I am about to start shaping my first board and was hoping someone may be able to give me some advice.
My board will be 8'6 X 23-24" X 3.25-3.5" round nose, squash tail and a 4" nose rocker with a 1.5" tail rocker. (Wave catching machine) (Hopefully....!!!)
As its a reasonably big board I want to put a Vee in the tail section to help me achieve a nice fluid turning ability.
I dont want to just steam in and start cutting what I think looks ok, but rather have a good idea of what I want and what will work.
Where would the Vee start and how much is slight vee or a harsh vee? I was hoping for some ideas to point me in the right direction.
That's a very flat rocker for an 8'6'', so you're on the right track that you need to soften the bottom to get it to turn. A slight roll forward going to 1/4'' (or more) of panel V would be a simple approach for your first board. Since it's your first, you might just do the V and roll with a large coarse sanding block.
Over here at the LowTech Lab we believe that every great surfboard starts with a great rocker....Your surfboard needs more tail rocker. Search the web for blank catalogs. Clark Foam , Segway , White hot , Marko , US blanks.........ect...
I took the numbers from Mike Eaton's 7' 9" Clark blank and pushed it out to 8 feet. From there the LowTechLab has built quit a few great surfboards. We're learning about a concept called "rolled bottom, pinched rail..."
.....And Vee out the back...! Then you can run a slight concave though the whole thing!!!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy stuff...
Backyard style...my Vee on a 8'6" would start about 8 inches from the tail....but that's a board for small mushy San Diego reefs.
Where you live ,how you surf, rocker and tail shape.......Fin too.... much more important that Vee.....
Have fun , post photos.....Check out this link for an awesome LowTechLab 8 footer...It's all for fun......
I usually have vee in the last third of the length of whatever board I'm shaping. I've had success having the vee peak somewhere between 8-10" from the tail end of the board, then flattening after that (but not totally flat). I think having the vee peak before the end of the tail makes for having a nice sweet spot under your back foot to bank the vee panel, putting our board on rail. I've seen very slight vees to extremely deep ones, for myself, I usually stay within 3/16-3/8" of vee whether I'm shaping a long or short board, more vee for the longer ones, less for the shorter boards.
I will increase the tail rocker as the surf by me is small/medium and choppy mostly ( I have a 9'2" longboard for the small clean days)
So, if I take a the advice posted collectively ,I should start the vee approx. 1/3rd from the tail, and gradually make it peak about 10" or so from the tail and almost flatten it out. If I were to look at a side view of the rail, it should seem to gradually dip and then gradually raise again the further back you go?
What is the maximum vee measurement I should put in and should I alter the rail shape at the Vee?
The biggest thing missing in your description (and possibly the most important) is…How many fins and where? You need to know this before mapping out the rocker and V. Single fin; V in front of the fin (Starts where the tail rocker breaks) and then fades at the end of the fin box. NO V OFF THE TAIL (it will act like an anchor). V can be panneled (flat edges peaking at the stringer) or rounded (belly).
Thruster; start the V, again, in front of the front fins, maxing out about the middle of the back fin. You can carry the V off the tail but no more than 1/8 inch deep or so. Usually pannel or even spiral (twin concaves).
Twin: Pannel V usually. Skatey feel, go with no V off the tail. Drivey, a little V off the tail,
Quad: Whatever.
Figure out where the tail rocker starts to accelerate from the flatter middle section. That is where the V will start. By reducing the V behind the fins you will add a little kick in the overall tail rocker…
I like squaring up everything to start. Put in the tail rocker but on a flat bottom. Then mark the depth of the V on the rails, starting with 0 at the break and then marking the rail where you want the V to peak. Connect the dots with a smooth line, this is your rail rocker. Now you can start cutting shallow rail bands in the bottom to form the V. Deeper at the rail and 0 at the stringer. Once it’s all in, you can blend it smoothly and make it fade by scrubbing down the area right up from the tail block.
The depth depends on how you want the board to feel. More depth; more rolly polly feel but more drag when you have the on a flat (no pressure on one rail or the other). 3/8ths is a max for me, although I’ve put 1/2 inch deep V’s on some boards that worked great in smaller surf. You have to do some other things with rocker and rail shape to get those to work. Less than 3/8ths if the tail is narrower than15 inches (1 foot up from the tail block). As was stated earlier, you want to put the maximum depth of the V under where your center of gravity is when you turn. If you like turning off the tail, put it more aft. If you stand further forward to turn, put it further toward the nose.
If you go deep V, I would suggest rolling it rather than panneling it. The pannel V’s can get tracky and have an “on-off” feel to them if they are really deep.
If you aren’t proficient with power planer-cut rail bands, don’t try and learn making V’s with them; one missed pass and you are pretty much screwed.