I’m shaping my first board. I have the JC video, but I’m shaping a long board and am having a hard time with certain things. My first question is is their a place here on Swaylocks that I’m missing for beginners. Being new I don’t want to stir up anyone. The blank I bought is a polystyrene and came with a rocker. To me the rocker makes sense, but, all the longboards I see are pretty Rocker’less. I’m from up here in the Northwest Wa./Or. area. Should I keep the rocker or not? Which side of the blank to I work the most? Let’s say tail rocker…do I plane more on the bottom of the board too the top(underside) or vice versa. Jc’s video still leaves me with a lot of questions. Here’s one more…should the underside rails be flat(90 degrees and the top curved)? If anyone can point me in a good direction that would be cool. Thanks a lot to all those that helped with my eirlier questions:)
I just finished shaping my second board and the JC video left me with a few questions too. I have never seen a beginners section, but If you do a search you can typically find a lot of information on any subject here at Sways. You just have to do some work trying to find it. As far as the rocker goes, I would say go for something that has worked for you in the past or what seems to work well in your area. From what I’ve been told, and have done, you want to take most of the foam off of the bottom. The foam gets weaker the closer you get to the center. Since your standing on the deck and the only thing touching the bottom (hopefully) is water, it is more important that the deck is stronger. The same goes for the rails as the rocker- try for something that has worked for you in the past or works in your area. Here’s a website that outlines some general rules when dealing with rails http://www.tomwegenersurfboards.com/html/rails.html. One thing I found with my first board, and second one, was that you won’t get it perfect, but it will still work.
swellrider – like sickbird said, you should make good use of the search function. There is a vast amount of information on here, but you need to really dig for it. Here is a classic thread about rail bands (thanks to Bill Barnfield) that I think will help with some of your questions.
I don’t think there is a beginner’s section but you shouldn’t have trouble with asking questions on the main discussion board.
Regarding your rocker question… a quantitative approach might serve you well. With a long straight piece of lumber positioned on the centerpoint you can measure specific rocker dimensions. This is a skill worth developing for this and future projects. Rocker is a key element in board design so establishing some sort of baseline is a good idea.
Several blank companies have online catalogs with rocker specs. Check a few out and note the similarities. Longboard and shortboard blanks typically have something in the neighborhood of 5"+/- nose rocker and 3" +/- tail rocker. Finished boards are often fairly close to these numbers but subtle specifics result in custom rocker catalogs approaching the thickness of a phone book.
Rail design can vary from hard 90 degree bottom edges to soft upturned non-edges - on the same board. On a first shape it is generally a good idea to stick fairly close to a proven standard. A rounded rail (like the fat end of an egg), tucked bottom edge meeting a flat bottom might be an easy shape. Soften the edge as desired. Thickness will taper at the ends creating a foil. Typical thickness transition might be around 2" measured at 12" from either end and 3 1/2" measured near the center. The very ends might end up slightly less than 1"
If you start with your rocker curve, getting the thickness foil will usually involve cutting away foam from the deck.
This is only true with a polyurethane blank. A polystyrene blank has the same density through the whole blank. So you can just shape the side you wish!
Laminate with epoxy! because polyester will eat the foam. And mix the epoxy by weight, it is not that hard, actually it is easier. By volume you can get problems easier. Epoxy needs to be mixed as good as you can, a bit to much/little hardener and the resin won’t harden, it has to be correct! If you mix by weight, you won’t have any problem.
Congratulations. You have found the beginners section. Please bring all your beginning questions here and ingnore the ‘search the archives first’ snobs. I used the JC video for my first board, too. Didn’t know about Sways then. I watched it all the way through 6 or 7 times before I started. Then, I would watch a procedure, go up to my garage and do it, stop, watch the next procedure, take a sip of beer, etc. After you measure rocker like John wrote you might consider using the blanks natural rocker if it is close to what you want for a first board. Don’t put polyester resin on eps! Again, congratulations on making your own board. It’s great riding something you built with your own hands. Mike
Oh cool. I didn’t know that, I’ve only worked with PU blanks before.
When
I mentioned the search feature, I didn’t mean to sound snobbish. I think being able to post questions and get
responses from many different people all around the world is what makes
this site great. I just wanted to point out that even though there is
no official beginners section, the search tool is quite helpful.
You didn’t sound snobbish and I was not refering to you. Sorry about that. Searchng the archives is good advice. In the past we have had some rather curt replies to beginners to not waste everyone’s time and search the archives before posting a question. It discourages new members and their questions in my opinion. After a while all we will be left with are pro’s bickering over who makes the best resin and stuff like that( sarcasm intended) and we end up losing valuable pro’s like kokua. Apologies, again. Mike