I’m planning to buy a 5 stringer long blank. I’m crushing my mind on how to have a consistent curve in dome and rail and if traditional shaping tools would work fine. Any suggestion?
I’m planning to buy a 5 stringer long blank. I’m crushing my mind on how > to have a consistent curve in dome and rail and if traditional shaping > tools would work fine. Any suggestion? I have done a few multi stinger boards. My tip would be to make sure that all your cutting tools are very sharp. I found that a small spoke plane with a new blade was helpful in doing the rails. I also got some good use out of a Dremel tool, but be careful they can get out of control! If you are doing this for money make sure you charge more, you will definetely earn it! Good Luck
In some ways it is easier to “eyeball” deck and bottom symmetry because you have the offset stringers for visual reference. Once the blank is rough shaped, I use a mini-plane and whittle away at the end grain to get the stringers where I want them and then lightly sand the foam to match. As CMC points out, sharp tools really help. I’ve also found that identifying grain direction can be more difficult than you might expect - I’ve had grain switch direction mid stringer probably due to an unseen knot buried in the glue-up. Also common is grain direction being opposite on the different stringers. Even a sharp plane will gouge if you try cutting against the grain. Good luck - you might consider the new longboard shaping video. Jim Phillips probably has loads of pointers on this topic.
In some ways it is easier to “eyeball” deck and bottom symmetry > because you have the offset stringers for visual reference. Once the blank > is rough shaped, I use a mini-plane and whittle away at the end grain to > get the stringers where I want them and then lightly sand the foam to > match. As CMC points out, sharp tools really help. I’ve also found that > identifying grain direction can be more difficult than you might expect - > I’ve had grain switch direction mid stringer probably due to an unseen > knot buried in the glue-up. Also common is grain direction being opposite > on the different stringers. Even a sharp plane will gouge if you try > cutting against the grain. Good luck - you might consider the new > longboard shaping video. Jim Phillips probably has loads of pointers on > this topic. I’m like a bull fighter begging for more than one bull at a time when it comes to multi-stringers. They become like a wire frame view of the board, I rarely if ever go for the kill immediatelty, but skin and true up the blank, put it aside, then later outline it and cut out. After that I will thin the nose and tail, do an additional true-up, then turn the rails and I mean turn the rails, I take my time, use the planer to its full extent and have a shaped blank with very little doctoring to do. Go slow, think it out, rushing equals frustration and mistakes that are unreversible. During sanding, evertime I feel the sanding block touch wood, I block plane it down again. Sometime I have to block planre a stringer 30 times?, but if that is what it takes, so be it. Better a slow approach to a good result, than an oooppps!