question on foiling a blank

General Discussion
1

hey i have a quick question,

 i am shaping an 8ft pin tail mal at the moment and have noticed that my 1st few boards have real needed more time spent on foiling the blank to get the good balanced board . ie not nose or tail thick and heavy.

so i was thinking ( this could go real bad right now and you guys may laugh at my "dumbness ").....

would it work if i was to mark the center of the board ( tail to tip).

 Then mark tip and tail thinkness, in my board case the same.

 then foil the board so that it would balance its self nicely on the center point with my desired nose and tail lifts.

 i guess thus ending up with a balanced board either side of center with rocker entry at center and hopefully a nice even foil?

 so any on the right track or missed the boat competely? if so any good tips to getting a nice balanced board with good foil?

   cheers antony

2

You're on the right track, but most pros don't do any marking. Visualizing and measuring (rocker stick or template) take the place of marking. When using oversized blanks, there can be a lot of foiling needed; sort of a lost art in the era of close-tolerance blanks. The current crop of blanks are designed to be machine friendly (easy to index and versatile), which has led to the need to foil more when hand-shaping.

It's done with staggered planer passes, I would imagine a search on here would turn up more detailed advice.

3

for using another board as a reference use: aluminum finger splints to model the rail foil at several points to assist with your shaping.

 

http://www.bldsci.com/Aluminum_Finger_Splints_p/gfmp0642.htm

picture above, not sure the price is the best though. I bought 18 of these 3/4 inch thick

 

 

 

4

Otis, in any good stationary store they sell 24" bendable drawing aids for drafting and laying out curves. The come calibrated with a tape measure on them.Same concept, maybe a little easier to find. I get mine at Office Depot. They will bend both ways on two axis.

5

 

I’ve bought one of these before, can’t say I’d recommend it.

Cant’ say you dont have a source to a better one.

How about a link for a real good one?

6

Being the ghetto garage hack I am, I’ve used solder on occasion.

7

A garage schlub here also.

I’ve used solder, and various gauge of copper wire has been tried along with those fragile wire profilers, and the plastic ones.

All bought retail and all not quite up to the job.

So far the best I’ve liked is finger splints, I label them acc. to specific board and slice location.

They keep their shape(very hardy thrown into a box of odds and ends), you can write on them, and store for long term use.

Generally up to 5 per board style.

Board and splints are referenced and recorded.

8

How you guys got from a question about foiling to rail templates I don't quite understand.

But if you're going to go there, the easiest method I've found is heat-gunning a strip of sheet PVC until rubbery and wrapping it around rail. Longer strips can capture a lot of deck roll/bottom also.

9

Ghetto garage templating - tape some wax paper tightly onto the 'master' (this works on any board feature), mix up some resin, wet-out some fin rope, lay it out and press it firmly to the board. When it sets, remove and trace.

10

Nope, this is a bad idea.  When surfing, you usually stand on the back half of the board.  Front foot at somewhere around midpoint, or slightly forward.  Back foot over the fins.  There should be more volume ( weight) in the tail.

11

Visualize, then measure- repeat, back up and look at the big picture.  Do go snow-blind by concentrating on one spot, always consider the big picture.  Measurements and marks will help you to get there. but you have to see it.  Do not be afraid to go horizontally over the stringer with the planer but go slowly over  the stringer or else,and then blend, blend, blend after. Back up a check as many times as necessary, for it is not a race.  Its almost like dicing onions, so watch out for your fingers…

12

thanks for imput i finish foiling my lastest blank and feel pretty good on how it came out, the board looks like it flows and blends better from thick point to tips

cheers antony