so i just glued up my blank, and i wanted to make soemthing similar to the 10’6’’ Big Darlin by Gerry Lopez. i think i bit off more than i can chew currently. first, i cant for the life of me, due to the worlds worst computer skills figure out aku shaper. second, i dont want to fuck it up. but im having the worlds worst time trying to just do the outline of the thing. does anyone have any suggestions on how to tackle this thing? i was thinking my next approach would just try to roll out some paper the exact length and try to draw it out. but knowing me ill fuck that up too. anyonw got a template they jsut wanna share with me lol. im getting frustrated.
Thats a big bite to bite off. On Aku click on file, new, generic board template. The largest board is a 9' longboard. You are going to need some dimensions for the board you want to create from somewhere. Either online or from an existing board.
From the 9' longboard file there is an icon called "length" below the board screen. Click on the icon and increase the board to the 10'6" length and change the width as well. From there you just need to click and pull on the little points along the boards outline to alter the outline to your dimensions. Once your happy with your creation click on "save as" and name your board. From there you press file, print, full size outline, and it will print out about 45 pages of 8.5x11 sheets of paper that you're going to have to tape together to make a half template of your board. From that sheet of paper its on to template making 101. The paper will work but its not the best way.
The other way is to use the "image board" function but that is going to be confusing if you have limited computer skills. From that one you use an online or scanned image of the board you want to copy and the program assists you with copying the outline or rocker profile. It actually works pretty good if you want to do a close copy of a picture of a board with a known lenght and width.
Aside from that take your time and do some searching on this site on outlines, template making, SUP's, etc. Also take your time, it is going to take a large amount of materials, time, and money to make a SUP. They aren't the cheapest boards to make, even by yourself.
Get a roll of butcher paper and draw the dang thing out. You know what curves please you so, start with some dims of an SUP you like and draw the outline using wood strips or long dowels to meet the points of your dims. This is the easiest part of the process. Everyone knows what turns them on and can look at an outline and think yea or nay. If the first couple don't look right, keep refining until it rings a bell. If you can't draw the outline how are you going to shape it? You've got to have the board in your head first so drawing the temp should come fairly easy. After you have your outline, draw out the rockers, top and bottom as references. This will make shaping easier. I'm not against sharing temps but this is elemental in the whole shaping arena. Didn't you spend a lot of time in class at school drawing on your Pee-Chee folders? If you were in the U.S. odds are that you did. Same thing here only larger(much).
If you are having trouble with a start, use a grid system with the center line (stringer) as the main reference point. Mark the centers both ways and marks every foot along the stringer.Make sure your lines are square to the stringer for symmetry. Take the dimension points and connect the dots. If it doesn't look right or has wierd flats use the dowel to smooth out the curve. The numbers are not set in stone, tweak them slightly to get nice flowing compound curves. You CAN do this. I think you are talking yourself out of this, because if you can't...you are not ready to shape.
Drawing outlines is a blast and should be second nature. KEEP GOING & GOOD LUCK.
If you are in Hawaii, Oahu come over and we can template your blank. I use up to three different curves to make a SUP. What blank are you using?
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