I’ve just started making a tail-block for the next pintail longboard. I thought some of you might like to see how easy it is to make one, so I took some photos. Here they are:
First step: select some fine looking pieces of left-over wood from other projects. In this case, from L to R: Tauari, Wenge, Red Cedar.
Joint-planer/thickness-planer used to make uniform thickness slices:
Glueing the slices together: Red Cedar, Wenge, Tauari, Wenge, Red Cedar.
See next post for finished product…
The future tail-block has been planed to thickness, thus taking out all set glue in excess.
Doesn’t look that bad, especially when photographed on a Maldives Island background…
Here’s the board’s tail. I have chosen to set the blocks on each side of the stringer, so I cut the foam at an angle (much more appealing to the eye on a pintail) and let the stringer continue alone to the actual length of the board.
This is actually kid’s play. Just take a look at this link, you’ll see what I mean…
http://www.surfline.co.nz/extras.htm
Balsa, Wow!
Is that allowed? It is so unordinary!
Very very nice. Love the glass block within the wood.
Greg, my jaw fell to the floor when I saw those…
I feel rather small with my current achievement, but, well, you’ve got to start somewhere…
So, here is the piece of wood positionned against the foam so that the stringers more or less follow the outline, and the angle with the center stringer is drawn on it:
Then the two pieces are cut at this precise angle:
Fine-tuning the joint between foam and wood using some 400 wet or dry paper wrapped around the block part:
I went the easy way and used thermo-melting glue: almost immediate work is possible, just make sure not to spread too thick a layer of glue:
Grab the old jigsaw and cut out all excess wood:
What you need now is a small sharp block plane, a sander with hard backing pad, some fine grit paper and a little bit of patience. I got’em all…
Bonne travail Balsa!
The work done at Surfline is incredible. Love the tinted glass they put in.
Salut!
Peace
loving it, balsa. very very nice. it has be thinking about how to do one on my limited tools.
Balsa,
Great job, looks perfect, good instruction / pics!
Richard
Thanks very much to all of you guys. Very basic work, as evidenced by that Surfline work…
Greg, you can do it without the thickness-planer, of course. Just find already sliced pieces. One good source is some lumber stores use to cover lumber piles with thin sheets of wood. Make friends with the guys who work there and ask them to keep those sheets for you once a pile has been sold out. (They eventually get thrown away, so Iwas told, whereas you can make tens of tailblocks out of them… Might be a cheap and easy way out for those of you building compsands,too…)
RichardMc, of course the photos were shot so you couldn’t see the mistakes… (Actually, there is a small gap between foam and wood on the bottom side. I’m gonna fix that using the old woodworking trick -I’m sure you know it- : mix some white Elmer’s glue with fine red cedar sanding dust so you get the exact same color in a fast setting filler…)
AustinS, coming from you I appreciate the kind comments the more…
Thanks again to all. And as the old and wise say (kidding, Doc): “Hope that’s of use.”
The woodwork on that surfline website was incredible.
Looks really nice! Tail/nose blocks are one thing that I still can’t get quiet right. At least now I’m remotivated.
Beautiful work, as usual, balsa.
Thanks for letting us have a peek 
Nice work Balsa, I wish I had half the tools you have, I don’t have a thicknesser or a cut off saw but I get by with my trusty old belt sander.
Did you preshape the block prior to gluing in place or did you do it in situ?
G’day Hicksy!
I cut two triangular-shaped blocks, glued them in place then shaped them “in situ”, first with the jigsaw, then block plane and sander.
As for the tools, my first job is being a carpenter, surfboards as a secondary occupation. This explains that.
BTW, I think we own the same brand belt-sander: Hitachi, isn’t it? Good tool, mine must be about ten years old…
Hey Balsa, good to hear from you…
I’ve had my Hitachi for 15 years now, they are a brilliant tool. I even sanded down the jarrah floorboards of an old house with it.
2 speed too!!!
I do my blocks in reverse, I chop off the foam that the block is replacing and shape the block so it is the exact shape of the foam bit, then glue it on and glass.
Lots of checking along the way though, if you take off too much, you’ve got to start again…or save it for the next time…
very cool!
Look alot like the pics of a harbour balsa pintail with nose and tail blocks he posted on his forum. Same general idea…different woods. Pretty neat stuff.
Tail blocks will make an ugly board look cool. Multi stringered board deserve a tail block! 
Nice work! Can you tell us what the deal is on that glue you used? Thanks -Carl
Hey Carl,
If it’s me you’re asking, I used common old every day 5 ply wood, about 3/8" thick x 4 and glued it together with epoxy. Put bricks on top (as per usual) and let it set overnight.
Chip and I put the blocks on with poly can’t remember if it was filler or not, Chip will remember.
We held the blocks in place with our hands until it had gelled, tried putting them on with masking tape but there was some slippage due to the weight of the wood so I cut that one off and we repositioned it by hand.
BTW, if your board has colour on the foam it’s a good idea to apply that colour to the exposed foam after cutting off your block sections, otherwise you will see the white foam after the block is put in place…found that one out that hard way too…
