Hi!! I want some help with knowing what tools and equipment you really need to start in the shaping process.
Thanks and Pura Vida
Start reading! Thereās years worth of good basic info in the archives.
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In addition to the archives/past threads, these videos ā available here at Swaylocks ā should be very helpful to you:
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Welcome to the forum.
If you are only wanting to make a board or two, Iād look into taking a class at a place that has shaping materials, lessons, and glassing facilities and save yourself the hassle of tooling up and making a workspace. If this is not possible to to geography or other reasons, then some mail order kits of materials and tools may help. If you think you want to make many boards then tooling up makes more sense.
As far as tools go, you could look at vendors like Greenlight and Foamez and others see what is offered in their kits, both for materials and for tools. The materials that will be used for board construction also determines tools. Solid or cored wood/balsa versus PU foam versus EPS foam versus hollow wood versus āothersā like cardboard and 3D printing.
It might also be worthwhile to find a channel on YouTube and watch a series of someone making a board and see what questions about tools and methods arise from those and then seek answers to those questions specifically. Many of the vendors have videos on topics. Fiberglass Hawaii has great glassing videos, Otis doing a colored cutlap is my favorite. Greenlight has videos as well. You may need to try a couple channels to see which one āspeaksā to you the most for what you know and what you donāt knowā¦but sometimes we donāt know what we donāt know so having a general curiosity is good and asking questions BEFORE you proceed is better that winging it and trying to repair the consequences.
The pivot points for us were using sidelights and seeing another shaper shape in person. Handling their planer and seeing them make marking gages with foam off-cuts and all the other boards in the shop helped to connect and firm up concepts that are not that familiar in my geographic region.
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The key question should always be; āHave you ever used hand tools or power tools?ā Pretty scary when you hand somebody a hand saw and they donāt even know how to handle it properly.
- Be realistic. Do you already have experience using hand tools? Do you have the money to invest in the basic tools; planer, handsaw, surform, hobby plane, sanding blocks, sanding screens and sandpaper?
- Learn the basics of surfboard anatomy and basic terminology: plan shape,rocker, foil, rails, tail shapes, and bottom contours.
- Watch online videos for guidance.
For understanding the set of tools that are required I recommend Rock and Sea Garage Board Shopās "Every Basic Tool You Need to Shape a Surfboard [At HOME]; https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YRM8xU_o8hM&pp=ygUKI2Jhc2ljYWxhcA%3D%3D
I would check out Kazuma Surfboards Hawaii yt channel. https://m.youtube.com/@kazumasurfboards
Lot of great videos here.
4. For your first board I would recommend shaping something more foregiving, like a fun shape board without complicated bottom countaours, i.e. concaves. Attempting to shape a high performane shortboard is a tall order for a first board.
5. Donāt start until you understand the fundamentals of shaping and go slow on your first board. I tecommend skinning the blank,foiling the blank, and cutting out the plan shape on the 1st day. Cut your rail bands and true them up with a surform as you cut each band, turn your rails with a surfoarm, soft sanding blocks, and sanding screens on day 2.
6. Fine tune and finish sanding/screening on day 3
it really helps if you do it with someone who knows how to do it, can really shorten the learning curve.
if you dont know anyone you can also try to order a board from a local shaper and ask if you can stick arround during the process.
hello, first question, do you have free time in your hands?
if the awnser is yes, then here is a list of stuff you can build, buy or probably you allready own.
Not necessarily by this order
Not necessarily the right way or the best way to do it.
There is more to it then what follows, these are just major steps.
Take it easy, donāt stress , donāt overshape.
Step 1 - build a shaping stand ( there are plans
with measurements in greenlight
website)
Step 2 - Get hand of this tools
eletric planer
some hoby planer for the stringer
Handsaw (finer tooth better)
Sanding blocks (one hard , one soft)
Sanding paper (net like is better) 100grt
and up to 400 grt
a surfboard blank (bit leeway in relation
to your desired measurements)
calipers to measure thickness
Pencil, rulers (maybe consider a shaper
square, or maybe not you can get by
with a ruller and the L tool ( dont know
the name in english)
a sureform
a bubble level
Step 3 - Pick an outline. (i like blendingcurves
website) - choose something simple,
avoid fish, hip-breaks, swallow or ultra
thin surfboards.
Step 4 - start with the bottom of the blank,
follow the natural curve of the blank
(most pu blanks have a nice curve )
Bring the foam down to your desired
thickness with the eletric planner,
between each full board passes clean the
lines with the sureform. use minimum
dept cut (you can pratice more)
turn the board arround and clean the
deck. ( The deck is the harder part, so
donāt go deep just make it white)
Step 5 - draw and cut the outline.
Put the board vertical against the wall,
step back and take a look ( looks good?
carry on then)
Step 6 - mark the rails/ mark the fins( greenlight
has tables and graphics with fin
placement railband and tuck
measurements.
Shape the rails. ( pros do it with the
eletric planer, stick to the surefoam and
sanding blocks tough)
Good luck and good waves.
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As a teenager, I built my first 5 surfboards with graph paper, ruler, pencil, scissors, heavy duty poster cardboard, a handsaw, a Sears Craftsman finishing sander (burned up 3, they had lifetime warranties back then) a wood chisel, hand plane, window squeegee, razor blades, sand paper and steel wool.
Where there is a will there is awayā¦
truth, iā ve seen a video in youtube of a well known shaper shaping a surfboard start to finish with a hobbie planer, good thing its a time-lapse, look it up.
cheers and good waves
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That was Matt Kazuma Kinoshitaā¦ That video is hilarious! (and the hand cramps he mustāve had at the endā¦)
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Iāve seen that oneā¦
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