The age old question; what to shape?

General Discussion
1

Hey everyone!

After lurking on here for some time, ive been inspired to start shaping my own boards.

Ive done some repair work to my own boards, and got a cut off of foam which i made some hand planes from. They came out nice, i used 6oz glass and epoxy resin, put a bat tail on one and a swallow on the other. It all went pretty smoothly (apart from the bat tail which i had to reglass) and i learnt a lot in regards to working the foam and keeping things even. By day i restor classic cars and do auto electrical work ao im used to hands on work.

Last week i picked up a 6’9 bennet fish blank to shape. But since then i just keeo looking at it wondering what to shape!

Currently i ride 2 boards. A 7’x23"x3" and 50litres custard point fun board whith 4+1 fins and soft rails. Ill ride it as a single in anything but its quite fun as a quad in smaller and faster waves. I can bottom turn, trim, get on the nose and link the odd cutback

I also ride a 9’1 performance bilbo single fin. Love this but tend to surf it in bigger waves, it goes great in 3-6’ thick waves and turns really well off the tail.

Ive only surfed for a few years regularly so i didnt want to build something that hindered my progression. Im 29, 5’9"1/2 and weigh about 80kg

With this next board id like something that has lowish rocker to assist with early take offs and paddle speed and is fairly cruisy. But i do want to be able to surf top to bottom and get back up to the lip which my 7’ doesnt really like.

So far im thinking of 6’7 long 21.5 wide, perhaps 22" and keeping the volume in the thickness at 2.8-3"

What i cant decide on is the general outline! Im not looking for shotboard style of performance, but something i can surf in most conditions through out North cornwall.

Id like 4+1 just for versatility and perhaps a diamond or squash tail for easy catching.

I like the look of the album social, greedy beaver, almond butter (oerhaos to narrown in the bose for me) and the devon howard mini special

Any suggestions would he great and i will start a thread for the board

2

You already have two boards. You also have a shorter blank in hand. Your mission is to fill in a hole that the other two boards aren’t covering. In your place I’d skip the 4+1 concept because the bottom and rockers that go with a singlefin aren’t necessarily the same as for a quad. As for quads, those have variations, too.

If you’re relatively newer to surfing and you have been working mostly on singlefins your style is already biased toward that kind of style. And there’s nothing wrong with that. What you want to consider is whether you want your next board to help you transition to surfing off the tail more or if you want to make the big jump straight into the more aggressive style and hope you like it.

Given your blank length and the conditions you have referenced I’d skip the singlefin option altogether because those boards work better with a little more length (you’re using the rail more). Since you have been surfing singles and probably have the stance and positioning that goes with it you might consider the designs Neal Purchase Jr does, because he’s a larger guy and he surfs like that, too.

You can check his surfing out on Youtube. See if the way he surfs appeals to you and take note of the point that he uses that close stance, is usually surfing forward of the tail block and has designed his boards to be balanced and foiled in support of the way he surfs. Meaning, he didn’t take a high performance thruster design and simply slap a different fin setup on it.

If you don’t like that then cast about for clips of people surfing the other designs you’re considering and figure out which will work better for you bother where you’re at now and where you’re trying to go. You want to find a design track that fits you.

3

Blendingcurves.com
Outline templates.
Retro c
or maybe retro d
or go ham and print out both and put a reto c tail on a d nose or vice versa…

4

Thanks gdaddy, ill take your advice on there. I think with my level and that length, as you say, will not realy give me a retro single and my standard probably wont suit a short single fin. However i may drop a single box in for educational purposes. I learnt alot on my egg by rubbubg different fin setups but i allways go back to a big single!
Neil purchase jr has a great style, he carries the traditional lines with a little more off the lil which is where im aiming to get i think

I guess this board willl end up being a little bit stubby, little bit eggy.

I cant decide whether to keep 4.5" nose rocker or 4"

Do you think i squash tail is appropriate for a little more push from the waves we have here?

5

Thanks Sk8ment, i just downloaded the retro B and stub C.

For some reason i have a squash/diamond tail in my head and a slightly rounder/wider nose. It would be great to be able to duck dive but some spots get really busy round here

Any takes on rocker? I plan to take the blank down to thickness today

6

What are the rocker numbers in your blank? There are limits to how much you will be able to change them.

7

Its a Bennet 6’9 fish blank. So far ive taken it down to 6’8 giving 2" tail rocker and 4.5" nose rocker

8

If it were me I’d just follow the blank and stick with that rocker. That’s enough curve to readily handle most drops someone at your skill level would attempt. I might consider flattening it out in the middle a little, but probably not.

But, if you wanted to add or subtract a bit from that the board would still surf. It just depends on what you are trying to do and what conditions you’re aiming this stick at.

9

Thanks gdaddy. I took your advise there, i just took an even cut of 1/8th of an inch from the bottom side. Sadly ive had to take a little more of the length due to dinging the blank. Its now 6’6 1/4" and 4 1/8" nose rocker. Reall rookie mistake there

In terms of conditions, the cornish coast is mainly beach breaks. 1-4’ is pretty average, some 4-6’ days come and go. Theres a few mellow spots with shelter, and a few faster steeper waves.

Id like to cruise with a few tighter turns. I find both my exsisting boards great, so this board should be a slightly differnt ride, a little sharper!

10

Good advice from the Boyz.

11

I think of a 4" nose rocker in a mid-6ft length as still being fairly moderate. If you haven’t already laid in the deck rocker and foil you probably have a little room to add some more curve in the last 6".