Gday
On my second board, but the first using a power planer, and this is what happened. Hoping someone can help.
Also while im here im having trouble cutting only half of the stringer, before i know it ive chopped through the whole thing. this maybe because im on a shallow cut depth (1mm) and the planer has no trouble going over it.
thanks heaps
tom
“whats wrong with my planer technique?”
IMHO, Nothing. It is a learning thing. Take your time. Like you said it is #2 and your 1st with a power planer.
Remember that the planer will cut not to the depth of what the blade is spinning at, but to the depth that the back end is running over. The adjustment doesn’t send the barrell down, it lifts the front shoe up, allowing more incoming cut, not allowing deeper outgoing cut. So if you angle the back end to glide over the part you’ve already done (and like) the new cut will be more even with the previous one.
Other than that, its just lots of practice. Make a kid’s board or thin down a Walker 10’3 to ‘performance’ longboard thickness…you’ll get enough passes in making one board that way, that its like shaping a dozen close-tolerance ones 
Keep the shoe (before the blades) over the area you wanna cut and the base (behind the blades) over the stuff you already cut. If it is your first pass for the side, keep it overhanging the blank. The planer should be at a slight angle this way, like 40-50 degrees. Start from the outside and work your way in cutting at least 2" wide or more each pass. Too much and it will get stuck or gouge. Go twice as slow over the stringer. You should cut that last and uniform. In time it will feel like second nature.
You will know when you go too fast on polyurethane. It will start to rip when you plane too fast.
From the photo it looks as maybe you’re tilting the planer.Keep the planer flat to the blank’s surface.After awhile you’ll learn how to get the angles you want,but learning how to cut flat is first and most important…if this is not the case,your blades may be off.
Just a suggestion…Schroeder’s been doing it for awhile and has good insite on what’s what.
looks good to me
I’d say it’s ready to glass!
Seriously though, do you face the nose when planing one side and the tail when planing the other? If so, I’d check my planer blade if I was you. It’s hard to be sure from the pic but it kind of looks like it’s raised on one side.
The first of this video shows the planer angle that Schroeder was talking about
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3865198894106448900&q=shaping+surfboards&pl=true
Tomd,
Schroeder has described the proper technique. Use it.
I’ve found that starting in the middle may create deep spots where the blade won’t reach. In that video clip the guy starts at the edge and works his way to the stringer in even passes. Not a lot of explaining here but you get the idea.
He is also shown doing the reversing technique to save time - i.e. tail to nose, nose to tail. At first you might be more comfortable cutting one way.
If you can, get a copy of Master Shaping Series with Jim Phillips showing some incredible skill. In it, he gradually reduces the depth of his cuts to zero and creates a nearly finished blank using just his planer.
In the meantime, do what the rest of us hackers do and get familiar with your sanding block.
…so you already have that bottom
the easy way to go now (seeing the photo) is to create a single concave, so pass the planer onto the marks with shallow passes and you ll got a clean concave
check with a rule
What’s wrong is you are probably running your planner straight up and down the board. The butt of the planner is riding up on the adjacent, uncut surface. As suggest, plane from the outside in – hold planner at an angle, but most importantly, the front stage of the planner should be on the un or next cut foam, the butt on the just cut. Eventually, you should be able to plane out the board so it looks almost sanded.
…I just saw the video…
the planer work is very good and correct
but thee guy do many useless stuff…
and waist time in over steps
also dont measure dee foam in several spots before mowing and shaping
dont measure the rocker in crucial stages
near the finale, touch again the bottom and of course modified the rocker too…
the typical production board
thanks to everyone for helping, ive tried again trying to mimick the suggested video and also dave permenters clip aswell as your advice shroeder, but im still having problems. ive now almost run out of foam to practice on but ive got two other blanks which i can mow more foam, byu then i should hae studied jcs 101 which im waiting to arrive and i might have a better idea. To me it seems like if the baldes are out its just an excuse, in the book it says they should be level with the rear shoe, whats an accurate way to check this??
cheers
tom
That guy in the video is pretty damn good! But if you watch it carefully you will see that the key is starting from the outside rail and working toward the stringer. Your picture of your initial cuts is NOT that bad. BUT, it is obviopus that you did not work from the outside rail towards the stringer. The back of your planer needs a planed surface to rest on as you plane the material in front of you. It is pretty logical IF you stop and think about it. Also: I do not know what blanks you are using, but you cannot whip thru a Walker or Surfblanks the way John Carper does a Clark in the shaping 101 video. These blanks are harder and require differant technique than their softer counterparts.
[=Blue]Judging the skill of other shapers is always a dangerous road to go down… but in defense of elite shapers everywhere… it should be stated clearly that the guy in the video is not really that good when measured against those with elite skills. I am in no way suggesting that he is attempting to say that he is in his video. And this is not a personal attack on him or his skills. He probably makes fine boards and has fair skills with his tools and craft and is obviously using them to produce product. That’s great!
But… where standards exist it is always good if they are exposed and it is a fine thing if they are defended. In the big world of surfboard shapers there are some truly great craftsmen. Not just because of their celebrity or the performance of an individual board they might produce but because of their innate talent, learned skills and the efficient techniques and systems they use. This is the true measure of the elite master shaper.
With the onslaught of ghost shapers, shaping machines and molded boards it is a good thing when we can reaffirm the existence and importance of those craftsmen and their abilities, and make sure that history isn’t accidently rewritten by a contemporary culture that can quickly and easily override and upstage the true craftsmen simply by placing a shaping video on YouTube.
This new popularity of surfing is also encouraging many newcomers like tomd to the art and craft of surfboard building. Swaylocks does a great job of providing “how to” information for them. But lets make sure we continually define and reinforce what the elite standards of excellence are so that newcomers will not only know how to get “there” from the wealth of suggestions on Swaylocks…but also know where the real… “there”… actually is, should they ever decide to strive for it.
It may seem polite and politically correct to make “there” an easier target to achieve, but where the true target has already been set high in the sky, lets not let it slip too low. For in so doing, we disrespect those who have gone before who worked so hard to drive that target up so high. And we do a diservice to those who will come later by depriving them of a similar great achievement by allowing the high standard to slip to where it can easily be grasped without having gained the proper talent, skills and techniques to honestly claim it.
I’m a hack that gets lucky once in awhile. What do I know?
Get to know your tools, especially the planer/sander…it should be an extention of one’s mind and body.Once this is achieved your personal surfing will ascend as well.
Tomd, check with the maker of your planer. If you have the Hitachi or Clark modified version of it, use the blade depth setting tool. I think PlusOne wrote up something on how to use it if you are unsure. Don’t look at your video as an absolute board building bible. Learn what works for you.
Herb, you da man. One of the reasons I started to lurk this site.
Now if I could find my dull hatchet, I could finish making myself a board…
It may seem polite and politically correct to make “there” an easier target to achieve, but where the true target has already been set high in the sky, lets not let it slip too low. For in so doing, we disrespect those who have gone before who worked so hard to drive that target up so high. And we do a diservice to those who will come later by depriving them of a similar great achievement by allowing the high standard to slip to where it can easily be grasped without having gained the proper talent, skills and techniques to honestly claim it.
BB
Very well put.