Hello, I’ve never shaped a board before and am thinking about building a long board for myself. I am 6’2" and weigh around 245 lbs, I’m still a beginner, the waves I surf around SanDiego are usually 3-4 foot sectiony shore break. I’m tempted to try to shape a longboard out of the 10’7" blank from Clark, it’s description “one pass top and bottom, template and shape the rail…” sounds pretty inviting. Could someone please give me input on plan shapes. Also, I’ve read that a large single fin is the same as three smaller fins. Does this mean that an FCS system could be suitable on a longboard? Thanks
fcs is always a terrible idea for a longboard despite what the industry wants you to think. you want to build a big log and i think that’s excellent. tri fins are designed to turn constantly and that works kind of well if you’re on a 6 footer. on a ten footer that will only slow you down as the fins cause drag. moreover, the side fins are there to keep a fin in the water when the board is all the way on the rail in a heavy, radical turn. on a ten foot plus board you will never be in the situation where needing to keep a fin in the water will be a factor. keep it simple. keep it single. as for planshapes, go to a shop you like, find the noserider you like best and see if they’ll let you pull a template. get some masonite, trace the board the best you can, cut it out with a jigsaw and sand it smooth and slap it on your blank. now you’re rollin.
You are a fairly big dude so I would definitely go thick in the foil. Make it wide too…at least 23" , and at least 3.25 inches thick. I would add more thickness than length though. Anything much over 10’ is overkill these days. Plus a thicker board will float you better than a longer thinner one. The FCS system is crap for a longboard. they might work for the side fins on tr-fin setup, but (for reasons explained ni the previous post) a 10’ log would not benefit from this type of set-up A fin box is the way to go. Easier to install and has the versatility of putting in pretty much any fin on the market. Make sure you get the longer fin box. I think they are 10.5". I am not real familiar with the blank that you are looking at. If you are real confident with a planer and are good with your hands then I’d say go for it. But otherwise a close tolerance blank like the one you are describing could be a recipe for disaster for a first time shaper. You might be better off going with a blank that has more volume and thus more room for error. Reasons for this are that it would allow for a greater margin of error, and more importantly give you a better feel for the foam and how it is shaped. You know, get to know the material. Also the harder you work at something the greater the satisfaction you’ll get when it turns out great, becasue I know that you can do agreat job at it.
depending on how big a board you want, you might look at the 10’1Y blank. it’s big, its bad, and you have some room for messing up. like the previous post said, with a close-tolerance blank you have a good chance of overshaping your first board. this blank would give you some more thickness to work with. plus, if i’m not mistaken, the actual length of the blank is 10’3 5/8. -steve