Rail Question

Does anyone remeber the type of rails used on the old Lightning Bolt style boards? The top rail/deck had sort of a bevel to it that met at a flat section at the nose. I was just wondering if anyone knew how to shape rails like this. And how do they work? Thanks. Aloha!

Aaahhh yes,the famous beak noses.That nose was used when you wanted to keep the thickness(and I mean THICK)flow all the way to the nose. Now days we tend to foil our noses by removing foam from the bottom, which also gives a little “kick” to the tip. With the beak noses we would leave a good amount of thickness at the tip and then come back at the end and cut the beak in from the deck side, then blend the top rails into it forming a flat area so the beak would look a bit pronounced. The rail line of these boards was low and angular. Really good in bigger waves where a little extra foam in the nose didn’t hurt. aloha

Mahalo for the information Tom. How do you go about shaping the rails for a board like this? I’m guessing that you leave the deck pretty flat and then cut a steep angled band down the edge for top rail?

Mahalo for the information Tom. How do you go about shaping the rails for > a board like this? I’m guessing that you leave the deck pretty flat and > then cut a steep angled band down the edge for top rail? Beak noses rule! Combine w/ flat rocker and all that foam under your chest and chin and you get right over the ledge w/ momentum. Just got back from a good SW swell session w/ some chop on the face w/ step ladder take offs on the sets which you could just squish out of the way by inching up on the board as you stroke in. Been back w/ the Beak for three years now.

Mahalo for the information Tom. How do you go about shaping the rails for > a board like this? I’m guessing that you leave the deck pretty flat and > then cut a steep angled band down the edge for top rail? Yes, you leave the deck flat. 2 important things:1) use a blank with some thickness and a flat deck. 2)Don’t band your rails up onto the deck. Stop the banding at the rail. A cool thing is to draw on paper a cross section of the blank after you cut out the outline and then draw out your rail cuts to see how things will work out. This really helps if you’re not sure how to approach things with the planer. Aloha, TW ps: just watched a GREAT surf movie “Surfing For Life”. A must see.

The beak, refered to also as a seagull beak, is very easy to shape. It didn’t come about so much for the function(althought the thicker nose area is good for certain conditions). The entire concept really came from a shaper wanting to have symmetry. Having a non-blended rail to deck design, a shaper could measure from string to the edge of the last bevel. But of course, the flat deck also know as a platfoam deck, did have certain characteristics whick many surfers liked. Nothing like paddling at big sunset and having the floataion and strenth of a seagull beak platform. Many boards kept being shaped in that manner, ie Ben Aipa…and other stingers. Actually, seagull beaks were shaped for many years. You can still keep thickness throughout the board and nose without having a seaull beak look. Foil the tip to zero fro 6-8 inches from the platform, keep a flat deck too. Just draw a crossection–it is possible and plausible. Hasta la proxima…Shhhaka or in Puerto Rican Pigeon…ChakA!