Ive been lurking these forums for about a year now attempting to gather enough knowledge (and courage) to shape my own board. I will be using basic hand tools (handsaw, surform, screens, sandpaper, etc) to shape and have a professional glass the board and install fins.
I still have some concerns with rails and bottom contours...among other things. Im also unsure of which blank to use. There is a US Blanks distributor locally so I will most likely use either their 6-2A or 6-5A fish blank. The dimensions of the board will be 6'2"x16'x22"x15.5"x2.87" so I'm assuming I should probably go with the larger blank so I have more foam to work with? I plan on either a 2+1 or 4+1 fin set-up and will be using the board in 2-8ft Florida surf (Im 6'2" 210-220 depending on what I had for breakfast with 20 years of surfing experience).
I designed my template on atuacores and have attached it (I hope it works). I would appreciate any feed back on my design and any suggestions for a first time shaper. Im getting married tomorrow so this will be a wedding present to myself that hopefully blossoms into a healthy hobby.
You can probably squeeze a 6-2 out of the 6-2 c. Why not go all the way and laminate and install fins yourself? I like the 2+1 idea for the board you 'sketched." Or a quad. Congratulations on the marriage. Mike
Just go for it. If you’ve been lurking for a year you’ve got the knowledge and desire to put the time in to complete a board. I finished my second board a few months ago and used the us blanks 6’2" fish blank and ended up with a 6’0 board. I didnt really purposely take much off the nose or tail, but when you get the blank it will be a little uneven/scuffed and such, so you have to plan on losing some foam. I left mine almost 3" thick and it’s a blast in florida. I can catch a shin high longboard wave no problem, but I am quite a bit smaller than you. More foam up front, wider nose will help you catch waves a little easier. In my experience the hardest part of this whole thing is fin placement. Outside of that, it’s just fun. Plus if you do it yourself you’ll end up with some left over resin which is a good reason to buy another blank and the cycle continues. Good luck.
I just did a board like that - I am about the same weight as you (6'2" 215lbs). If you really want a 6'2" x 22, go for the 6'5"A USBlanks. Plenty of foam to give you a good safety net. I went with a full volume shape, flat deck with 80's rails. So far happy with how it rides, especially in waves with a little bit of power.
Thanks guys. The wedding went great and the weather couldnt have been better! Im 30 and I cant wait to see what the next 30 years brings.
So 6-5A USBlanks it is. I think 2+1 is the way to go considering I dont ride quad set-ups much anyway. I like the idea of switchng between single and thruster. Eventually Id like to start glassing my own boards but Im going to have to find somewhere to do it , maybe build a shed in the backyard. I do a lot of ding repair for friends and my WIFE :) isnt a huge fan of the resin smell and dust everywhere in the garage since the laundry room is connected to it.
Scott, that board is really close to what Im going for. Do you have any more pics of it?
Only other photo I have is the board on the racks, gives you a good outline of the rails…dims are 6’0 x 20.5" by 2.75"…flat deck. I kept the natural rocker of the 6’2A blank, works nicely. Contours: flat bottom to a shallow double out the fins.
More importantly, do yourself a favor and get a planer for THIS board. The sooner the better. Even if it’s a Harbor Freight cheapie. You DID set up your wedding registry at Harbor Freight, right?
I was thinking of checking Craigslist for a used planer. In most of the videos Ive watched the shapers have used planers. Looks like it would definatley keep things consistent.
my 2 cents here: get a planer, but NOT a harbor freight one…oftentimes you can find a used hitachi P20SB (clark mod or not) for very cheap…found mine on craigslist for 100bucks…
