I’m doing a noserider at the min and was wondering if any one had any interest methods for marking up rail bands. Maybe a bit controversial but I’m doing 50/50 rails.
…I know that you asking about rails but in my opinion for a nose rider is more important the last 1/3 rocker and the interaction with the main fin. Then the outline.
Make yourself a simple tool like the one in the photo; It will enable you to mark a perfect 50/50 line, then you can work from here, marking bevels up and down from that line.
My first couple of boards I measured the thickness on the rail, after the outline was cut, on the blank and put my 50/50 mark right in the middle. This last board I shaped I measured the thickness of the blank and came up from the flat bottom half that thickness for my 50/50 rail. They seem to be two different positioned rails. Blanks have a natural roll on the deck when you get them so it seems that measuring the rail and getting your 50/50 from the side width is actually giving you a lower rail, where as measuring the thickness and measuring up from the flat bottom would give a more accurate 50/50. Funny thing is the former rail was positioned more like I’m used to seeing a 50/50, and the latter looked higher. Just thinking out loud.
I’ve made 3 nose riders all slightly different, the best one so far had 60/40 rails, very rolled bottom and soft rolled rails transitioning into lower harder rails heading towards the nose wherever my nose concave started (from memory starting a third of the boards length from the nose). The most important part though I have found is having a lot of rocker in the tail 3rd of the board, I think this is what Reverb was getting at? In my opinion it helps with the turning, when you walk back to the tai 3rd of the board you are over a nice curved rocker which will fit the curve of the wave going up and down or around. Mainly though I believe it slows the board down and holds it in the face of the wave when attempting nose rides…
From my understanding put a kick in the tail from about 18 inches and back. 0 to open on the planer from 18" towards tail. Works real well for a nice quick pivot turn to position the board. Also the kick creates more suction to hold the tail down while your weight shifts forward. I personally think a fin pretty close to the tail works very well with this type of board (mines 3 inches up). Aids in the pivot and stability of the board when you’re up front.
Thanks Balsa, going to make one tomorrow. I’ve always used just the dots at nose, tail and wide point, this is much better. For others interested in this tool for 50/50 rails, keep in mind that after all the bands are cut you should still be able to see that pencil mark which is how you preserve your outline. Well not so much at nose and tail.
For the original question on this topic, you need to be careful on the bottom bands at the nose with a tear-drop nose concave. I do that concave after all the bottom bands are cut, and leave sufficient space between the edges of the concave and the last inner bands. Otherwise when finish sanding you’ll blend the concave right into the band. You need a definite separation for water to release from the concave edge and not flow out to the rail easily. This is what provides the lift. Always give the bands (foil) priority and fit your bottom contours within them on your design. When it comes to noserider tear-drop concaves, there’s a difference between designs for a “dedicated” noserider and one that can easily noseride. Dedicated designs have really wide noses and will noseride great, but suck going down the line and paddling. A typical 50/50 longboard outline /foil with the concave placed last will give better overall performance. You can tune the rockers to get more or less noserider characteristic.
Balsa
Great idea bro. I’m assuming you make the half way mark by feel.