which comes first: rails or concaves?

I’m on #2, ready to do the rails, and I’ve decided to put a light single to a deeper double concave (using a 2-liter bottle and sandpaper).

what comes first, rails or concave? i’m venturing to say bottom rail, then concave?

board is looking pretty good so far and i dont want to blow it…

rails first.

concaves last.

I like to make sure the bottom of my boards are completely roughed out, ie shaped to the stage before the final sanding, before touching the rails. If you decided to alter your bottom shape after doing the rails it could really change how your rails turn out. This is mostly a problem with adding vee of course, concaves don’t effect the bottom rail line really so I suppose you could add them after the rails but I just like my bottom shape set so there will be no more adjustment before I start the rails. Still hey there are many ways to skin a cat, (apparently, not that I’ve ever done any cat skinning).

concaves first.

rails last.

Rails first. Concave second.

Quote:

concaves first.

rails last.

sorry young grasshopper…but you are mistaken. now try to snatch the pebble from my hand…

My concaves come first because they are bent into the blank

Would you like your pebble back now ?

:wink:

i still have the pebble.

your backwards thinking made you THINK you snatched the pebble, when all that’s really in your hands is your own pebbles…

quit playing with your pebbles, roy!

Not sure of the official order, but i have always roughed out my concaves very early in my designs, and always do my rails last. I use the concaves when designing the rail profile.

Quote:
Quote:

concaves first.

rails last.

sorry young grasshopper…but you are mistaken. now try to snatch the pebble from my hand…

Grasshoppers, concaves, time travelling swaylockians be damned!

What about V?

I really don’t think it matters, becasue concaves are “in” the bottom, but I rough out my concaves first, then flip it over to do the rails. But I always do any vee in the bottom first before the rails, because vee carries out to the rail. Plus, I want to dig out the concaves before I do the deck so the thickness is not affected.

Quote:

Rails first. Concave second.

This is interesting…

After reading http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=248665; my understanding was this:

  1. Concaves/V's are shaped into the board first, resulting in a finalized bottom rocker.
  2. Because this bottom rocker is not necessarily consistent from nose to tail (IE concave to V), the rail bands function to translate the bottom rocker around to the deck, as well as to define rail volume and shape.
  3. This is accomplished by using each subsequent rail band to match the bottom rocker, using the previous band as the indicator of what that rocker is.
I am curious how you can integrate the bottom rocker with the rail rocker as accurately if you do the rails first? I would love to expand my understanding on this point.

I perfer to shape the whole thing, then cut out the template. First i lay out the fins, then I shape the rails, then I thickness profile, then I glass, then I strip the glass and add the rails. Then I do the concaves, then I test it in a swimming pool with wax and if i like it, then I put the hotcoat on.

What ever, Tomatoe, Tomato… there is no one right way to shape a board as long as it is a surfboard when your done.

Wow… it must take a lot of wax to fill up that swimming pool. And just for testing purposes, too. That’s true dedication, Mr. Head…

That was pretty dam funny! I could picture him standing on the board floating in a massive pool of, what ear wax?!

What’s so funny? The wax is an intergral part of the self molding process. It’s an old trick I learned from Bic Brewer on the Central Shore of Wahoo.

(1.) Vee’s first. Rails second.

(2.) Rails first. Concave second.

Your point is, what?

Consider the fact that different shapers have different skill levels, and use different techniques. At my skill level, the

above is what is easiest for me, therefore that is how I do it. If you have the opportunity, try it both ways, and see

which gives YOU the best result.

…in my technique point of view

all the bottom specification and rocker curves are done first

then the tucked edge or down part of the rails then the deck or if you just got the desire thickness, the upper rails.

is better to have a sharp line to see the bottom changes and rocker curves.