left me as sample. I drew the template on one side (left), using almost all the width, and when I flipped the template to the other half, it was a full inch out of the blank. The stringer was glued straight, but 1" off center…
oops… and you cant go smaller… you’ll be removing too much foam and have a weak blank…
I’ll just finish shaping it, take the opportunity to try some different artwork with the resin and ride it. Who cares…Maybe I’ll stumble on something new, like a nice 9’6", 20" wide noserider/helicopter board…LOL.
Aloha tenover,
A fairly large percentage of blanks do not have “straight” stringers. I personally don’t like the chalk line, as it gets powdery, wiped away, and fuzzy on balsa or foam. I like to draw a thin line with pencil, ball-point pen, or micro felt-tip pen. The home centers and hardware stores sell straight flat pieces of aluminum in 8’ and sometimes in 10’ lengths. They work great for using as a long ruler or straight edge to draw your center line instead of popping chalk. The line stays nice and crisp through the initial templating and shaping process.
Regarding cutting your template too narrow for your longboard: As it’s said, “there’s always a way”, it just depends on how much time and effort it’s worth for the gain. You can cut the length of the board down the stringer and add a wider stringer or stringers which will add width. You could also really trick out the board by going with “old-school” solid wood rails, by adding redwood, cedar, bass, or balsa to the outside edges. Jig, make the cuts, glue and clamp.
Enjoy the ride!
richard mccormick