Inside the swallow you defiine the stringer/center curve first, a round surform blade (what are they, like 3/4''round?) is the tool. Cut from bottom up onto deck, an angle at first but blending to rounded if you want. There will be a big slot in the tail when you're done. Then use a coarse block to cut bands (just like a rail) taking the curve you established on center out to the tips. Primary band and then one above and below. The bands will taper to the tips. Then blend/finish all that with screen or paper pulled from stringer/center out to tips.
Here's a bevel-cut one that's just the primary band taken to almost finish.
Your project seems to be coming along really well. I’m really pleased with your progress. It’s also great that you are getting all this wonderful feedback. I’m glad you created the blog. Let me know if you need anything.
Thanks for the adivice mike, i think the tail came out pretty good. The stringer and foam are a little uneven in the buttcrack(as ive seen it reffered to) area, but i got it as flush as possible.
Sammy A thanks for fixing the picture haha, i figured it out this time. In terms of the nose, i agree that it is a little full but at this point, the board ened up a little smaller then i thought it would be and i am afriad ill sink if i take much more foam off.
Today i shaped the inside of the swallow tail, which i think went well. Then i put the final touches on the board in terms of just making sure everything was smooth.
I have chosen to use bamboo fiber instead of fiberglass to glass my board. I decided this because its more enviormently responsible, but also it seems alot easier. Because its stretchy it can be stretched around the rails, which makes doing the laps alot easier. Today i watched the intructional videos on glassing with bamboo fiber suplied by Greenlight Surf Supply( a company im sure many of you know). So after i was done touching up the board i prepared for the glassing which i will do tomorrow.
I think the outline is perfect and the width just fine. On a board that short, having the wide spot forward of center will give you some drive when you need it. At this point, based on dinky pics, you might want to put a side light (lamp down low so you have shadows across the deck or bottom). You will probably see some dips or bumps. If they are small, sand them away lightly using long even strokes to blend in the surrounding foam. If they are pretty deep, probably “time to step away from the board”. Fiddling around will cause all sorts of problems that you will chase like a dog chases its tail.
I’d go with a probox set up for maximum flexibility in fin position and cant. My suggestion is single foiled keels with no toe-in. The traditional position is to have the back of the fin line up with the butcrack and in line with the swallow tail pins.
Are you glassing it yourself? Be sure your glass is wide enough to wrap around the rails. You might have to go with 6 oz on the bottom and just zipper two 4’s on the deck.
I dont know whats going on with these pictures, i swear they were big when i posted them.
Anyway, I am glassing my own board lee v, using bamboo fiber for the top and bottom and regular fiberglass for the deckpatch. Also, i just put in an order for a probox quad setup like a half hour before i read your post haha.
Yesterday i was not able to start glassing because im using uv cure resin and it was raining out. So i worked on creating and printing a logo.[img_assist|nid=1051007|title=sebastian|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=608] I was able to print it on rice paper and will put it on the top
Today, i glassed the bottom of the board. I knew it was going to be tough to do around the nose and tail and it was. I wasn’t able to get it completely wrinkleless so i’ll have to sand down the folds. I went with a blue tint for the bottom and it didnt come out evenly blue, but i still think it looks pretty good. Evan though it was tough to get the nose and tail good with the bamboo, it was still way easier then regular fiberglass(my first board was awful).
Nice logo choice, da U! That was going to be my next tip, go to college and enjoy the experience while you learn how to learn, which will serve you well the rest of your life.
I'm particularly enjoying this thread because I was a high school garage shaper once myself - but there wasn't any sways then (or PCs, or even electricity some might say). And I damn sure wasn't going to get any ''credit'' for school, IMO this is progress!
Unfortunately my glass job yesterday was not perfect so i had to do a lot off touching up today. First i trimmed the laps, and i’m probably going to put a pinstripe in later to cover the lap line because it is not very strait. I sanded down the wrinkles at the nose and tail. Next there were a two spots where the spots on the bottom of the board where the glass did not bond to the board so i cut out the glass and patched them up. Finally, i but in a tail patch with regular 4oz fiberglass to reinforce the area where the fin boxes will be installed.
for future reference, put the fin reinforcement patches down first (Under the full layer of glass). at least thats how i was taught.
glassing for your first time is crazy. i think i only saturated like 50% of the laps on my first board. it was bad haha... sounds like progress is being made though. i like this thread
I had a thing at school in the morning today so i didn’t get started till late. But basically i did a lot of sanding t start out. Then i put on the logo and deckpatch. Anyone have tips on weather i should paint pin stripe after lamination or hot coat? What kind of paint?
do it after the laminate for sure. if you do it on the hot coat use spray krylon over it then gloss or just leave it... it looks way better under the hot coat though
Do pins after the hot coat. Use waterbased acrylic, the tube kind or the paint pen kind. Do not put it on too thick, and let it dry fully. If you do the pins on the lam, the acrylic will bleed into the weave underneath the tape. Another tip is to pull the tape up while the paint is still a bit wet so that you don't get bumps where the paint meets the tape. If you notice that the paint bled under your tape, you can use a pencil eraser to erase your mistakes, or just sand it off and try again. Seal everything with KRYLON gloss(afew coats), hit it with a scotchbrite pad, when it is dry, and you'll have some nice pinlines. Goodluck.
If you are doing tinted bottoms you do the fin patches after in clear if you don’t want ot see them or you do them under your tinted layer at the same time, if you want it to be a darker blue.
