I have been drafting up some racks, can’t really find any good prints or descriptions for shaping racks so here is my first draft and am curious if someone could give me some feedback on the angles, dimensions, and anything else that might help.
After I get a final draft I’ll post up some better drawings in the resources section.
Note: I labeled the dimensions with letter to make it easy to reference what dimension you are talking about. If there are any dimensions i left out, or if someone has a cad package and would like to modify this original, let me know and I can send out dxf.
Thanks everyone in advance, and look forward to feedback!
The tabs on the top, to hold the board flat are 4", forgot to dim that. So what would you say is a good width for that part?
I found that it can as complicated as you want to, as in, if I take width out of DIM E it will throw off my angles, BTW would you say that those angles are good?
While you are at it in CAD you might as well model in the general cross section of the blank. You might find that the thickness of the blank will change your angle of the line you have modeled.
For a straight U, what is the depth and width for the inner surface, also what is the average angle that you want the board to be at when on rail in the U.
Rastro… OH Man! Your right, I just threw in a generic cross section of a board, 21x2.5 roughly, and it threw off everything! Back to the drawing board!
Think I need to find out what are the best angles to work at first. Thanks.
There really isn’t a fixed dimension… mine have a 5" opening across and are 8" deep. That’s with the padding. The tops are just ends of a padded 2" X 4".
A good point was brought up re: width of a shortboard as it tapers at the ends. Mine are 4’ 5" apart (measured at the outside of the uprights) and I’ve been able to shape shortboards but it’s pretty close at the nose and tail.
If I had platform tops on the uprights, I would not have had room to shape shortboards. If I moved them closer, it might not provide support for really long boards - I just finished an 11’6". I’ve seen somewhere an adjustable rack?
Have also seen carpet straps hung like a hammock between the uprights, which seems to work for some. The hammock avoids damaging blank as you drop it in on edge. The steps on your design (as someone pointed out) look like a setup for rail damage.
If you use carpet scraps to hang in the “U” make sure you don’t use too rough of a weave (no old shag). I had some that actually left marks in blanks (lighter foams).
John, I was just going to write and ask isn’t 8" deep a little shallow, but then I realized that the cross section I am working off of is the middle of the board, not the tail or nose. And there isn’t a rack for the middle.
Man, I feel stupid now. I have been putting so
much thought into angle and such that I totally overlooked that fact.
Foam EZ had a nice looking adjustable rack on there site but it is no longer there. It was priced in the mid-$200 range and would probably cost an arm and leg for shipping due to the weight. Maybe Brad from foam ez can chime in and let everyone know if they are still available. I think i may have a photo of this rack on my home computer, if i get on tonight I’ll try and post it. I also have a couple shots of the rack we use in our shaping room, its pretty cool, the whole rack sits on one height adjustable leg and is fully adjustable length wise from about 5ft to about 9ft.
Here is a picture of the racks we sell http://www.foamez.com/cf/catalog.cfm?cat=2&subCat=11, they are out of stock until next week. They go for $265.00 and shipping varies between $15.00 and $35.00 depending on your proximity to Foam E-Z. These racks have been well received and are lightweight yet durable enough to shape on everyday. Hope this helps. Good luck!
last week I posted a picture in the resourse section of some easy to make racks made out of scrap wood. the post has not come up yet.??. they measure 10" deep x 5.50" inside x extend out 13"
My racks are welded steel with car rim bases. They work really well and are totaly adjustable. Up, down, left, right etc. They measure 16" across the top, 10" deep and 5" wide between the U. The 16" width at the top can be a problem with short boards, but since i can move the racks around it hasn’t been all that bad. They work very well for fun and longboards.
Aloha Tomas, There are nuts welded to the sides where bolts are used as the tightening/holding mechanisms when the inner pieces slid in or out/up or down. The rack is definitely sweet! It was built by my friends (who the shaping room belongs to) brother in-law who is a welder.
I measured my racks last night. I have a set in bucketas, so you can move them closer/further apart (I like this alot for shaping). I have another rack for sanding that is one unit. The brackets for both racks are about 8-9 inches x 8-9, so basically a square and they hold boards (from tiny to large) just fine on a rail. Also, you can wedge them in at two different angles, so the step design is not really necessary. If you want a step, a better way might be to build up more padding on the bottom making a step that way. If you build a unit - i think the best compromise for length apart is about 3.5 ft. You dont need the ‘arms’ that stick out from the U, just padding over a 2x6 board is plenty enough area to hold the board steady for shaping/sanding. I have ‘arms’ on my shaping stand, but just wrapped foam around the top of a 2x6 for the sanding racks, and i actually like the way i did it for the sanding racks better - it holds the board just as good, but doesn’t get in the way as much. Sorry so long - that is just my preferences. I didn’t plan them out to much - just got some scrap wood and threw it together. Just build one and it will work…
