here’s my first board. at the end i’d be interested to hear feedback, critisizms, advice, and opinions on how you think it’ll go given the shape. i haven’t used it yet!
i designed the board for my wife. she’s a beginner (can stand up and ride), but she is progressing fast. summer waves here in canada are usually mushy beach break with the occasional bit of power.
i used an australian surfblanks, red. it was very hard and gritty. you really have to give it a good squeeze to dent it. retained it’s hardness quite deep. i think it was 9’4" originally. 4 3/4" nose rocker and 3 1/2" tail. i maintained the original rocker thru to the end. glassing: double 6oz top and single 6 oz bottom. resin research epoxy fast hardener with additive f.
my original design was 9’x 19"x 22 1/2"x 15"x 3". 5 1/2" rounded square tail. i was going for 50/50 rails, moving to a harder down rail in the tail section. let’s see how it ends up!
i made the board stands first. i didn’t like this style, because they would shift independantly. i’ll build a one piece stand next. made calipers, bought surforms. hoping wife doesn’t notice the sudden increasing amounts of tools and materials. (“oh yeah honey, i’ve already got everything i need.”)
i decided to give it a go with only handtools, because i’ve never used a power planer before. used a $4 flooring transition to make my outline (and check rocker). i thought i’d go cheap and just draw the outline both sides with the batten using nails at specific points… i made marks every 6" and made sure both sides were equidistance from the stringer at each point. used my japanese pull saw and some wd-40 to cut it out, then a surform to clean it up. mistake #1. next time i’ll use a planer to clean my outline, because there are slight wavers in it where the surform just followed the dips.
then i got to skimming and flattening out the bottom. wow this blank is harder than clarks! 6 hours later i was done that step.
the next day i rented a planer.
beginners: don’t be scared of these things! they are easy to use, and very precise. surforms are slow, inaccurate, and slow. i just used less than a 1/16th depth to start and took it slow. now the deck and rails.
i was unsure whether to do the foil first or my rails. i didn’t have measurments to go by for nose and tail thickness. i decided to shape the bulk of the foil while i did my rail bands, just eyeballing along the way. started on the bottom and did one band for the belly. then the deck. i made lots of navigational marks to follow. counting my passes each side…
whoops! slight miscalculation. i shouldn’t have bisected that first band. now my rails will be too thin if i go 50/50. and not wanting to lose much width, i just stopped and made it about 60/40. egg shapped. whatever. i’m actually happy with them. the board is 3 inches thick and my wife is only 130 lbs. maybe thin rails will be good for her? she’ll be able to dig them in easier, right guys? moving along.
i blended it all in, thinned out the nose and tail quite a bit, and added a 1/4" concave under the nose, with about 2 1/2" between the concave and the rails/ nose. i thought that might allow some better maneuverability when up on the nose (thinking about my self here).
next mistake: i tried to ad 1/4" of v at this point. i started with the hard block and 40 grit paper. i didn’t get too far before i realized i was screwing with my rail lines. oh well. i stopped, and blended it in so now i have slight belly in the tail.
thar she is so far. no more photos eh? next post.
