Planning on shaping my first board - diamond tail quad

General Discussion
41

 

I'll update this thread with pictures as I make the board. I'm very lucky to have the guidance of Dave Yearwood helping me with this project and showing me all the tips and tricks, as well as shaping philosophies that can applied in other areas of life. Thanks to Jim Mincher who led me to meet Dave Yearwood. I'm glad I went surfing that morning!


It takes a while to measure out the template, but make sure you get the line as true as possible. Dave Yearwood's advice applies throughout the whole process as well as life on general: Start off with a good, solid foundation, that way it will be much easier to come out with a perfect - or as close to it as possible - product. Actually, Dave didn't start helping until we got to the actual foam shaping.


I got the blank from Wrightsville Glassing.

[IMG]http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/ledzepfreak94/DSC03658.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/ledzepfreak94/DSC03657.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/ledzepfreak94/DSC03659.jpg[/IMG]

After a good three hours of intense learning under Dave Yearwood's teachings, We've come to this. My template wasn't perfect so he fixed up the lines and set a good solid foundation to start shaping with. This way we could take a look at the lines and make sure everything is perfect before we commit. Then we measured the end of the tail's width, and the width a foot from the nose, as well as the widest point that we wanted. As of now my dimensions are 5'7" x 19.75 x 2.75. After trimming the stringer with a block plane, he showed me a certain technique for planing the bottom of the board and let me plane the majority of the bottom. He told me that it's easiest to open it up all the way, probably because you don't have to worry too much about accidently easing off or on. His advice was to keep the planer close to the body and walk with it, don't let it get too far away from you (don't be lazy). Also, make sure that the front platform of the planer rests on the uncut foam so that the cut is flat every time. My lines may have been zig-zaggy, but it turns out the bottom was pretty much perfectly flat, don't let the planer marks fool you.

 

After getting the thickness down to what we wanted using the planer (measure thickness with calipers), we took our measurements that we had from earlier and marked the points on the foam (foot from nose, tail and widepoint). For the wide point, we put three dots at the same distance from the stringer and drew a line parallel to the stringer going through them. Using three dots lets you know if you measure wrong, because all of them can't line up if you mess up. The reason we drew a line was that we weren't sure where the exact wide point would fall, so that leaves room for variation. Then, using his quarter templates, he got the outline to pass through all the points marked on the foam so that our outline is pretty much what it was to begin with. We had to do all of this mainly because my tamplate wasn't perfect, and we needed to remove any bumps or weird curves from the original template.

 

42

Hi there,

Here is something I shaped a few years back.

Same idea - Quad fish with a diamond tail

Shame about this board is that I shaped it for a friend and he has hardly ridden it… might be time to reclaim it :slight_smile:

43

We cut out the outline with a handsaw taking care not to angle it into the blank.

From there, Dave showed me how to square up the rails using the 6" surform, this took a long time to do.  First we just evened out the bottom edge of the rail until it matched the penciled outline.  Then we took a T-square and used that to file down the rest of the rail until it was at a perfect right angle with the bottom.  I shaved a tad too much at one point because when using the surform, I let it drag on the foam during my backstroke, taking off more than I intended.  So make sure you lift the surform off of the foam after you take a stroke, and check the angle of the foam often.

After using a 12" surform to get rid of the planer marks on the bottom, we decided to put a double concave through the tail.  To do this, we picked an imaginary line between the stringer and the tail, and did 10 passes on that line (parallel with the stringer).  Then on both sides of that line, we did 7 passes. and then 3 the next time around.  This lets the foam graduate from the concave back up to the stringer and rail.  But make sure you do this on both sides of the stringer.  Then we smoothed it out using a screen.  

Through all of this, we haven’t even touched the tail or deck, so that shows that the bottom is first step in shaping the board.

44

I would either go a bit thinner or a lot shorter or maybe both. I have a couple similar boards, 5’8"  21 2 1/2 and 5’9" 20 1/2" 2 5/16 and at 6’1" x 150 they are a lot of foam and in both cases i wish I had gone smaller. There is more to volume than just the dimensions but I imagine your board will be pretty flat and the rails will be full. 

 

Just curious what are you riding right now?

45

Right now the board is at 2 3/4" and we haven’t planed the deck yet.  Dave said we could probably open up the planer all the way and do a pass, so that’ll be another 1/8" off. So it’ll probably end up being around 2 5/8".  Right now I am riding a 5’11" x 19.25" x 2.5" with a baby swallow tail.  That board is more of a hybrid shortboard/fish, where - even though it’ll be a diamond tail - the outline of the board I’m shaping now will resemble a retro fish more so than the board I’m riding now.

46

I’m really enjoying this thread. Im pretty much the same dims as you, ride a 5’10’’ whiskey fish,
and wanting to shape something similar; I’m thinking white
diamond/…lost rocket-ish.

 

Good luck man and keep us up to date on this thing.

 

P.S. how much money are you going to have involved in materials and where did you get everything?

47

 

That’s funny, my 5 '11 is Whiskey Fish too!  Shaped by Jimmy Keith, right?  That’s been my go to board since last May.

 

Anyways, so far I’ve spent around 40 or so bucks for tools that I didn’t already have, and I’ll probably need to buy a planer soon, since right now i’m at  Dave Yearwood’s shaping bay using his tools.  But I got the blank from Wrightsville glassing for 56 dollars, and i’m planning on buying s-glass and RR epoxy from Foam ez to glass it, and that comes out to be around 130 dollars.  So if you already have tools, you can make a board EASILY under 200 dollars.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of tools needed for shaping.

48

You would be better off getting your glass and resin from Green Room.  About the same price and no shipping costs.  They have s and e glass and you can get enough resin and hardner for one or two boards.  I have used RR and the epoxy from Green Room and have not noticed any difference.  Just easier using someone local.

49

I was just concerned with the ease of getting the ratios right.  As RR is 2:1, so it’s pretty easy.  What’s the Green Room resin like?

50

Ratio is the same.  I have made 4 boards with their resin and the aerolite S glass and it all comes out ok except for my limitations glassing.  Working time is about 25-30 min laminating in 70 degree room.  Have set all of my FCS fusion plugs without problems.  I do have problems with the hot coat and gloss but that is not the resin, just my limitations and area I have to work in.  You basically buy the same stuff he is making his boards with, pay tax, no shipping, they are pretty nice guys to deal with.

51

 

Yea its a Jimmy Keith 5’10, just got it in december. feels a little big right now, think i went with too much thickness. Other than that i love it; i got it with the 5 fin setup but haven’t ridden it as a quad yet tho. Interested in seeing how that rides.

 

Planning on stopping by Wrightsville glass tomorrow when i get out of class. Talk to them about pricing; as of now I think I will probably let them glass it when I do get around to shaping it.

 

Also, I am hoping to actually watch some people actually shape a few boards before I dive into this, I think that would help a lot.

 

You had a chance to work on yours any recently?

52

 

Yeah, I think I could go shorter with my whiskey fish now too.

 

I haven’t been able to shape since monday, since I left the blank at Dave’s place, for fear that I might damage i transporting it there and back.  I talked to him on the phone today and he said that tomorrow is a possibility, I can’t wait, shaping is sooo much fun!  I’m so grateful I have someone teaching me this.

53

Any recent progress? I stopped by Wrightsville Glass Friday around 2 or so when I got out of class, and no one was there. Guess I’ll just have to stop back by Tuesday.

54

Nah, unfortunately I won’t be able to shape again until next weekend at earliest.

55

Alright, so I was finally able to shape again, thanks to Dave Yearwood, for selflessly showing me the ways of shaping!

 

So, we started off by planing the deck down 1/8th an inch, and then using a 12" surform to smooth out the planer marks, and then going over it with a screen. Periodically, filing the nose and trimming the stringer to make sure that its completely flush with the deck. From there, Dave used the planer to make the first rail band (because it takes skill).  From there we used the surform again to tweak the band but we still kept it very defined so you can see where the edge was.  Sorry for the lack of pics for this step, I didn’t have my camera because I went over to the shaping bay right after school.  

Then, using the foam-ez square (plastic ruler square that lines up with the stringer),  we measured how far from the stringer that the rail band ended and marked it on the opposite rail of the board (un-banded side).  We did this all the way up the board.  Then we flipped the board bottom-up, and measured how deep (from the bottom) the rail band ended on the rail, and marked the measurement on the opposite rail, again, going up the whole board.  Using all the dots we had, we were able to mirror the rail band on the other rail, using a sureform to shape the band.  It’s kind of hard to visualize this but, think of it as cutting a diagonal slice from the depth dot, to the width dot (looking down-the-rail).  

Next, using the screen, we smoothed out the top deck bands until everything felt right.  Keep in mind that we haven’t even touched the bottom of the rails yet

Then since we had a little extra time, we decided to rough out the tail, but normally, you wouldn’t do this until the rails were completely done.

56

Nice work man, looking forward to seeing how this thing turns out.

 

57

Okay, I’m back!

Besides, filing down the  stringer near the nose a bit, the first thing we did was to finish shaping the rails by shaping the bottom bands.  To do this, we took the 12 inch surform and just took off foam diagonally starting from the half-way point of the rail and going up to the nose on the first pass. Then with each pass you start off slightly further back until you get three-quarters down the rail.  This keeps the rails near the tail harder, because you need that extra bite near the tails, especially on thicker boards.

Then, you essentially eyeball it and try to mirror the rail band on the opposite rail.  Just by looking down the nose it’s pretty easy to tell if your depth or width is off.   Then, true up the lines using a 6 inch surform.

From there, using dragon skin or a screen, we just rounded down the two lips of the deck and bottom rail bands towards the apex of the rail.  This step can vary depending on how sharp or boxy you want your rails to be, but make sure that you are consistent on both sides, unless you want an asymmetrical board!  When you get near the tail, “flatten” your angle of attack to keep the rails hard.  As you get closer to completing the rail, you should definitely use the screen as it takes off less foam then dragon skin.  From there, you just touch up on any uneven spots, but don’t try to fix changes in one go… do a little, look at it, and if it’s not right, do a little more… this way you avoid taking away too much foam.

After that, you just shape the tail.  Following Dave Yearwood’s classic way of shaping, we made the tail curvature (curve from deck to edge of tail) match the rail curvature near the tail, by first filing down the stringer at the tail, and then using a 6 inch surform, we made the rest of the tail match that curvature and then smoothed it down with the screen.

Viola!  Now I just need to glass it!

 

I am so grateful to have had Dave Yearwood help me with my first board ever, showing me techniques for using tools and the steps to shape a board, as well as tips and pitfalls.  My board would probably be nowhere near as good as it turned out if he didn’t help me out, and he pushed me past that beginning hesitation point, so on my next board, I will have so much more confidence.

58

Congrats man, can’t wait to see the final product and hear the ride report. I was up a Wrightsville Glass for a couple of hours today working with shawn dialing in my dims for my lost rocket-ish board hes shaping me, hes gonna start on it towards the end of the week (selling the whiskey fish. it’s a bit too big)after its done and i recoop the funds i talked to him about doing my own shape, he was very helpful also and acted as if i could shape it there.

Ive only dealt with the guys there like twice, but so far everyone seems to bend over backwards to help you out. Good group of guys, nice to have some people like that around here.

Seems if you’ve had a similar experience with Yearwood. I’ll def be going back to them for anymore needs i have surfboard related.

Sorry for getting slightly off topic. Are you personally doing all of your glassing too? if so, keep us updated on progress, looking forward to seeing how this thing turns out.

59

Dang man that thing looks sharp!

 

You’re lucky to have a guy like Yearwood helping you out, he makes some solid boards, real inspiring stuff.  Can’t wait to hear how the glassing goes, and the ride, of course.  Might have to copy you and shape myself a diamond tail soon.

60

Thanks!  Our school surf club went to Wrightsville Glassing today as our annual field-trip thingy.  I think I’m going to get a pro glass this board because I honestly am too scared to mess up my board by screwing up the glass job!  But in the summer, I’ll mow some lawns for money, and make more boards, and I’ll definitely try the glassing myself… as for now, I’m gonna shell out the rest of my buck for a pro-glass job.

Shawn also has a bunch of boards in the factory that his team-riders may have ridden once or twice, and they’re virtually brand new, but marked down to $75 -$200.  If I ever need to get a step-up for traveling, I gonna buy one from there.

Other than that, I need to make some money (at least $200 for all the supplies) and decide on the next board that I wanna make.

Also, fins are waaaaaaay too expensive!  more than the blank itself!