So some of you might have had a look at my first build thread. I finished shaping, but haven’t started glassing yet, as I figured it would be a better idea to first shape all my 3 blanks, and then glass then. So here we go for #2.
My second try will be a classic keel fish. I am really drawn towards the designs Skip Frye and Steve Lis came up with. So my first steps will be getting hold of a template. The original 5’5 is too small for me, 5’10 will do fine though.
I learned really much on my first go, hopefully that experience translates to a nicer finish with this one.
One thing I am sure of though: #2 will certainly take me less time than #1.
So. When I took too much time/measurements on my first board, I lack with #2. I kinda got carried away and did a lot of shaping freehand/trusted my eyes. I will finish my rails tomorrow evening and share some pics. Right now I am somewhere between ‘F*** I ruined the blank’ and ‘this actually worked’. We’ll see.
Anyhow, I am about to cut out the tail/buttcrack. My dimensions are roughly 5’10 x 20.5 with the wide point forward. Tail is 12 wide. The butt crack I drew up is 5.5 deep. Sounds about right?
I think the traditional numbers are/were the crack is about 1/2 the depth of the distance between the tips. So a 6 inch crack. Personally, mine are almost always 6.5 inches deep and it probably doesn’t make much of a difference between 5.5 and 6 inches, or 6.5 with a 12 inch tip to tip. Mike
I did my last fish 10" between tips & 5" crack. Don’t like leaving blanks unglassed, managed to damage a couple in my shack that i had stored whilst doing a third shape a while back! Also had a friend who managed to trip & fall into a set of racks with an unglassed longboard on it. It wasn’t a longboard after that! That’s maybe just clumsy me though & a clumsy pal or whisky, probably both? Good luck with the fish & happy shaping.
And you’re right with leaving unglassed blanks around for quite some time, leaves me with a weary feeling too. However, I have a spare room where I can leave them until I’m ready to glass, so they’re fairly safe there.
As for the tail design: I kinda had a feeling when measuring that with th tips 12’’ apart, a depth of 6’’ might make more sense. But then again, half an inch isnt that big of a deal either.
I’m busy this weekend installing an independent vehicle heater in my van, but I hope to finish shaping #2 on monday.
Hi Sidiabed, I would glass #1 all the way done sooner than later, then take what’s learned on #1 and apply it when you glass #2, and then do the same with #3. Macht’s gut!
I was kinda under the impression, that I can use what I learn on #1 easier if I do one step at a time, i.e. 1. learn to shape, 2. learn to glass.
Anyway, here are some pics of #2. I am really a bit disappointed, as the outline turned out wavey. The lighting makes it seem worse than it is, but it is indeed noticeable and I do have to correct that. With #1 I left too much foam outside of my line for the outline, lots of sanding to do. I though I’d saw closer to the line with #2. Turns out, the sawing has to be pretty accurate, otherwise you end up with an outline like mine. I’ll do better on #3…
Thanks for that link chris. I already read through that thread some time ago. However, I think my mistake was to believe that I could correct the wavy outline in the course of shaping my rails. When shaping #1, I had one slight bump in my outline, which I was able to fix while making my rail bands. This time around, not so much. I was just afraid to take away too much foam. Well, I’ll try to save it tomorrow.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a while. I’ve been busy working on my van. btw, is there any interest for that? If so, let me know, and I’ll document that in another thread.
I was able to more or less save my fish. I like my fish pretty wide, this one got a litte narrower then I’d like, but we’ll see. I’ve been browsing the archives for bottom contures of a fish and I found all kinds of different propositions, from flat all over to double concaves and vee in the tail.
Is there something like common ground how the bottom of a fish “shouls” look like? I am surfing in europe, we have our clean days, but it’s mostly beachies.
Thanks mate. All along shaping that board I’ve been looking forward to do the tail, as I waited till I was pretty much done with the rest of the board. Gotta admit, that was my favourite part so far!
Anywho, any recommendations as to what the bottom would ideally look like?
Looks like you’ve got it worked out on the template distortion… it’s one of those things that’s best avoided by maintaining your original outline while shaping. Many an outline has been distorted as rails kept getting ‘corrected.’ By developing a shaping system that starts with a clean symmetrical outline, you will be miles ahead.
On bottom contours - I’ve had good results with basic flat in front, a slight single concave about where your front foot goes, and a dual concave/vee out the tail. I’ve also had good feedback using a dual concave inside a deep single ahead of the fins. A straight edge across the bottom shows the duals but the stringer is below the rail edge. I start with a bit of extra tail rocker on those but shape some of the rocker out along the stringer. That still leaves a bit of rocker curve along the edge.
Here are a couple of pics of my friend’s kid riding dad’s board. This one has the duals inside a single on a twin keel fish.
After some thinking and (lots) of reading, I will leave the first third flat and put a slight vee in the last 18’’ or so, I was unsure whether to put a little bit of concave where my front foot goes, but as you also suggest that, I’ll go with it.
Tomorrow I will do some finetuning and the bottom of all my boards and hopefully start glassing on wednesday.
This is such an amazing place thank you guys so much.
