Tools

General Discussion
1

Hey Everyone,

So this is my first post and I know I will ask supid questions along the way so please be gentle!

I would like to know what tools all of you have found to be the most important tools in your arsenal? As a brand new surfer and shaper I'm trying to get a basic shopping list if you will for what I need to begin my long and hopefully succesful journey. I have already put together my shaping racks and a hand made caliper and was given a power planer and just made some custom sized sand blocks, so what am I missing that would help me out?

Thanx for any and all replies!

mahalo!

 

[IMG]http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh307/jboivball/boardtools.jpg[/IMG]

2

From one rookie to another, I can give you one tip that I see from your photo:

Don’t wrap your rack-pads in duct tape. The wrinkles will leave dents on your foam blank. I learned this the hard way. Instead, try to leave the foam padding exposed (and smooth) and wrap it on with masking tape only in a few critical areas. Keep the masking tape flat without creases.

As for tools, get a spoke shave or japanese curved planer to get the stringer down in the nose area.

Have fun…

3

A lot of this stuff is in the archives, or in a good shaping video. Start there.

Good racks are important… you need to cover yours with foam or padding of some sort to keep from marring up your shaped blank. The traditional shaping tools are a long, straigt, flexible stick and a few finish nails for templating… saw, surform, soft pencils (8b or 9b), tape measure, square, sanding block with padded side, planer, claipers, mini block plane. Fred tool optional.

Start slowly and build your tool set over time. As you get more and more into it, needs will reveal themselves.

4

Ahhh I see! Well thanks for the duct tape tip, however its not foam padding under there its ripped up jeans and old t-shirts, looks like a upgrade is in order! Yeah I've been looking for affordable planers on surforms, not that they are too expensive but i don't think it would be wise for me investing a lot of money at this  point, that being said I know ill probably get what I pay for. I'm planning on using xps due to it's affordability and was wondering if I will have any trouble shaping through glue joint stringers or epoxy on the rails after sandwiching one piece on top of the other? If so any recommended tools for that?

Mahalo!

5

  [quote="$1"]

Hey Everyone,

So this is my first post and I know I will ask supid questions along the way so please be gentle!

[/quote]

No stupid questions exceptin' the ones that don't get asked.

[quote="$1"]

I would like to know what tools all of you have found to be the most important tools in your arsenal? As a brand new surfer and shaper I'm trying to get a basic shopping list if you will for what I need to begin my long and hopefully succesful journey. I have already put together my shaping racks and a hand made caliper and was given a power planer and just made some custom sized sand blocks, so what am I missing that would help me out?

Thanx for any and all replies!

mahalo!

[/quote]

Okay, being brand new at it, a few things -

First off, you want a measuring tape, good one, plus a pencil and a notebook. Really, maybe it seems like this is too basic, but you don't want to be starting from a complete dead stop, you want to be taking numbers and notes from boards you like rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. There's also some cute little gizmos woodworkers use for taking patterns from things that would apply nicely: http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/contourgauge5.aspx for one. You can find 'em at yard sales a lot too.

Layout: you'll want a nice long straightedge ( plywood) plus a good square. And as has been mentioned, a batten: a clear grained piece of softwood for making curves. Plus a lot of 1/4" plywood or something for making templates and patterns.

You betcha, patterns and templates. Best if the board is made symmetrical and such, y'know?

Now, what you haven't mentioned but you want to think about is glassing. You mention EPS - well, yeah, it's cheap, but epoxy is expensive. Balance that out.

Okay, resin needs squeegees, glass needs good shears. Masking tape, buckets, brushes.

And then there's sanding. And polishing. The Really Good Pro Tool for that is the Milwaukee variable speed 7" sander, but I don't suggest that just yet, as while it's a pro tool it really is a pro tool and you can do a lot of destruction with it really fast too. Instead, Porter Cable makes a nice little rig: http://www.deltaportercable.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=11081 a random orbit sander and polisher. You can sand, you can polish and the nice thing is that you have to work at doing real damage with it.

And better yet, it's great for ding repairs for fun and profit. If you haven't done a lot of ding repair, you should, it teaches some useful tricks an besides which you can make a little money at it.

hope that's of use

doc....

6

Dust mask, eye and ear protection.You only get one set of each,(lungs, eyes and ears).

7

Doc,

I gotta say it an honor to have you reply to my post and all of that sounds like great advice! I have read sooo many of your post' and have written down more than a few tips. I agree with all those tools and like the idea of the orbital sander, one day I hope to have all of those "make life easier" tools. Better start saving now i suppose.

I did see the epoxy making cost about even, but it makes more sense to me to start off with material I can screw up without getting to down on myself, and from what I've learned epoxy is a lighter more durable and greener material anyways so the cost should be justified there right? I have so many questions still unanswered about so much! Good thing I have lots of time on my hands!

Mahalo!

8

[quote="$1"]

Doc,

I gotta say it an honor to have you reply to my post ......

[/quote]

Oh gawd no - just happens that I answered early on. And the term 'verbose' applies... don't be too thrilled.

[quote="$1"]

and all of that sounds like great advice! I have read sooo many of your post'

[/quote]

And you're still awake? Not nauseous? Yer a better man than I....

[quote="$1"]

 ....and have written down more than a few tips. I agree with all those tools and like the idea of the orbital sander, one day I hope to have all of those "make life easier" tools. Better start saving now i suppose.

[/quote]

Wayull - what you do is let your fingers do the walking and seek out flea markets and yard sales and tool repair shops and used tool shops. I buy new when it's unavoidable ( as in the case of Fein detail sanders and wood shaper cutters, they never show up used, ya know? ) .

And there is always your friendly neighborhood dump. F'rinstance, my local dump has, in the last year, provided two good table saws, one amazing band saw, a 1/2" wood shaper and three 4" jointers. In addition to numerous sanders, routers, drills, nail guns, etc.

With files, rasps, saw blades, shop vacs and what have ya. It's both amazing and kinda disappointing, what people chuck out. Most of that stuff worked, once I got it home, or it needed really easy stuff, like a little wire or a switch.

These days, I'm hoping for a nice metal-cutting lathe and mebbe a nice little milling machine, And I have every expectation that something will show up.

[quote="$1"]

I did see the epoxy making cost about even, but it makes more sense to me to start off with material I can screw up without getting to down on myself, and from what I've learned epoxy is a lighter more durable and greener material anyways so the cost should be justified there right? I have so many questions still unanswered about so much! Good thing I have lots of time on my hands!

Mahalo!

[/quote]

Okay, in that case, get thee to the local dump, score rasps, planes, surforms, handsaws and what have you. Though I rarely find sharp suforms...at any rate.... And the styrene foam is good stuff, as is the epoxy. Do look around here for all the tips you can get.

Do your layouts very carefully. Cut big, and slowly, speed and precision comes with practice.

Oh, and - the dust ( and fume) mask suggestion, plus eye protection, was a good one, by all means do that first and don't skimp.

hope that's of use

doc....

9

Check out the recent thread "most commonly used sandpapers".  Good advice on grits and types of sandpaper from several guys who shape EPS.  I assume XPS is similar so their reccomendations may apply.  A flat sail batten form a saliboard sail is the best straight/flexible edge for curves on templates.   A piece of backpacker foam matress cut to fit a sheet of sanding screen or sandpaper is handy for finishing a blank in its final stage.  A concrete brick wrapped in foam is a good weight to hold your blank in place while you are shaping.  A carpenters square can be used to check template accuracy and mark fins.  A carpenters "adustable" square is also an excellent tool for copying  cant from an existing board and transferring that to your fin setup.  You can buy a variety of metal strips used in the installation of flooring, concrete block and chainlink fencing that can be used to establish toe for your fins.  These are just a few  materials and tools that can be adapted to the shaping of a surfboard.  They are all extremly handy and inexspensive.  Listen to others, determine the basics and go from there.  I've gotten some great tools from the drywall trade, horseshoers and of course carpenters.    Lowel

10

Wow lots of tools all of them with dif. uses and all worth having, i realize now how un prepared I am or at least how primative my board making expierience will be lol!

Mahalo!

11

One real “cheap ass master” move I used for a long time.  A plain old variable speed drill with a sanding disc - I shaped my first couple boards with one, starting w/36 grit to cut the crud off the old blanks, rough shape, then worked my way down…  

If the dump action don’t work, try thrift stores and pawn shops… not free, but you can find great stuff for a fraction of the price - study up so you know what you’re looking for.

12

I think it was synergytodd that gave me the best tip for shaping stands.  Use a hard foam like a roll up camping pad for the stand then cover it with non slip shelving liner.  The shelving liner can be bought at costco in a roll that will last your entire lifetime.  It grips the foam without making a mark.  It also comes in pretty colors.

The other tools I can't live without are my spokeshave, screen for rails, foam sanding pads, round micro rasp, and above all my planer. 

[img_assist|nid=1048378|title=Non slip liner|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=0|height=0]