One of our users sent this over showing how he makes spin templates using the Aku printed outlines. Figured I’d share it here since most of us have our own way of doing this, and there’s usually a few lessons learned along the way.
There was a comment on the video that got me thinking about materials:
0.030” high-impact styrene instead of 1/8” pressboard.
Cuts with scissors, clean it up with a 40-grit block, supposedly less parallax.
More expensive (~$38 for a 4’×8’ sheet).
Source was ePlastics (San Diego).
Most people here already know what materials are common, so this is probably more useful for the newer guys:
What are you actually using for spin templates?
What mistakes should beginners avoid?
Any “wish I knew that earlier” stuff around thickness, flex, accuracy?
Think wetout table made from sliding glass door panes over plywood supported on sawhorses — cover glass with releasing agent or thin polyethylene plastic sheet painters drop cloth taped tightly over glass.
I have a 2-layer/pane (picked up for free), sliding glass door table as well as 2 tables from glass shower doors and a used 2’ x 4’ glass coffee table to get nice flat work surfaces.
If I were traveling a lot, couldn’t access a cutting house and needed to carry a few templates, I would use that 1/8” PVC that they sell at Home Depot. Haven’t bought any in a few years, but the last time I did it was about $25 for a 4x8’ sheet. You have to cut the template accurately, but if necessary it can be cleaned up a bit with a hard block and Indasa. Spin templates for the shortened length. They can easily be rolled up and a rubber band placed around them. Then packed in almost any suitcase or carry-on. The only problem with this method is finding a flexible straight edge to extend length and connect mid length nose to tail when you get to your destination. Shapers that travel to a destination where there are other shapers, for instance Japan or New Zealand would have no problem finding what you need in the way of tools or devices in a country where there is already some form of a “Surf Industry “. Traveling to a country that has “Cutting House CNC” all I need is a “Zip drive”. For my personal use at home I prefer “Old School”. Masonite cut out with a jig saw, cleaned up with a hand plane, hard block and Indasa. Masonite trues up easy. I prefer a half template full length. Just flip it and both sides are equal. The hardest part about going to another country to hand shape like Pat Rawson and Roger Hinds have done in Japan is traveling with your own personal tools, especially Skil 100’s. You have to check power tools. Even if you’re traveling domestically say California to Hawaii, you still have to check them. Which means that favorite old Five Amp that you have been using for years is out of your sight and in the hands of people (baggage handlers etc) that you don’t know nor see. I heard rumors of a couple of 808 shapers coming home from Japan and losing their planer somewhere along the way. PS— You don’t have to get too Exotic.
I bought 3 sheets of that 1/8” PVC for a project and ended up with off cuts just wide enough to make a couple of 8’ long templates and several spin templates. I like this stuff for templates, it doesn’t have issues with humidity.
The video was informative, thanks Nick @AkuShaper . Is spin template generation in development for Aku?
For spin templates I mark which side is the nose curve and add a hole on the nose end for hanging.
If you have your outline in 2D CAD, you can ‘quarter’ and combine it on the screen. Then send it to a home printer 4-5-6 sheets of paper and tape the sheets back together on a glass door as a light table and cut out with a scissors. Using a gentle hand and a soft 6B or 8B pencil, it is possible to chase the edge of the paper with the pencil on a blank. I have done this for several boards when the ‘juice is not worth the squeeze’ for making a full paper to hardboard template.
As disclosure, I do have access to PET film and CNC ways to make templates…and I sometimes just go old school with dimensions, tape measure, flexible wood batten, weights, and a pencil.