I’m pretty new to Swaylocks but haven’t seen a thread like this, so come one come all and share what tools go into making all those beauties!
Maybe a dumb question to ask, but I have to as a new guy on here:
Anyone still building boards without a planer?
If so, what are you using? Surform? Sanding blocks?
After carving at a really really long block of foam with a five inch surform for a couple of weeks I figure it may be time to invest in new tools if i don’t want carpal tunnel in my right hand. If I were to say that I’d like to avoid a power planer (i really prefer a simple tool over a power), are there any alternatives?
I've shaped plenty of boards using a sharp block plane as my main tool. Those were with polyurethane blanks though. EPS doesn't seem to cut the same with a block plane.
After reading the stock paddleboard thread I think it's worth mentioning that you did the entire shape job from a rectangular block. I'd say that you did it the hard way for sure.
A hot wire device would have helped with the rocker/profile. I've made a few devices that allow me to cut profiles, rough outlines and bevels using a hot wire. The hot wire will definitely save your elbows and wrists.
An alternative would be to place an order with Ken Ebert at Segway Composites. He has several 'stock' paddleboard blanks and can cut most anything you want. The stock blanks come as a rectangular slab (rocker and profile cut) but you could ask him to do a stock 'rough out' computerized pre-shape that would give you the equivalent of a close tolerance paddleboard blank. The final result would be more expensive but if you're in SoCal for any length of time, it might be worth considering. Shipping to NO, LA would likely be prohibitive.
I was considering making a hot wire cutter, but ultimately I figured it would be more trouble than it was worth. And it really wasn’t so bad cutting the block down to size. I think next time I’ll just order a blank closer to size though…
hang20 and otis:
thanks for the links. there are some pretty cool tools there. For some masochistic reason I really enjoy using a surform, I just think i need to construct a better handle so that it would be a little more ergonomic. and I think the next tool i’ll buy for my little collection will be a descent block plane.
So, you wanna get rid of a ton of foam in a a short amount of time by hand with a reasonable amount of control . . . No problem! It’s as easy as using your cross-cut handsaw like a rasp.
I used to shape patterns for that sculptor out of XPS. When I arrived, the only tools available for shaping there were sureforms.
A flexible handsaw or two (coarse and fine) makes that job fly by, and from my experience seems to be a bit more accurate than a small sureform for wide or long spans in foam. Use a hacksaw blade for finer curves or pre-finish fairing.
pretty cool shapes you made in that link. I used my hand saw for a pretty big chunk of my last project and couldn’t agree more that it is an accurate way to take off lots of foam over bigger expanses than with a small sureform (mainly i used it for rocker and refining an outline shape).
Thanks for the tip about the hacksaw, i haven’t used one on foam but it sounds like a good way to refine a curve with fewer consistent passes.
At the moment i’ve got one day left on my current project then i’ve got to refill the coffers before the next one, but i can’t wait to try out some new tools and designs.
