what i normally do first is cut the outline…then skin ,and plane to my thickness,shape and all that…i see some people plane to thickness then cut the outline,some also cut the length of the board then plane to thickness,then cut the outline…/how do you do it ,? and why does it work for you…?
i do it the same way that you do, to me it makes a lot more sense to cut out the board before planing. it seems like more work to do it the other ways. why would you plain that extra foam that you are going to cut off.
when you shape the rails how many rail bands do you guys use.
Have either of you ever blown out a rail/edge while planing? If so wouldn’t the blank be toast?
I skin the bottom, not to final thickness, but enough to get a smooth level surface to lay the spin template on. I outline and then cut with a jigsaw.
I used to cut the outline first, but will never do that again. The outline sometimes comes out a bit crooked due to irregularites on the edge of the blanks.
Drew
I’m with Drew…
I even go so far as to start the first skinning cuts on the deck, and usually two full rail bands, before cutting out the template on the bottom.
Hard enough for me to square up 90 degrees, anything to make my job easier.
Planing is no effort and takes 5 seconds per cut.
I believe in cutting the outline first and then squaring up rails. To me, the square / 90 rails give a much clearer view of foil and rocker adjustments as your skinning and planning the blank. Keeping the foil symmetrical on both sides is as simple as measuring rail thickness at perpendicular intervals.
As for your pencil jumping around over the blank’s irregularities (bumps, crust divots, etc): If you’re using an electric planer to true your outline (which is hands down the best tool for this job) those small pencil errors will not be followed by the planer. The planer’s shoe length will simply not let you follow those small line errors.
Best,
Herb Bean
i skin the deck, plane to thickness, crown deck, roll bottom, add in vee (if the board calls for it), THEN cut outline, and do the rails.
i used to cut the outline first, but i found that i get a much truer shape this way. when i was cutting the outline first, i had a lot of back and forth and evening out. doing it the way i do it now lets me focus on one thing at a time, without worrying about things like taking a chunk out of the rail while i’m planing it down (because there is no rail to take a chunk out of). safer…easier…only way for me.
I agree with Soultice.There is also another way to do it that works good.1)Skin the bottom…2)Skin the deck…3)Draw outline on bottom and cut it out.Leave 1/8" outside of pencil line(don’t plane it yet).4)Foil and do first railbands 5)NOW you come back and clean it up with the planer.Kind of like the best of both worlds. RB
ok maybe ill just experiment when i have a chance…thanks for the opinions…i have never had a chunk fly off the rail but its probally just a matter of time if it has happened to a few of you…
I skin the complete blanke top and bottom. take the meat off from the bottom to about a 1/4 of an inch off the thickness then mark with template cut out with hand saw. then shape away . stopping occasionally for alcohol and to be yelled at by mrs pandanus for making a mess .
ok i deciced to try it the way some of you do…skinned the deck and planed to about the thickness i wanted …so far i like it much better…it is way easier to plane the nose of a blank ,than it is to plane a shortboard nose…also when i said i havent damaged anything by cutting the outline first, well of course thats when it happed …now i have a messed up nose and rail…so far i have not cut the outlines ,but i think i will still like the new method better…thanks