I’m about to attempt my first board and I’m contemplating the process and I came up with an obstacle in my head.
I have no templates yet, only a picture, 6 width measurements, and 3 different battens to try.
So when I’m drawing my outline on the blank with my markings and battens how am I going to keep both sides relatively symmetrical? Even if I square everything up and replicate my process, I’m imagining discrepencies between the outline sides. Do I draw a half outline and trace it to flip it on the other side? What did everyone do for a new design before the CAD era? Do I just live with an asymmetrical board until I make a flip template from it?
Take a good look down your stringer. If you’re satisfied it’s straight, proceed. I’ve literally hand shaped an outline on one side and transferred to the opposite side at 6" intervals for a decent result. A carpenter’s square is your friend in this sort of deal.
All that said, I’ve been much happier and it takes much less time now that I have a bunch of masonite templates… lay one on the blank, trace, flip, repeat. No worries, no drama.
I didn’t want to make a masonite template for an experimental body board. I just made a quick template from sheets of heavy duty (cardboard) “poster board” I got at Walmart (22" x 28"). (The blue appealed to me.)
I taped a few pieces of poster board together with clear packing tape.
Used a framing square and marked half the width on the poster board at 6" intervals. Connected the dots with several curves I have – battens should work too though.
Cut out the template with a pair of scissors.
Drew a midline on the foam. Lined up the template with the midline, teporarily secured the template on the foam with masking tape. Then holding down the template with one hand, I traced the first-half outline using the other hand. Flipped the template on the midline and traced the other side/half.
Cut out the shape and cleaned up the lines. Then I trued/squared the rails with McDing’s fence-post level tip (worked well too).
Ready to shape.
Finished shaping this afternoon.
The poster-board template can still be used again or later transferred to masonite.
I made plenty of masonite templates over the years. Until I landed here and started using AKU and Boardcad. Now I can run up a design, rendering it into a 3D display and tweak it however many times it takes to get exactly what I’m looking for, Rescale, tweak dimensions, mix/match design ideas from other boards, etc.
I never wonder what a board will actually look like in full size. The CAD helps me see it.
This website, Bending Curves, has a lot of great resources that you can print on a standard printer. If you find the shape and size you want, just print it, then cut it out and tape up the pieces to make a paper template. You can print out 2 copies and make a full size template. Full size templates are nice because you can look at the whole outline, even stand on it and get a good idea of the actual size.
I take paper templates and copy them to poster board or heavy paper, sometimes I copy those to masonite or thin plywood. Anything thicker than standard paper will be much easier draw your outline.
36" wide butcher paper, folded lengthwise with both halves glued together with a really light spritz of spray adhesive (I use 3M-77). Spritz the outside with a little more adhesive and tack the individual sheets to it to form your half-template. Tape them together and cut, then unfold the piece. You get a full template that’s perfectly aligned and perfectly symmetrical from side to side. Including any flat spots or mistakes in your cutting.
That’s okay for a backyarder who’s only going to use a template once or twice. If you were a pro and were using the template over and over you’d want it in masonite or the like.
I’ve made many one off templates with a roll of paper using the technique you mention. First saw the technique in a movie with Tom Curren and George Greenough.
10 years ago I used Adobe Illustrator to draw outlines, then photoshop to scale them to full size and cut them into slices to print on 11 x 17 paper. Drawing programs work great for templates, I’ve made dozens that way. With Blending curves you don’t have to draw them yourself.
There are other free apps you can use to draw surfboards and then print out on letter size paper. I have an app called ishaper on my iphone. I haven’t tried to print anything yet, but I did make an outline. I haven’t used Boardcad for years, but I made template using that, and I made a series of ribs for hollow boards using something I can’t remember that was free.
I used 60 grit with it. In addition to squaring the blank outline, it cleaned up the curves nicely too. I used one sweeping motion from nose to tail (or vice versa) for each pass.
“Ha! Ha! All that welding. Buy a “Fence Post Level”. At any Ace or Lowes. $3 or $4. Glue a piece of 1/4” Masonite on each side. I like to put the smooth side out on one side and the rough or back side out on the other. Choose your grit. I use 60 or 80. Glue the paper to the rough side with spray adhesive. Wa-La!! The smooth side goes on the Blank. sandpapered side trues your template. Always good to clean up the edges of the Masonite with sandpaper. I like to cut my Masonite a little bigger than the flat sides of the square. Say six inches. The square is only about four. This is another Terry Senate originally. lowel"
…hello Dublak2; you have a confusion regarding where to use the battens. You use them to make the template/s not on the blank.
If you are alone to do that, use some corner or a heavy stuff to curve the batten. Start with STD measurements at the basic three points (at 1ft from nose and tail and in the middle or near the middle depending the outline wanted) . Mark half of those distances at one side (because you are doing a half or spin template) then place the batten and try your best natural curve. Adjust and trace another etc. When you are ok with the finak curve, observe it from different angles.
Create a pleasing outline on one side of the stringer on the bottom of the blank. Take a piece of paper and trace the outline. Use that piece of paper to create a mirror image on the other side of the stringer.
