Noob Intro

General Discussion
1

Hey everyone, Just wanted to introduce myself. I’m 31 and live near Topsail Island in NC. I’ll be getting into shaping some boards as I recover from shoulder surgery. I’ve made one board so far and it turned out terrible. I rushed it. Anyway I look forward to getting advice from everyone as I get going.

Lance

2

…hello, welcome.

 

I see that you registered  long time ago…

Im very interested in all what you have to say about that surgery. I have the tendons broke but still do not have time (and money) to spend few months without working; besides that s very difficult to get the RIGHT shoulder surgeon.

You can PM if you like.

Thanks

3

Yeah it’s been a while since I signed up. I’m getting some tools together now. Maybe I can start a board next month.

As far as the surgery, it was a torn rotator cuff repair, SLAP repair and bicep tenodesis. I’m in the military so I’ll get to take it easy at home while I recover. So far it has sucked pretty bad, it’s only been a day. I’m hoping to up and around a little more in the next week.

 

4

Welcome NFC. Reverb and most others here are really generous with their experience and you’ll be well served by asking and following their advice. Good luck on the shoulder. 

All the best

5

Make sure you get that shoulder healed up. You’ll be using your arms a lot to shape and sand. Good luck!

6

Heal the shoulder before you start paddling or planing.  Welcome.  You’ll get some very bad advice on this forum and some very good advice.  It’s up to you to sort it out. Lowel

7

Welcome aboard! And hopefully you’ll enjoy your stay!-Jim

8

My advice would be to never rush things.

  1. Every step in the process is vital and any mistake made in one step is usually maginified in the next.

  2. Shaping is art form. Glassing is another. But then again, so are the steps involved in doing both. Using a planer is an art form. Cutting the template out is an at form…hell jsut laying the cloth on the deck and trimming it is an art form. 

  3. Nothing is simple. Prepare to be humbled and frustrated, but rememebr that you become good at something over time and repetition.

  4. Ask questions here… but search first. Teach a  man to fish and he’ll eat for life.

 

 

  1. But most importantly, have fun and know that your boards will probably be not much worse than the rack board you should NOT be buying. And in time they will be better becasue they are crafted by your own hands and have two magical ingredients that no rack board could ever have, KARMA and SOUL!

 

 

 

Drew

9

Thanks for all the advice so far. I’m trying to get all me tools together while I’m in a sling. I bought an old planer off ebay, turns out I gotta send it back. The description said it had a 3 1/4" blade but it was only 2" wide.

Drew- I totally agree with your first point. The one board I made turned out real shitty because I screwed up cutting the outline and though I could touch it up later. Didn’t happen and ended up with a non-symetrical tail.