As time passes it always nice to look back and see your first boards. See how far you have come.
Number 1 ( with the red outline) and funky art on number 2, I shaped 2 at the same time when I started.
Check out how flat the deck is on the second one! overshaped the first then undershaped the second! 
red so it goes fast
5-8ish x wide at center x thin
twinzer
RR red tinted epoxy over marko eps , 4oz e cloth top and bottom
@ Nocean. Nice to see Ya went with SW tails. The hardest thing to learn is to not overshape which seams to be everyones issue on their first. Nice job and I like the Zen garden. B)
@ Knowaloha. Twinzer fever is back and pretty hard to beat the speed. True to RED ROCKET’s are faster. B)
That first one I did cost me $35 dollors for the kit which was ( blank, cloth and resin in 72 ) a lot of money back then. Hell ya can’t even by a shitty blank for that today.
Here’s some shots of the second board I made. I don’t think I have anything of the 1st one. Both were reshaped boards. This one was an old Bolt board that my brother had custom made by his HS classmate Brian Higa. He gave it to my sister and I lent it to friend who lost it to the rocks lining the shore. I don’t remember how long it was after the reshape, but it wasn’t very wide, and it was pretty flat. You can’t tell, but it had 2 channels running from nose to tail with about 3 or 4 inches of foam between and along the rails. I had read an article in a surf mag about this hull design, and I wanted to try that. It was about 1979 or so. I did the glassing myself too. I let friend borrow those first 2 boards and I never got them back. Hawaiian people are kinda bad that way.
Here’s my first and only shape (so far.) 6’2"x22"x3" diamond tail 2+1. Did the outline with AKU Shaper. [img_assist|nid=1063922|title=2+1 fins|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640][img_assist|nid=1063923|title=2+1 deck|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640][img_assist|nid=1063924|title=2+1 bottom|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640][img_assist|nid=1063925|title=2+1 fins2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]
Ha! So, You shaped that piece o' $#!T last week O' what? $#t Bro! I didn't even own an "Instamatic" back then.
First board a balsa compsand. Couldn’t even shape let alone get a basic design right. Not really the way to start. I think Silly said a long time ago to learn to shape before jumping into vacuum bagging. Since about board 4 they’ve been very rideable though. Never ever shaped a regular pu/pe.
Thanks McDing I didnt know ya had a shpaers eye for curves and foil. It was a piece of SHIT but all I had was a surform, sander and my trusty draw knife. I think the carport natural lighting messed with my shadows . The pic was taken with a Brownie what else. Where is a pic of your first board I want to see a NcDing original… Your a legend from within
Ha. Like i said no camera back then. First shape was a Dave Sweet kit. Second was a beaked nose down railed Clark. Bought everything for that one from Mitch. Under the carport and under a tree on Missouri st. PB. Glassed in my bedroom on two five gallon cans. Sold em both and made money.
not my first ,but a couple of my earlier ones.
http://www.quivermag.com/boards/rainbow-bridge-1976
http://www.quivermag.com/boards/rainbow-bridge-1978
a few weeks ago i recovered one of my early (1978 as it is written on the deckside stringer) quads.
it needs some major resto,but what a find !
herb
Haha I remember glassing a board in the living room once when my parents went out of town. They came home early of all times. My mom was sooooooooooooo pissed. She didn’t care how cold it was. I think I striped off the glass and reshaped my very first board two more times. Once I got to 4’10 I didn’t have enough foam for another reshape.… This board was like maybe my 4th or 5th.
PB it’s all about the party!
Karl that is your first board? Damm you didn’t pic a easy first. What a stud it looks great and a 5x too. Nice job
Hahahha They are bad at slipping into their own sandals too. I lost more sandals at parties. The nice thing they always left a shitty pair to walk home in.
Nice have ya made anymore Hull bottoms? I have always like the ones I made.
Hi Sanolocal, when I think about it this wasn’t what we now call a hull. It was more like 2 soft channels (no hard edges) running nose to tail. I’m sure someone out there has the article that has the info about this bottom design.
I have done several in the last few years with variations of concaves or flats down the middle and sides that are vee’d or have belly. I have never ridden a “Liddle style hull” so I don’t know how they work, but I’m not fond of the rounder bottom. Tri-plane bottoms I do like, and I did a few that taper down to pinched rail shorter boards.
The last couple of years, I haven’t made many boards, maybe 2 or 3 a year. Mostly in the 8’ range, rounded pins for the OH to 2xOH days so I can catch the waves easier.
Been cutting up block EPS and XPS and making my own blanks, so it’s just been real experimental stuff. I’m trying to find something that fits into what DS has with the StokerV, but tailored to my style of riding in the waves I ride here on Oahu’s south shore. One thing I got into for a while is extremely low rocker. I had less than 3" up front and as little as 1 1/2" in the tail, just a gradual curve. They are really fast easy paddling boards, but not good for choppy days.
Doing what I do, I can make a board for about $120 including buying fins. If it were higher, I’d probably go back to buying boards from my favorite shapers. I’m just a hack having fun making and riding my boards, I don’t want to be making boards to sell. My day job hourly pay is way more than I can ever expect to get back from the time it takes to make a board.
[img_assist|nid=1063615|title=2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0]
[img_assist|nid=1063615|title=2|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0]
Edit:: Stupid Thumbnails.
This is first. PU and glass ons. Single six on top as well as bottom. After the 4th sesh I broke a fin but found it in the water. Super lucky. More fin rope next time!!
My first board. I wanted to build a wood board, but didn't know how. After a lot of thinking and sketching, I finally decided to quit thinking about it and just go for it. I studied pictures on the wood board forum, but didn't like the rocker tables and strips on the rails. So I just cut some 2x6 redwood to shape for rails, and shaped them - then I built the board between the rails. Kind of a weird way to build a board, but it works for me. Since then, I still build all my wood board rails pretty much the same way.
Glassing was a bit of a nightmare, but I got through it. My wife said just pay someone to glass it, but I'm stubborn, and I was determined to learn it all. Self-taught, but not really when you consider how much help is available here and on the T2S wood board forum.
Final weight was 17 lbs., a bit "overbuilt", since then I have gotten the weight down. This was the only board I ever copied another shape exactly (or pretty much exactly), since then I just see a shape I like and draw it up and build it.
I still have this board, but I don't ride it much, because I have way too many boards, and keep building new ones LOL!
Here’s my first board, a 5’10 single fin. This board is a hoot to ride
Started shaping my first board on my own today. I started off taking a few layers off with the planer then decided I was better off working the hand tools. Just need to get more comfortable with it. It’s a 6’2" x 19 1/2" x 2 1/2". I finished the rough shaping tonight, tomorrow I’ll do the rails and finish sanding.
Nick, that was some crafty planer work. Haha, Im didnt know what to expect as I was scrolling down but it looks good. Nice recovery for sure!