Post shaping questions

General Discussion
1

Well I did it, with the help of Keith over at Ocean Devotion I’ve got what looks like one very nice fish 90% shaped and almost ready to glass.

I now have some more questions for the gurus of Swaylocks. After reading through the Fish threads the one thing I noted was everyone telling the new kids not to be afraid of reducing the thickness of the board.

Looking at the board its very very fat and I’m worried about it being too corky. I’ve attached the dims and we stayed pretty close with the exception of bringing it down to just under 6’8", 3" thick and pulled the tail in slightly so the pins measure just under 11".

I was thinking about taking off an extra 1/4" of thickness but am unsure if thats too much.

Also, my initial idea was to put on a quad setup but for some reason this board looks like it needs keels to me. Opinions?

Thanks for all the great help, I can’t wait to do another!

Justin

622×929 29.8 KB

2

Why shape two boards for the price of one? Go with your first instinct, and if you don’t like it after you try it, shape another one.

3

I’m far from a guru , but …

My self shaped fish is similar dims to yours, ( I’m 95 kg, what’s that 215 lbs., ?, with big feet).I made it 2 3/4 thick - and the one and only beef I have with it is , at times it can be a bit … corky. In lumpy wobbly waves , even small days , it sometimes has a mind of it’s own , and makes me feel like a gangly goose.

The jury’s out about other factors like area and the whacking great concave in the bottom,contributing, but one refinement I’ll def. be making to the next one is to go as thin as I dare, including the rails.

My 2 cents.

4

Looks like your outline came out nice, good job!

But if you say it’s ‘‘very, very fat’’, it’s probably coming in with even more volume

than the AKU estimate of 55 liters, and that’s just too much foam. You’ll never be able

to sink a rail to do a real turn.

The foam you need to take out is most likely in the crown of the rail, put another way

you need more dome in the deck to bring the rail thickness down. You can probably

leave it at 3’’ on center (if you like) and just go at the top of the rail and blend that

into the deck and lower rail. Look at some other boards you like, put a straightedge

across the deck, and note the deck roll. Try to mimic that on your shape.

I still think doing 4 removables and having fin options is better than glassing on keels,

especially on a fish this size.

5

In 1970/1971, at Surf Systems/Surfboards Hawaii, the dimensions of a ‘‘standard’’ (typical) Fish was, 6’0’’ x 20’’ x 2 5/8’’ thick. So, yours is a bit thick, by historic standards.

6

Thanks for the help!

I am definitely taking the thickness down, is doming the deck the best way

or simply zipping off 1/4" of foam off the bottom an ok way of going?

I assume if I take off the bottom foam my rocker will increase?

Thanks!

Justin

7

I’m no expert but I wouldn’t take foam off the bottom to adjust thickness. I always do the bottom first to get rocker and any contours I want, then cut the deck to get the foil and thickness. Rails I do last.

8

If you already have your bottom and rocker the way you want it take the thickness out of the deck and I would thin that tail out and put in 4+1 fin setup with the way that tail is pulled in.

If you have a access to a board with the rails you like take a rail template with a malleable(sp?) piece of material and copy it.

I would leave it at 2 5/8 or 2 3/4 depending on what you do to the rails.

It looks like it will be fun to ride.

If it were mine I wouldn’t ruin it with big old ugly keels. Just my opinion of course.

Daren

P.S. just remember the more you take out of the deck the more core foam you expose and the softer your deck will be.

9

The next time I shape , I’ll be carefully copying rails I admire , using templates made with the help of this tool.

For all I know you’ve seen the thread already , but there ya go.