Is it better to template the board before or after I bring the board to thickness and do the rocker?
What are the pros and cons of the different methods?
Is it just personal preference?
Hi OB -
I have a better idea of where the ends and various measuring points (12" up, 12" back, etc) are going to be if I cut the outline first.
I have found it is easer to set your thickness and rocker first.
After the bottom is clean lay out your outline and cut out our template.
I add a 1/16 to the deck to 1/8 that I clean after the outline is cut.
Rails last.
It’s difficult to cut and true an outline on a very thick piece of foam. So if I have an oversize blank I’ll rough in the foiling work,
and a lot of the deck roll, before I cut out. If I have a close tolerance blank, I’ll template right on the skin (on PU).
So my answer is: it depends…
I usually skin the bottom and take some thickness out first if the blank is thik, then template the plane shape and square up the edges. Then skin the top. Then take any extra thickness out from the bottom and sort the rocker. Then foil the deck. rail bands go on last. Once its all roughed out I start taking down the stringer, blending it all in and a fine tuning with sand paper.
I’m going to assume that you’re talking about one-off free form shaping as opposed to machined production shapes, in which case a formal reproducible production protocol will likely drive how things are done.
Pronouncements on hard and fast rules aside, if you started (as in first learned) cutting the template first and worrying about everything else afterwards, then at some later date, watched the Phillip’s video, for example, and found yourself drifting towards cutting the template after establishing most of the bottom contour etc., you may have found the difference in the final product being very (very) noticeable. I did.
My take was that cutting the template first literally ‘drove’ the bottom contour and rocker adjustment. That is it seemed to lock you into something, which perhaps many will see as a good thing, but I saw as unnecessary, particularly as my understanding of what makes surfboard ‘go’ evolved.
My guess is like many, if not most, when I visualized a board in my mind, I often saw a template first, or the template was sort of paramount, even if it was sort of fuzzy. The Phillip’s video was liberating in this regard. Sure template matters, but somehow by waiting to cut it, at least finalize it, the board template tended to reflect more of what was happening underneath – which was critical. That is, the template did not drive the bottom shape - the bottom shape -i.e. contours, rocker, seemed to have more of a say, you could say.
Of course I would not suggest that this approach be taken to its extreme. Some rough template should exist, it just doesn’t have to be all that close in ‘tolerance’ to the final product. If you start with a massive block then a rough template cut makes a lot of sense, but too close and it starts to drive everything else about the board.
Curiously, the option doesn’t seem to be available to some of the construction methods now being explored or re-explored. Detailed plans are draw up and followed – or a mess is likely to ensue.
I guess that is where being a true ‘journeyman’ can come in handy – which I am not, nor even came close to being, or will likely ever be. Life can be rude.
kc
I don’t know. I cut the outline first but I think this is because I’ve shaped EPS boards that have no foil, so cutting them with a jigsaw ensures a 90-degree cut. (I’m not real good with a saw yet).
But just thinking about it, the outline last seems like a better idea–more likely to be symmetrical.
BTW, OBproud,
I’m putting the finishing touches on that fish I told you about. Do you have good lighting at your place? I shape in daylight and see odd rail lines, etc. and I want this board to be as close as I can get it to “right on.” Hope you’re well and say hi to our old friends as you see em.
C
Hey CC,
My lights are not the best, but they are better than nothing. You can come by sometime later this week, Thrs., Fri., Sat., Sun., Mon.
Just let me know when would be good for you.
-Ian
Don’t know about “better” - but you are going to get different boards from the 2 methods (using the same outline) - the flat templated board will be longer (1/2-1", depending on rocker). As a result its rails will be more parallel (for any given outline).
That’s why templates used on pre-rockered boards look wierd when laid out flat - they look straightened up, rather than flowing curves - they need the 3rd dimension of rocker in order to get the curve looking right (one of the reasons it’s so hard to copy a board accurately from a photo).
Well that’s just what I learnt from taking 20 years of surfboard templates (not mine - I don’t have that sort of history!) to computer (and then working to get the computer shapes coming out to match the original templates)