I have deceided that my first boardbuilding project will be a longboard, because I need one for summer conditions, they are expensive to buy and because even if I mess up slightly the board will be rideable(right?). So far so good. I had sort of decided to go with something similar to the boards on brucejones.com or something in between the noserider and the modern longboard found there. Now I’m leaning more and more towards a single fin noserider because I will mainly use the board in summer mush 0-4’ beachbreak. I’m absolutly no expert on longboards, only time I ride them is when I borrow one(although I learned on an 8’ minitank). I’d like the board to be easy to paddle, noseride, turn from ‘anywhere’ on the board (atleast enough toclimb or drop down on the wave) and turn fast without loosing speed from the tail. I’m weight 190lb. Is it possible to build a board that does it all? I’m thinking 9’6" 18"ish nose, 22 3/4" waist, 15" tail, 3" thick, round/rounded pin tail, single fin in a box (maybe add sidebites later). Sounds right? I have no idea what kind of rails to put on it, what kind of bottom shape or what rocker to use. I’ll have to hotwire an eps blank myself, maybe I should just copy the rocker from a clark blank from the online catalog? Any help is much appreciated, Håvard
A 9’6" x 3" thick eps blank will give tons of floatation. I would suggest a heavy glass job on it to give you the glide you want and to compensate for the lightweight blank. I have also noticed that a boxy/full rail on a eps blank (even at 2 1/2") feels wierd at first. It has so much float that sometimes it is difficult to get the rail buried into the face of the wave. What I’m getting at is that at 3", I would suggest you go with a thinner rail and carry the rails bands a little further toward the stringer to compensate. With a thinner rail, avoid hard edges up front. It might be prone to dig or catch a rail during a cutback etc. What type of stringer material are you using? PVC or Wood? It should be a fun board and give you tons of float. Have you considered a fat square tail? It would catch more of the waves energy when catching waves and won’t draw out your turns so much. Just a thought.
For a first project. Longboards are labor intensive, compared to shorter boards. And the longer distances make it easier to shape in unwanted curves. That said, a longboard was my first project… lots of fun. Since you want to noseride it, at 190 lbs, 2 to 4 inches longer foam would help. How tall are you?. You’ll want to maximize the width to the widest you can carry. I like Mike’s (slightly) thinned-out rails. You can carry a slightly wider board with thinner rails. You might want to put some longboards under your arm. You have a good requirement there in wanting to turn from anywhere on the board. That detail is mostly a combination of rocker and outline curve distribution. Given the rocker you want, the deck will meet the tail flatter with 3.2" of thickness. You can still thin the rails though. Tell me what you think, and I’ll work up outline, rocker, and rail numbers. Do you have access to an engineer-divided (tenths and hundredths) scale in inches?
for a noserider/all-arounder type, i’d do something like 18.5n, 23w, 15t, 3 thick, old school rounded-pin tail, hard rails in last 6 inches flowing into pinched 50-50’s, a little concave under the nose, a little extra kick in the tail rocker (last foot or so), single fin w/ box and plugs or whatever you want, i dont know about that foam though. -steve>>> I have deceided that my first boardbuilding project will be a longboard, > because I need one for summer conditions, they are expensive to buy and > because even if I mess up slightly the board will be rideable(right?).>>> So far so good. I had sort of decided to go with something similar to the > boards on brucejones.com or something in between the noserider and the > modern longboard found there. Now I’m leaning more and more towards a > single fin noserider because I will mainly use the board in summer mush > 0-4’ beachbreak. I’m absolutly no expert on longboards, only time I ride > them is when I borrow one(although I learned on an 8’ minitank).>>> I’d like the board to be easy to paddle, noseride, turn from ‘anywhere’ on > the board (atleast enough toclimb or drop down on the wave) and turn fast > without loosing speed from the tail. I’m weight 190lb. Is it possible to > build a board that does it all? I’m thinking 9’6" 18"ish nose, > 22 3/4" waist, 15" tail, 3" thick, round/rounded pin tail, > single fin in a box (maybe add sidebites later). Sounds right? I have no > idea what kind of rails to put on it, what kind of bottom shape or what > rocker to use. I’ll have to hotwire an eps blank myself, maybe I should > just copy the rocker from a clark blank from the online catalog?>>> Any help is much appreciated,>>> Håvard
Here’s a 9-8 shape, 18"n x 22.8" x 14.8t. Rounded pintail with 3.2" forward width offset. Tail rocker is 3.1% of board length with enough progression for maybe .2" tail V. The rail template has 3.1" thick foam. The rail line is .9" from the bottom foam with 1.35" of tuck. The deck is crowned with somewhat thinned rails. The rocker template gives you .2" of center foam to trim. I narrowed your 15" tail slightly to 14.8" to help accomodate your desire to turn from any place on the board. The rough shape looks good on cad. Length , Outline , Rocker , Deck 0 0.00 , 3.60 , 4.90 0 0.00 , 3.60 , 4.90 0.5 , 1.37 , 3.51 , 4.87 1 , 2.06 , 3.42 , 4.84 2 , 3.03 , 3.25 , 4.79 3 , 3.77 , 3.09 , 4.73 4 , 4.37 , 2.95 , 4.68 5 , 4.90 , 2.80 , 4.63 6 , 5.36 , 2.67 , 4.58 7 , 5.78 , 2.54 , 4.53 8 , 6.16 , 2.42 , 4.48 9 , 6.50 , 2.30 , 4.43 10 , 6.82 , 2.19 , 4.39 11 , 7.12 , 2.09 , 4.34 12 , 7.40 , 1.98 , 4.30 13 , 7.66 , 1.88 , 4.26 14 , 7.90 , 1.79 , 4.22 15 , 8.13 , 1.70 , 4.18 16 , 8.35 , 1.61 , 4.14 17 , 8.55 , 1.53 , 4.10 18 , 8.74 , 1.45 , 4.06 19 , 8.92 , 1.37 , 4.03 20 , 9.09 , 1.29 , 3.99 21 , 9.25 , 1.22 , 3.96 22 , 9.40 , 1.15 , 3.92 23 , 9.55 , 1.08 , 3.89 24 , 9.68 , 1.02 , 3.86 25 , 9.81 , 0.96 , 3.83 26 , 9.93 , 0.90 , 3.80 27 , 10.04 , 0.84 , 3.77 28 , 10.15 , 0.78 , 3.74 29 , 10.25 , 0.73 , 3.72 30 , 10.35 , 0.68 , 3.69 31 , 10.44 , 0.63 , 3.67 32 , 10.52 , 0.58 , 3.64 33 , 10.60 , 0.54 , 3.62 34 , 10.68 , 0.50 , 3.60 35 , 10.75 , 0.45 , 3.57 36 , 10.81 , 0.42 , 3.55 37 , 10.87 , 0.38 , 3.53 38 , 10.93 , 0.34 , 3.51 39 , 10.98 , 0.31 , 3.49 40 , 11.03 , 0.28 , 3.48 41 , 11.07 , 0.25 , 3.46 42 , 11.12 , 0.22 , 3.44 43 , 11.15 , 0.19 , 3.43 44 , 11.19 , 0.17 , 3.41 45 , 11.22 , 0.15 , 3.40 46 , 11.25 , 0.13 , 3.39 47 , 11.27 , 0.11 , 3.37 48 , 11.29 , 0.09 , 3.36 49 , 11.31 , 0.07 , 3.35 50 , 11.33 , 0.06 , 3.34 51 , 11.35 , 0.04 , 3.34 52 , 11.36 , 0.03 , 3.33 53 , 11.37 , 0.02 , 3.32 54 , 11.38 , 0.02 , 3.31 55 , 11.39 , 0.01 , 3.31 56 , 11.39 , 0.00 , 3.30 57 , 11.39 , 0.00 , 3.30 58 , 11.40 , 0.00 , 3.30 59 , 11.40 , 0.00 , 3.30 60 , 11.40 , 0.00 , 3.30 61 , 11.40 , 0.01 , 3.30 62 , 11.40 , 0.01 , 3.30 63 , 11.40 , 0.02 , 3.30 64 , 11.40 , 0.03 , 3.30 65 , 11.40 , 0.04 , 3.30 66 , 11.40 , 0.05 , 3.31 67 , 11.40 , 0.06 , 3.31 68 , 11.40 , 0.08 , 3.32 69 , 11.40 , 0.10 , 3.33 70 , 11.40 , 0.12 , 3.34 71 , 11.40 , 0.14 , 3.35 72 , 11.39 , 0.16 , 3.36 73 , 11.39 , 0.18 , 3.37 74 , 11.39 , 0.21 , 3.38 75 , 11.38 , 0.24 , 3.39 76 , 11.37 , 0.27 , 3.41 77 , 11.37 , 0.30 , 3.43 78 , 11.36 , 0.34 , 3.44 79 , 11.34 , 0.37 , 3.46 80 , 11.33 , 0.41 , 3.48 81 , 11.31 , 0.45 , 3.50 82 , 11.29 , 0.50 , 3.52 83 , 11.27 , 0.54 , 3.55 84 , 11.24 , 0.59 , 3.57 85 , 11.21 , 0.64 , 3.60 86 , 11.18 , 0.69 , 3.63 87 , 11.14 , 0.75 , 3.66 88 , 11.09 , 0.80 , 3.69 89 , 11.04 , 0.86 , 3.72 90 , 10.98 , 0.93 , 3.76 91 , 10.91 , 0.99 , 3.79 92 , 10.84 , 1.06 , 3.83 93 , 10.76 , 1.14 , 3.87 94 , 10.67 , 1.21 , 3.91 95 , 10.56 , 1.29 , 3.96 96 , 10.45 , 1.38 , 4.00 97 , 10.33 , 1.46 , 4.05 98 , 10.19 , 1.56 , 4.11 99 , 10.04 , 1.65 , 4.16 100 , 9.87 , 1.75 , 4.22 101 , 9.68 , 1.86 , 4.28 102 , 9.48 , 1.97 , 4.34 103 , 9.25 , 2.09 , 4.41 104 , 9.00 , 2.21 , 4.49 105 , 8.72 , 2.35 , 4.56 106 , 8.42 , 2.49 , 4.65 107 , 8.08 , 2.64 , 4.74 108 , 7.69 , 2.80 , 4.83 109 , 7.27 , 2.97 , 4.94 110 , 6.78 , 3.15 , 5.05 111 , 6.23 , 3.36 , 5.18 112 , 5.59 , 3.59 , 5.32 113 , 4.83 , 3.84 , 5.48 114 , 3.89 , 4.14 , 5.68 115 , 2.61 , 4.50 , 5.92 115.5 , 1.69 , 4.72 , 6.08 116 , 0.00 , 5.00 , 6.30 Rail: Width , Deck , Bottom 0 , 2.20 , -0.90 1 , 2.20 , -0.90 2 , 2.20 , -0.90 3 , 2.19 , -0.90 4 , 2.18 , -0.90 5 , 2.16 , -0.90 6 , 2.11 , -0.90 7 , 2.04 , -0.90 7.5 , 1.98 , -0.90 8.0 , 1.91 , -0.90 8.5 , 1.83 , -0.90 9.5 , 1.58 , -0.90 10.0 , 1.41 , -0.90 10.3 , 1.27 , -0.88 10.4 , 1.22 , -0.87 10.5 , 1.16 , -0.85 10.6 , 1.11 , -0.82 10.7 , 1.04 , -0.79 10.8 , 0.97 , -0.75 10.9 , 0.89 , -0.70 11 , 0.80 , -0.64 11.1 , 0.70 , -0.57 11.25 , 0.50 , -0.41 11.35 , 0.29 , -0.24 11.40 , 0.00 , -0.00
Thanks all of you. I’m going to use a wood stringer of some sort if I can find something suitable. It will be glassed heavy with 3x6oz top, 2x6oz bottom if that’s not way off for an epoxy/EPS board. Noodle, I will input the numbers in some kind of CAD or something and see how it looks. Thanks a bunch. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear, but noseriding is not high priority. It would just be a nice bonus. Being able to turn the thing and glide are the most import to me. I will absolutly hate the board if I’m having a hard time turning it. Thanks again all of you, Håvard
Thanks all of you.>>> I’m going to use a wood stringer of some sort if I can find something > suitable. It will be glassed heavy with 3x6oz top, 2x6oz bottom if that’s > not way off for an epoxy/EPS board. Noodle, I will input the numbers in > some kind of CAD or something and see how it looks. Thanks a bunch.>>> Maybe I didn’t make myself clear, but noseriding is not high priority. > It would just be a nice bonus. Being able to turn the thing and glide are > the most import to me. I will absolutly hate the board if I’m having a > hard time turning it.>>> Thanks again all of you, Håvard, You’re good on glass schedules if you use 2 lb /cu ft EPS foam. 9-8 is good as an allround longboard for a 190 pounder. The above nose rocker isn’t designed for pure noseriding. Combining the nose rocker and the rounded pin tail, you’ll get on that nose at trim speeds only. The pin tail will add to performance, especially dropping in. The forward offset will lift the nose and minimize your need to walk the deck. Still, you will max out performance by maxing out the width to what you can carry. It distributes the outline curve… my opinion. If you add concave, your board won’t take chop as well. Let me know if you want a wider outline. -Noodle