Howdy
I am seeking some shaping advice on a blank I picked up. It is an old Dion blank a guy had kept for years and was a bit banged up but good inside. Has a nice cedar 1/2" stringer. I have cleaned it up to pretty much match the original profile but am worried that there is not enough tail rocker.
Dimensions are currently 8’6" x 21 3/4 x 3" with 1/4" to come off width when I do the rails. Nose rocker 6", tail rocker 1 3/4". Tail thickness at 1’ is 1’ 3/4".
Any sage advice appreciated.
Tim
amazing
Did I miss something? How long is your intended surfboard? Board length has a strong impact on the rocker dimensions. More information, please.
8’6" is the current length and hoping to keep it at that.
But if it needs more tail rocker then may need to lose some of that.
At 8’ 6’’ my (subjective) choice for tail rocker would be 2 3/8 to 2 1/2 inches. Even the 1 3/4 inches, that you referenced, will work, with more of a point and shoot kind of ride experience. Fin size and placement also comes into play. It just depends on what you’re trying to create, as a ride experience.
Thanks for your thoughts Bill.
I will try for another 1/2" and hopefully won’t have to shorten the board.
A thinner tail might help as well.
Then to try and work out what fin configurations - all good fun.
Tim
That blank really cleaned up nice! You appear to have cut a nice outline as well.
Just for kicks, you might try and flip the tip on the tail end a bit but I’d try to leave thickness at the 1’ mark. The tail volume is already looking a bit thin compared to the forward end.
You might also check thickness dimensions at 2’ from center. Take a look at some of the blank catalogs available and compare. Some blanks stuff more volume behind center and some stuff it forward but I think if you check, most will be fairly balanced… within 1/4" or so(?)
I’d love to see that board with a center box and glassed on sidebites - ‘widowmaker’ style.
Thanks John
2’ forward of centre the thickness is 2 3/4" and 2’ behind it is 2 1/4" so will need to even that up.
My resident shaping expert (son) said it needed some forward thickness taken out so he will be pleased.
It is going to be “our” board but as he is early 20’s and I am late 50’s, design parameters are a tad different.
Fins have been up for discussion - I wanted a single fin, he wants a quad so I think it will have a box and four sets of plugs to cover all set ups.
Enjoying the whole process though.
Looks good so far!
A few years back I shaped an 8-4 x 21 x 2.75 single fin from an old 8-6 blank with very little tail rocker. I was a little concerned with the low rocker, but it hasn’t been an issue.
The board isn’t a gun or semi gun, but it works great up to head high, haven’t had it out in anything bigger so I can’t say.
What I did is just build it, get as much rocker as the blank would allow, and let the chips fall where they may. It’s a fun board and I love it!
I keep threatening to add quad boxes to my singles, and single boxes to my quads, but haven’t yet, haha. But those are the two setups I mainly ride. I am a bit older than you.
Hi Huck -
I agree that sometimes you go with what you have.
I was looking at your two boards shown in profile. The one on top appears to have the thickness aft and the other forward. If you have some calipers handy maybe you could check the dimensions 2’ up and back from center on each? I’m guessing they’re within that 1/4" parameter. Looks like they are - with the top one closer to equal. I’m not saying it’s absolutely critical, just pointing out a modern blank design feature.
Back in the day it wasn’t uncommon to jam a bunch of thickness ‘under the chest’ where it allegedly enhanced paddling. For some reason modern boards tend to be more balanced.
I think at one point (70s era) a lot of guys had proportionally pulled in tails (Hawaiian style) and found the tails sinking in the face on takeoffs resulting in missed waves and chronically late take-offs. When Gerry Lopez was king, many guys, even on the Gulf Coast, were riding really pulled in tails. When I lived in Texas for awhile that was something I definitely noticed… I.E. last year’s ‘Island Style’ boards were the rage down on the gulf.
I’ve checked a lot of boards and am always curious on the profile proportioning… the thickness is not always where you’d think it ‘should’ be. I’ve heard people say the thickness should be centered, or at the wide point, but lots of times I’ve found this isn’t the case. I’ve measured some for example that had the widest point pretty far forward with the thickest point aft of center.
Anyways… sorry to drift off topic.
I’ve got the board in one location and my calipers in another, but I’ll try to remember to bring 'em and check it.
It was definitely an old school blank. There wasn’t enough meat to do much with the rocker other than what was there, but I do tend to watch my foil when shaping, and not let the blank dictate stuff like thick point location.
Probably why I ended up at 2.75" thick when I normally would have shot for three at that size.
I’ll post up thickness distribution next week if I remember! The gray board snuck in there, it’s a modern 8-2A from US Blanks, a thick mutha but that’s what I wanted. The rocker on that one is sweet for taking drops a little later, but I could have added a touch more in the tail, for responsiveness in turning.
I think it’s typical of boards with flatter tail rocker to be fast in trim, but a little harder to turn from a forward position, have to step back and turn off the tail a bit more. I think curve in the plan shape back there helps, as does a bit of V (added rail rocker).
The grey one is similar to what I thought this one would turn out like Huck.
Agree that whatever you end up with will be - just deal with it on the water.
But glad I posted it as have learnt a good deal from the feedback and can tweak it a bit before glassing.
Gunna try volane. I haven’t used it before but really like the tint it gives.
hey Huck, are you the same from over on the wooden board forum?
I did a few boards over there a few years ago - just getting into the foam ones.
This is board number two - my son and I did a 5’11" and then when this and another blank (7’8" triple stringer) popped up on gumtree I couldn’t resist.
Yes, that’s me
Took some volume out of the front and added a bit of tail flip. Two niggles I would like to sort before glassing. Any ideas welcome.
The stringer was joined with a wedge near the nose and the white glue looks crappy. Would permanent brown marker pen run when glassed? Other wise router out and bog but that could be dicey as the glue is very hard and could deflect the cutter into the foam.
The other is the brown deck near the tail which is stained from the original weathered blank. Would the Volane tint hide this?
I would use acrylic artist’s paint for the stringer touch up. And the “brown” blank doesn’t look bad at all in the pic, if anything it adds character in my book, and I think you run the risk of making it look worse if you try to mess with it. I wouldn’t do anything. Or put a logo there.
I wouldn’t worry about the very slight browning on the deck near the tail. If you are going to use a traction pad when done, a lot of that area will be covered anyway.
Your shape is good… Rocker not so much. You have made a barrel dodger. It should be fairly fast but not so good at turning. You pushed the rocker too far under your chest, this will cause water to push and be semi difficult to paddle… The rear rocker starts too far forward and exits the last 12 inches fairly flat… This too makes a hard to turn and or stall at speed… The blank, a Dion? Wasn’t that a blank from the late to mid 70’s ? If so you can only shine a turd so far. The original blank shape would have made a Lopez style bolt, or any of those other impossible to ride boards.
I like the shape and if you get the fins right it might come out as a fair rider? Depending on the wave you are surfing in will make a ton of difference. On my semi guns I use an 8’8" blank that has 6 1/2 nose with a tail at 3. This way if I want a 8’2" I can cut it down, and put the tail at 2 3/4 etc. the bigger the board the more tail rocker you need to turn the board. So a 8’6" with 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 will be harder to turn… Just lean and put your ass into it…it will go
…hello John, tthe explanation for that balanced stuff is due to the pro surfers (better training and still big guys) hence the design of the HPSB; still volume under chest in most alternative boards.
