Shaping - Longboard: Advice, Suggestions, Comments

General Discussion
1

Howdy,

 

I am new to both Swaylocks and the world of surfing. In fact, I am so new to surfing that I have yet to do it!

I am currently in the process of building my own surfboard. I know this is the backwards way of doing things, but I am fairly confident in my abilities to execute this properly, for the most part. This is still in a prelimnary design stage, I still need to get funds together and finalize the design.

 

‘Surfer’: Male, 5’ 10", ~230 lbs.

Location: Melbourne, FL, USA

Experience: None; however, I want the board to be like a transition board for a beginner. I like steep learning curves. :slight_smile:

 

I got a lot to learn, but I like it that way. I have only been learning about surfing related stuff for about a week now. I appreciate any advice/suggestions/comments.

Thanks.

 

EDIT : By reccomendation, board design has transitioned to a longboard.

 

The current design is as follows:

Type: Big Guy Fish / Hybrid Design

Length: 8’

Nose Width @ 12" from nose: 18"

Middle Width (Also my Wide Point): 22.5"

Swallow Tail Width @ 0" from tail: 12"

Swallow tail meets @ 6" from tail

 

I plan to have a single fin and twin fin set up. I want to be able to swap them for different surfing characterics.

Currently, I am aiming towards a double 6 oz fiberglass lay over the deck, single 6 oz lay on the bottom.

I’ll be using a board blank to simplify the shaping. I have selected a Marko Foam - 8’ 5" Universal Blank, it is EPS foam.

I’ll keep the rocker about the same, to keep it simple. Not sure how much I’ll need to adjust the rails, if at all.

 

I added pictures of the Marko Foam blank, and a picture of the conceptual board. The conceptual board should be more or less scaled properly.

 

I have included a preliminary materials list. I still need to work out how much epoxy resin I’ll need, I’m thinking about a 2 quarts to a gallon.

If someone can’t view “Board - Materials.doc”, let me know and I’ll post it as text in a reply. The .pdf file format was three times larger than the 100 kb limit.

[img_assist|nid=1076258|title=Marko Foam - 8' 5" Universal Blank - Dimensions|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=471]

[img_assist|nid=1076157|title=Surfboard Design 1 Revision 3|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=597]

2

There is a similar thread going on. check out: http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/big-guy-hybridshortboard. I recommend the US Blanks 8-2A blank and make you board 8’ x 24" x 3 3/4". I think the tail should be at least 16" wide for a fish and go with a quad set up.
D

3

Not only are putting the Cart before the Horse.  You are building the cart with out any understanding of how Horses and Cart work together.  

I will say I admire your enthusiasm.   

Ask yourself some questions. 1, Are you building a board asa fun learning experance project? 

 2, Are you building the so you will have something to use to learn how to surf? 

It might take you a long time to build that first board. Time that could be spent learning how to surf.  Surfing is not an easy sport to learn.  it takes a lot of water time and thousands of wipe outs to get some idea of what you are doing wrong and what works.   Lessons do help but only go so far.  

 Find a cheap used board and head to the beach. learn how a board works how it feeling moving in the water and how it feels under your feet.  While you are doing that study surfboards in shops in The Magazines and Here read read read and read some more about board design. 

 

4

I am doing a bit of both. By learning about building a surfboard, and actually building it, I get to further my knowledge of how everything works together. I feel the construction, from shaping to laminating will be very intellectually stimulating. I might even need that composites knowledge for my senior design project. Speaking of which, I still need to join a team for that. :stuck_out_tongue:

I do agree with you though. There is no better way to learn something than to experience it, and I don’t mean to make it sound like surfing is a joke. There are a lot of things happening at once between the waves, the board, and the surfer. Anywhos,  I will be working on learning to surf in the days coming. I have a couple friends who are starting to pick it up, and they both have boards they wouldn’t mind me using with them.

I will continue to learn from Swaylocks and other various internet searches. I watched the film The Physics of Surfing, whilst a good video for the public. I was hoping for a bit more in-depth discussion of the hydrodynamic forces at play on the diffrent fin setups, tail types, etc. Haha.

 

PineappleOranges

5

I’d make it heavy

a little longer, wider and thinner

rather than short and stubby

WITHOUT allot of crown in the deck

as you’ll find in shorter performance boards

a nice bump  6"-8"  baby squash or a single wing rounded pin

just pull in the tail allot tighter the last 24" and it’ll last you longer as you get better with your turns

keep the rails soft maybe 50/50 or 70/30 but soft and stick to a vee/belly/vee or concave/bell/spiral vee for manuverability

also keep the rocker/outline simple and smooth

I believe in the smooth continuous curve versus staged rocker concept for flow

I’d go 2+1 for vesatility you can always convert it to a 4+1 later

Making it strong will make it heavy but also make it last

learning to master a heavier board will accelerate your performance as you move down to smaller and lighter craft

your board should take no more than a couple of strong paddles to catch a wave no more

and it should paddle out fast so you can get through the break quickly so you don’t get in the way 

one of my favorite all time boards is a 10’x24"x3.25"  Country Surfboards I got in 1990-1991 when i restarted surfing after a 15 year lay off

take a look at some of Jim Phillip’s boards or an Ole or Sparky or Downing and you’ll see a lifetime keeper of a design.

nothing fancy or high tech just pure functionality.

get something you’ll want to and be able to keep the rest of your life

doesn’t make sense to you now but it will as you look back at it all decades later.

 

 

6

Hey uncled,

 

I drafted up an image in Inkscape a few minutes ago. I actually went through three revisions and came up with the attached photo.

I kept 18" width at 12" from nose, changed my middle point(my board’s widepoint) to 24", and I changed to 16" at 12" from tail. I wasn’t sure if you meant this, or that I should have at least 16" between the swallow tail tips.

I will probably draft that up later as well, just to see why it would look like.

As for the swallow tail design, I just used the nose of the board, for the inner curve, to make manufacturing of it easier.

Good news, I just found out that there is an official US Blank distributor about 12 miles from my residence!

 

PineappleOranges

 

[img_assist|nid=1076283|title=Surfboard Design 6 - Uncled Revision 3|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=640]

7

IMHO needs a lot more curve in the tail.  Line from wide point is way to straight.  Now it looks like something from around 1973/74 era. 

8

We’re talking about a raw recruit learning to surf here.  I think the extended fish design is a horrible choice for someone at that stage.  In comparisons with other designs it’s going to be way harder to surf, especially with that straight rail line in the tail.  

 

The OP needs something with way more curve through the back and lots of rocker.  8ft length for a beginner is tough too because it’s not long enough to have the paddling advantages of a longboard and it’s too long for a novice to handle comfortably with respect to duck diving and pivoting around to paddle for a wave.  

 

Stick to a conventional shape and a conventional length for beginners.  9ft longboard design with lots of rocker and a relatively narrow tail.   Save the specialty shapes for after you’ve progressed to the point where your primary focus ISN’T on trying to figure out how to get more waves.  

9

i hope you find what you are looking for................good luck !

 

try looking at the boards posted in the board archives.................that would be a good start.

 

herb

10

Ok, welcome to Swaylocks, if you want to learn about surfboard design, this is the place. Most of the people here are very knowledgable and willing to share. If you want a good video, I would recommend Jim Phillips’s Master Shaper Series from Damascus Productions, look it up.

One question: Do you know how to bodysurf? Being a strong swimmer and a decent bodysurfer definitively comes before learning how to surf because leashes break and eventually you will find yourself in a situation where you will have to swim to shore without your board. My advice would be to get a good pair of bodysurfing flippers and practice bodysurfing first. Check out “Come Hell or High Water” a film about bodysurfing for inspiration. Surfing is a journey and trust me you will be hooked for life! Rock on brother!!!

11

"Do you know how to bodysurf? Being a strong swimmer and a decent bodysurfer definitively comes before learning how to surf"

Great advice, too bad nobody follows it.

12

I have not bodysurfed, but I may be able to give it a shot this weekend, if not both body surfing and board surfing! In regards to this board design, I may be starting to get convinced to go for a longboard route instead of a big guy fish/hybrid.

I’m currently playing around this:

Length: 9’

Nose Width: 18’

Wide Point Width(2" offset forward from mid point): 24"

Tail Width: 16"

Thickness: 3"

 

Tail Type: Rounded Square or Squash (might pull the board out 2 inches making it a 9’ 2" with this)

Fin Setup: Single

 

Blank: US Blank 9’ 3" Y

Rocker: Neutral (I need to look into this more)

Rails: Work in Progress

 

Deck: 12 oz

Bottom: 6 oz

Epoxy Resin

 

I’m a very visual oriented person, so I included another Inkscape drawing below! :]

[img_assist|nid=1076295|title=Board Design 7|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=640]

13

That will work.  Don’t forget that you have to carry the thing though.  That might be hard to do with that width.  

14

I think a longboard design is a better choice for learning to surf.  You have your heart set on learning to build surfboards at the same time you are learning to surf, so go for it!  Building surfboards is almost but not quite as much fun as surfing.  Both are difficult to master, but rewarding when you do. 

Your desire to try different shapes and sizes as you progress will give you plenty of projects down the road.  So get yourself a good space set up to build boards, and the requisite tools, and start off with safe and healthy building practices.

We're all visual people too, so keep us posted with pictures of your projects, thats the best way to get good advice and the occasional sucker punch, and when you get good enough to stand up and ride the face of the wave, post pics of that too!

15

at 24" wide I’d at least go 10’ and pull it out a bit straightening the rail line

just some examples of some favorite longboards we have for refernce  some 10’rs

 1

2

3

5

7

 

Here’s a favorite 9’ HPLB of mine from Dave Parmenter

p1

p2

p3

 

I’ve also heard nothing but accolades about this design from Mickey Munoz. Even at 11’-12’ long they turn on dime and out paddle SUPs. They are hard to find these days. Wide point pulled back

m1 

 

Heres a classic 9’8" Sparky longboard

s

 

 

16

@Huck: I’ll try to not get too carried away when I start to build my board, so I can remember to take pictures!

@oneula: Thanks for the pictures. I’ll try straighting the rail line out a little. I’m not so sure about the length going to 10’ though. I suppose I am intimated by its size. 10’ seems really big to me, but I’ll consider increasing the size to 9’ 6" or 10’.

 

If I pull the board. I might decrease the wide point to 22.5" or so, but I’ll be increasing the overall width. I shouldn’t lose any floatation, if anything I might gain some. I’ll draw it up later, I got class soon. :stuck_out_tongue:

 

Thanks.

17

 As the expression goes, ‘‘back in the day’’,  (when I weighed a mere 165 pounds)  I rode a 9’ 7’’ x 21 1/2’’ x 33 pound board.     That was considered a small board for my size.     Not at all uncommon to see a kid in the 135 to 150 pound range on a 10 foot board.     Just for perspective.   Fear not.

18

[quote="$1"]

 As the expression goes, ''back in the day'',  (when I weighed a mere 165 pounds)  I rode a 9' 7'' x 21 1/2'' x 33 pound board.     That was considered a small board for my size.     Not at all uncommon to see a kid in the 135 to 150 pound range on a 10 foot board.     Just for perspective.   Fear not.

[/quote]

ABSOLUTELY! 

Some of my most fun rides occurred as a 12 year old kid riding a friend's dad's 11 foot Jacobs longboard.  It took the two of us to carry it to the beach.  I remember the huge tankers that were rented out in Waikiki by some hotels offering fantastic float and stability as well.  Being able to stand up high and dry with the board 'dead still' in the water was a given. 

Rail radii on some of those big boards were beyond a fifty cent piece, or even a silver dollar.... more like a tennis ball, if not a baseball radius. 

"Just for perspective" - like Bill's post above.