Shaping for myself I don’t care too much about little goofs (anyone who’s seen my boards knows this) but now it matters. I’m really excited by the challenge.
So my first issue is that I’ve only done one epoxy/eps board and it delammed after I set it in the sun to dry out a ding (I did a super light spackle with fastneasy). Also, it’s just not as solid as as my PU/epoxy or PE resin boards. The thing is, I really liked shaping the rectangular block and I can get the foam easy and cheap.
The next issue is design. He’s a beginner who surfs an 8’0’'. He can stand up on a short board but that’s about it. I want to shape the shortest, funnest board for him that will give him a bit of a challenge up front but reward the work. Any advice for sizing?
i dont have any experience working with epoxy so i wont really be any help there.
as far as board size goes if you provide a little more info on your friends size and weight that would help out with suggestions. also, is your friend wanting a shortboard ( a ‘performance’ shortboard) or just a shorter board than the 8’0’’ he is currently on?
thanks for the reply. i was wondering if there were general rules, you know, like, never reduce more than 25 % volume or something but specifics are good too.
he’s tall and skinny. like 6 feet and about 150 i’d guess. surfs LA beaches. super mellow guy and a talented, athletic skateboarder but he pretty much just trims his longboard. he’s looking for more but he’s not ready for the off-the-rack Merrick the guy at the shop is trying to talk him in to.
it’s really a challenge for me because i want to make the best possible board for him (as opposed to an “interesting” ride or something dialed in to a special wave). i was thinking along the lines of 6’10 x 15 x 21 x 17 x 3 inches thick with a wide, flat tail. basically a fun board with a curvy, beachy outline and super mellow rocker that flips slightly in the nose (maybe achieved with vee). flat bottom otherwise. how does that sound? and what about fin setup for a novice? i mean, is there anything better than a thruster?
i think a 6’2" x 21.5 quad fish / speed dialer would be a good transistion board. quad, so he doens’t have to work as hard to get it going in crappy waves. fish b/c it’s a more stable platform.
I have made about 15 boards out of eps/epoxy here in SD-OB. I get my epoxy from John Greer who is off Morena Blvd. epoxy is cheap the only thing I have found is that it yellows much faster than Resin Research. So my fix is to hotcoat with Resin-X which is what I am going to try on the next board I glass. If your friend isn’t too hung up on aesthetics I would just skip the spackle and laminate right not the foam, I have done that on all my boards and have yet to have a delam at all.
As far as the board goes you could always give him a wide nosed fish or mini-simmons. They plane easy and catch waves relatively easily, but will be a challenge for him to dial in so that could be a good thing or bad thing. I have a neighbor down the way borrowing a fat, wide fish and he is sort of beginnerish and seems to like the challenge of getting the fish to work.
This is just my 2-cents and things that I have found that work for me.
I just has a very similar experience with my cousin. I ended up making him a 6’9" egg. 2+1( Fcs sidebites for less drag when surfing single) totally flat bottom, a little flip in the nose but overall pretty flat, like fish rocker with a bit more in the last 6" of the tail. Soft rails forward with very fat boxy rails in the middle and super hard rails in the back. I think the dims are about 6’9" x t16" x 22" x n17". It’s getting glassed right now.
If he’s a talented athletic skateboarder, then why not give him a board that will challenge him. Get it closer to that Channel Island that he was looking at. Let him borrow a few different boards and have a go. Get him towards the most high performance board that almost works for him at this stage. If he’s a beginner, don’t hold him back.
Wow thanks for all the advice. I’m a little surprised by how short most of you suggest. I think maybe 6’10’’ is a bit long considering the other dims but he’s used to big float. It’s no fun bogging on something too small and missing section after section.
Put another way, I’ve been surfing the better part of my life now, am 6’ tall, 165 lbs., and my current favorite board is 6’6’’ and it floats me at the nips. All the dims are taken together, of course, but I just don’t see a person enjoying a 6-footer for their second real board. Am I wrong?
I’ll check out that epoxy off Morena. Cool. I love RR but I’m nearly out and my friend doesn’t want to spend much (pretty typical I guess).
And Ian, my man, I might be at the cliffs in an hour or so. Might be real junky. I’ll call you.
first of all, you want it to turn out as good as possible so use the materials that will give you the best result not whats the cheapest or easiest. It may mean the difference between doing him another or not…and others who see it may want one also if it is a good result. dont take shortcuts…if he rides a 8’0 and you want to go shorter than you will need to add some foam and area to compensate ( dont have to but will make transition easier and more likely to enjoy the board if he doesnt struggle to catch waves…)…maybe try an outline like a Fat-Bat, check them out at www.moresurfboards.com , lots of fun and very user friendly…I reckon you can go down to a 6’6 but leave some area and width in it, maybe 21 for a 6’6" but 6’10 might be ok, still 14" decrease…best of luck with it, hope you post pics…any questions, glad to chat, contact me via above web=site…cheers
Thank you for a very generous reply. Nice looking boards. I see some older guys surfing Skip Frye’s boards where I surf and I wanna do something like that. They have wide tails and fishy outlines but are typically pretty long, like around 6’10’'. Two big ol Gephardt keels and a flip in the nose for critcal drops but otherwise relatively flat. Frye does awesome rails.
Also, point taken about making a sweet, long-lasting board. I hear a lot of shapers complain but this is the first time I’ve been offered money for a board–people have no idea! I told him, materials and a six-pack, but materials alone were about as much as he wanted to spend. It’s a lack of sophistication and education. Sways does a good job to remedy that.
Materials but no six pack? tell him he should stop by, see how hard you’re working, and then split that six pack with you! If he is an athletic skateboarder and he wants to go smaller, then he (like many of my friends) might get bummed out on just a small jump down in size. If he is up for the challenge, I agree with a previous poster (tommy i think) who said a 6’2 fish. That should float him plenty since he is 150lbs. I think a little challenge up front will be rewarded by a much more fun board in the long run. Either way, its definitely up to his personal style though
i agree with what the others have said. i went from a 7ft egg to a 6’3 performance shortboard and i hated it. it was to thin and hard to control. so right now ive made myself a 6’3x21x3 fish. under 2" rocker in the tail and i think it has between 3.5-4.5 in the front. its still with my artist but i believe it will catch waves just as easy as my 7’ but more easy to turn and do stuff.
stepping down from an 8’ to something under 7’ i beleive is a good idea. but keep it more thick then a normal shorboard.
going from a beginner board to a intermediate board, then to a expert board will build confidence and will keep you in the sport.
i.m waiting for my friends to start asking for boards… its going to be a trip.
I agree w/ some of the above. I just finished a 6’2 quad fish for a friend who’s a beginner coming off a 7’6 funboard. It’s being glassed right now. He’s 5’10 185lbs.
When I stepped down from my 7’6 egg, I went to a 6’4 fish which many advised would be too big. I’m 6’2 190-5. To my dismay they were right. I’m now on a 6’ twin fish which I love. At his size I wouldn’t go any bigger than a 6’2 fish (quad). At 150 lbs he’ll be able to get into just about anything on that w/o issues.
Here’s a couple shots of the board I did for my friend:
Hey mate, i learned on a 7’6’’ minimal, 21 1/2 wide x 2 3/4 thick. I went from that to a home made 6’2’’ x 22 x 3’’ thick twin keel. It is quite thick all the way through, and floats and paddles pretty much the same from memory. It took a bit to get used to, but is a great intermediate board, A better surfer could surf pretty good on it, but for me it is a blast. I’ve been surfing it 90% of the time for the last 2 years +, and i plan on keeping it as long as i can. Im 5’10’’ 85kg BTW.
I recently swapped boards with a guy who was riding an 8’0 x 22 x 3 minimal. His first words were " How good does this thing paddle!", and i would say my 6’2’’ paddled equally as well at least.
