Hey guys,
Wondering if you all might be willing to rip apart this longboard I am helping a buddy make. We got it to a pretty good spot, but a little stuck on the foiling aspect of this one. Tail looks a little thick. going for around 1 3/4-1 7/8 12 inches from the tail and roughly the same 12 from the nose. Its pretty close, but looks a little chunky.
I dont even feel like I know what I want to ask.
If anyone can give me any direction on this it will be much appreciated
The board is an 8’0 and about 3 inches thick at thickest point
Which end is which?
HAHA. And we are off to a good start. Nose is left side of picture
I was not sure thought maybe you were going for a kicked tail…The “foil” into the tail would make a nice nose,
Sorry to say to me that’s still a blank. A lot more to do before it’s any where near ready for glass. Just my opinion.
hard to tell from just one picture.
Keep whittling. There’s a surfboard in there somewhere. Your are almost “reverse rocker”. Which is probably why the tail was mistaken for the nose. In the photo you appear to have more foam under your rear foot than you have forward. When I Shape a longboard; I try to distribute my maximum foam thickness from about where my shoulders would be (while paddling) to where my knees would be while prone. If I am shooting for a three inch thickness; I put it all into that area and thin the volume from there to the tail and nose. I put slight “belly” under the chest for paddle power. From there, anything goes. I can concave the nose. Kick the tail etc. I can thin the nose and or tail and still have a board that appears to be thin, but paddles like crazy. If you have a set of calipers, check a few boards in shops etc. A lot of shapers can hit their thickness mark (in one spot along the stringer)but few can distribute it properly. Lowel
The comments about thickness, and its proper distribution, is gospel. Well stated, Lowel.
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Looks like your shaping lights are too high for you to properly see the shadows, which helped lead to that lumpy hunchbacked pregnant monstrosity on your racks.
Thanks, Lowell. I’ll be sure to get a good picture of the final shape before glass for you guys. I had a chance to feel up a few logs today. Should be able to get it finished this weekend.
Anyone have any foil pictures they want to share? Like to see a few different side profile pics from some of your boards
…hello; I think the other members here are saying stuff regarding a real longboard.
I see perfectly well the nose at the left; I see an S deck too (may be is not your intention) this is the fact that leads me to comment. In the 8 feet range there are many bulky designs that work pretty good for gutless conditions or like a big board for big MF, fat guys or rookies.
In those cases I see that foil not so bad BUT you are NOT shaping a real longboard foil etc; so depends exactly what you are LOOKING FOR.
If you are looking for these other designs, you can shape a deep V too. However, the problem with that type of foil in these designs is if you cut the OUTLINE LIKE a longboard (mostly on the tail area) that would be an error.
Bear in mind all that.
Taking everyones comment with a grain of salt, I went back at that lumpy hunchback I birthed onto my shaping racks. You were all so very right… There was a board in there somewhere, I just needed to keep at it. And I was/am going for a pretty traditional type of long board, so that S-deck was not going to do.
got back in the room without my buddy around so I could concentrate without him asking tons of questions. Ultimately the board came out a bit thinner than I had originally intended, but it needed to be. In order to get a proper foil without that big lump in the middle, it needed to get thinned to about 2.5 inches thick and has kind of a flattish deck. It is now much more pleasing to the eye, in my opinion.
I also finally got a curved block plane and it really is a sweet little tool.
Updated pictures below. First pic is the first try picture again Nose Left, Tail Right
Second pic is after reshaping/foiling the blank.
Oooh, you were a busy beaver! It’s not the amount of foam as much as it is the distribution. Now you got it down to 2.5 inches, there isn’t any foam to move around; no room for error so put away the planer. You’ll experience the consequences when you start your rail bands. Hope you like knifey rails. It’s all part of the learning process.
The before pic shows the thickest part of the board right at the left side of the vent box in the background. As Ace said, that part should be mostly under your chest. You should have started taking off foam from about the power socket in the background to the tail. Keep shaving it until the tail block is about 1.0- to 1.5-inches thick. Then take a bit off the portion in the doorway and thin the nose to 1.0 inches. All this assumes that the bottom rocker is pretty much the way you want it. The deck rocker (that is what you made when you started doing all this shaving) should be smooth and flowy. The thickest part should still be 2.75- to 3-inches thick. That would have left you with a nice thick outline cut that you could play with instead of the 2 inches you’ve got in the after picture.
All is not lost though…The rocker and fin placement are the two most important factors in how a board surfs. So if you got that right then the “after” board will still work, it just may float a little weird and be a little funky to paddle. Go easy on the rail bands so you have something to work with in the end.
Have fun!
side lights still too high
What blank did you use?
So I used a common Surf Blank 8’5G. They are not that fantastic I am coming to realize. They are rarely glued up squarely and take a bit of effort to get level before moving forward.
Although the board ended up slightly thinner than I had hoped, it still looks pretty pleasing to me. Also I kept the rails pretty full. They really are not knifey at all. The picture below is the rail shape at mid board.
This was my first longboard shape so I still have some serious learning to do and have never had the pleasure of watching any actual shapers in person. This is all read or watch and go. Wish I could have you in the bay to help along LeeV. I would have loved to keep some of that foam and be able to ditribute it properly without a big hunch or S-deck. Although during the process, I felt it was pretty much impossible to be able to foil out the ends and keep that much foam in the mid area and not have a hump in there. Basically I need a lesson and I’m not afraid to admit it.
Let the criticism continue
side note I have new adjustable racks being made so I can adjust to proper height for each blank
Also, no one was willing enough to post any pictures of their own foiling of any longboards they have built. Would like to see the differences in everyones work.
“This was my first longboard shape so I still have some serious learning to do and have never had the pleasure of watching any actual shapers in person. This is all read or watch and go.”
Plenty of people who do this are self taught, including some of the best. Just learn to train your eye to really see, when you look at (study) other shapes, learn to see the flaws in your own work (this is where good lighting really helps), and learn to take your time and proceed slowly, as you can always come back and take more foam off, but not so easy to add it back on.
At the end of the day, you jumped in and tackled a difficult project, so kudos for that.
You can find numerous profile shots (showing foil and rocker) if you patiently search the quiver archives, and the internet in general.
Post some more pics as you proceed, and thnx for sharing!
Thinner than you wanted, but you saved it. I always establish my thickness first and work towards it. You can do that by taking a pass down the stringer both top and bottom BEFORE you template/cut the outline. Get within an 1/8" or 1/16". Then proceed. Skin and level the bottom. Cut the outline. Rocker the tail and nose. Put in any concave or V. Skin the deck and clean it up. Then proceed to turn rails. Bottom first. Then as you are turning the top or deck rails work upward toward the stringer. You work toward the thickness that you established with your first cut. Kinda over simplified into a paragraph, but that’s it.