so i shaped 2 short boards like 8 years ago while living in california. i moved to utah like 2 years ago and now am pretty involved in stand up paddle (flat water and whitewater). so instead of blowing 1500 bucks on a new board ill shape my own for like 500. my question is this.... are there many differences in shaping a long board over a short board? obviously i want to keep my thickness and width (no jokes lol) but like do i need to do anything different in running my planer and my surform from the nose to the tail? whats the best way to keep things even? it just seems like with so much more foam there is a lot more to screw up.. i guess im just looking for advice on shaping my first big board.
also i wanted to add something about stand up paddle. people are getting a lot of heat for stand up paddle. i have read some horror stories about guys in the ocean throwin paddles to the faces of other surfers in the water, damaging boards and being total wave hogs. these guys are A-holes. BUT.. stand up paddle has saved my sanity and cured me of my water withdrawls. for those of us that cant get waves stand up paddle has provided an escape and its a lot of fun. flat water is super relaxing and can be a good work out (i hate the term "great core work out" it sounds dumb) and white water sup is freakin sweet. so any way i just had to defend sup alittle. not the arrogant idots that take advantage of it but the fact that its awesome when done correctly. plus correct me if im worng, and i could be wrong, but didnt surfing evolve from stand up paddle anyway? i seem to remember stand up paddle was one of the original forms of surfing. to conclude my little rant if i make it back to the ocean i will leave my sup at home and grab my fish or my nose rider but if im stuck here in utah give me a paddle!
Its all about the same. The only difference is up sizing all of your shape/build equipment. Racks, templates, bigger block of foam to cut from. Glassing is a challenge in that the cloth width doesn't wrap the wide SUP. And they take a long time to shape and glass. But you can do it.
Depending on your width and thickness, I think 38 will be too narrow. Say 30 wide and 4.5 thick, that’s 39 inches before you even wrap the rails. I’d say use a more narrow cloth, put it in an X pattern and put one more on the deck just straight. Make sure you get enough overlap to wrap under the board so you get at least 2 inches or so wrapping to the other side. The X pattern is a really good idea as it imitates the pattern of the so called impact glass that is good for resisting snapping. If you can buy the 38 by the foot, that could be your final topside layer.
We are going to need some progress pictures. Get your camera out.
I’ll look for a few pics of my SUP glassing.
BTW, I just put a balsa deck on my one pound foam SUP because it was too soft on the deck. Four layers of glass didn’t stiffen enough.
im like 150 5'10". my blank is only 28 wide ill probably take it down more than that so at 4.5 thick 26 wide i should be able to pull it off...but we will see.. im ok with a narrower board.
although now that you mention it i love the look of a clean balsa inlay. i would love to do this on a board. but with this being my first sup i think ill keep things simple for now. i wana be able to really use this thing. i have been looking at some of the specs on the c4 waterman boards some of them are even under 4 inches thick. that would leave me with plenty of cloth.
im like 150 5'10". my blank is only 28 wide ill probably take it down more than that so at 4.5 thick 26 wide i should be able to pull it off...but we will see.. im ok with a narrower board.
Tippy, Tippy, Tippy will be your model. Shaping for the glass? Wow that's real serious! Can't leave it 28?
Buy the right glass!!!!!!!!!!!!
If your on a lake I feel so sorry for you. Lake boards can be has thick as 8" towards the nose kind of Kaykak looking. (Tahoe)
For the ocean being your first one? 26" wide sucks. Mines 30 1/2" x 4 3/8" x 10'4". Next one will be 9'0" x 30" x 4 3/4".
I use 42" wide cloth with no problem. Super easy to make a paddle board just bigger is all! If your standing on a board you want it to be stable. Especially for your first one. In fresh water it's a whole different game.
I never let the materials dictate my design. Who's in control here?
Your using EPS I hope?
Make some hotwire jigs and cut it close as possible including your rail profile. From your earlier post it sound like in your quest to trying to save $1500. However you are ready to throw away $500 plus all the hours you will lose.
i work for utah paddle surfing and do almost all flat water. one of the boards i frequanly use is 10', 27 wide and like 4.5 thick it floats me just fine, i even did tandam on it a couple of times. it is shaped like a regular old long board. we also have some racing sup boards. our taho sup is shaped like a big fat kayak like you described. but i like the look and feel of the smaller more traditional longboard style sup boards. 42 wide cloth would be awesome but were do i find that? i had a hard time fining 38!
Sounds like you already are a seasoned paddle boarder. Sorry, my bad!
Monday when I go back to my shop I will check out my supply and maybe I can arrange to get you some? We have done a few Tahoes in our shop. The boards I make are for surfing waves so I may be looking at SUP in a different light.
surfding no worries at all man and yea the blank is eps . that would be awesome if you could get me some 42 in wide cloth! or point me in the right direction were to find some. that would make things a lot easier. especialy cause i was wanting to do a cut lap and really make it look like a classic log. off topic i see you are in hb! i grew up surfing 17th street or goldenwest pretty much everyday for like 12 years before i moved to utah. sorry just thought id throw that out there i really miss my old spot! thanks for the help bro look forward to hearing from you monday.
maybe. i was on the lakewood highschool surf team in 2003-2004. we did the ccsa contests i was in the long board division. its hard being away from the ocean. i moved because my whole family moved and i got into a good university here. got married and bought house now im kinda stuck lol. still lookin for a way to get back to california. any way i might know your kids depending on what year they were compeating.
wow thank you i just gave them a call im super stoked . by the way yesterday i compeated in the h20 overdrive paddle mountain race. it was my first real race and it was SOOO hard. 2.5 miles straight into the wind. it totaly kicked my butt. we actualy had to call the event early because the wind was so bad and started blowin tents over(right after the race was over). but i had a great time. seeing all the other boards and actualy racing has changed a lot of my ideas on the design of the board. for the race i was lent an "augest 78" 11'0" 29 wide and 4 3/4" thick. deffinatly designed for the surf. and it was super slugish. my thoughts are this. i still kinda want it to look like an classic log as far as style goes. so ill do a bright orange tint with a cut lap so it pops the color at the rails with a clear deck. kinda like a creamsicle. i wana keep the deck as flat as i can and maybe do like a pintail keeping as much thickness as i can in the noes and the tail. at first i wanted to do a big fat noserider style. but now im thinking of bringing the noes in a little so it cuts though the water. i still dont want it for a real racing board. but if i do ever need to use it for another race i wont come it dead last.
so what are our thoughts here? is my design ok for a versital all around board? or is this a big ugly monster in the making?
Shaping an SUP can be a lot more demanding and labor intensive. Lake boards are a whole different animal if you want to be competitive; however, if you want a classic longboard looking SUP, that still paddles well, it can still be had. I would make sure you had the correct rocker i.e. not too much. Also, I didn’t see you mention the length. Twenty-six inches is stable in a 16-18’ board, but not necessarily so in a 10-11’ board although your weight is an advatage to paddling smaller boards. Another great resource for information on SUP building is the Stand Up Zone. Check out the “shape shack” under forums.
awesome thanks for the advice. i will probably end up with a 10'6"-10'8" and 27-28 wide and im gonna keep as much foam as i can. good to know about the rocker i will for sure try and keep the rocker down. i solved my glassing problems i found some 56 wide 6 oz 5 bucks a yard. ill do 2 on bottom and 2 on top + a smaller deck patch in the middle. this should be perfect for what i want.
Just make it! I wouldn'tgo to wide at the nose. Your not going to nose ride it on the river or lake are you? Go for speed. Wide in the middle and racing ends. If you want I can send you a plan?