A few days ago I decided to search the web for a nice Frye style fish template so I could ask my local shaper to reproduce it… that’s when I discovered Swaylock’s.
Since then, I’ve been spending most of my spare time reading about your experience of shaping and learning from your knowledge… last night I had a dream where I could see myself, covered with foamdust, lying my novice eyes on a freshly shaped blank. So I guess that’s it, I caught the virus, now I feel I have to give it a try and in fact I am really excited about it… but I will surely need all your help and most likely your patience.
So here we go : I am 1,85m (6’1") for 77kilos (170 lb), I’ve been surfing for maybe 20 years or so and my quiver includes a dozen of boards going from a 11’1" to a 6’4" retro single… I’ m used to riding single fins and heavy equipment either for my long- or my short- (which are not so short) boards.
So what I would like to shape is a Skip Frye style fish and that’s about all I know. I’ ve read from many posts on this forum that those boards are meant to be no longer than 5’10" or so, but am afraid of my lack of ability to ride such a short board… I was more thinking of a 6’2". But you all know certainly better than me, so I’ll stick to your knowledge.
I’ve seen from past posts that many of you really know how those boards have to be shaped, maybe some of you have a nice template to share… in fact I need to know pretty much everything : rocker, rails, thickness…
my only experience of shaping for the moment is a skimboard and a sk8 longboard, so it sure is going to be a hard time, but I can’t wait to begin.
All right! Riding a board you made with your own hands is twice as sweet as riding a board made by someone else. There’s tons of information in the archives on fishes. I don’t think you will find a consensus on size. Most prefer them short. It’s all fun. There’s a Lis template on this site somewhere. I’d be glad to mail you a fish template or keel fin templates. Its pretty easy to make your own, too.Mike
Donald, don’t be afraid of going short with a fish, i’m 6’ and 190 or so and i’m riding a 5’10’’ fish now, and i jumped, few years ago, from a 9’4’’ longboard to a 6’0’’ fish without any effort.
I see you live in the south west of France, you there have good waves… you’ll love the fish concept.
I’ve just emailed the author of the thread at the moment , but if you want to check out some nice looking fishes , all on the one thread , at forum.surfermag.com , there’s a thread called “fish fever” [in the design forum] …if you look at that , there’s pages of photos to check out . [May not be heaps of measurements , but nice ‘eye candy’ , to be sure. ]
My fish is pretty ‘narrow’ compared to the traditional Lis and Frye and others I’ve seen here and there …it’s 5’11 x 20 x 2 1/2" . It also has a more pulled in / less parallel tail outline , so narrower tip to tip than the Lis ones… lotsa fun , though !
I’m sure you’ll get lots of help here .
That’as awesome you had a dream you were shaping … take it as a 'sign ’ !!
I’ve had plenty of surfing dreams , but have NEVER had a shaping dream yet !! Hope I do one day though …I’ll be sure to write it down , and draw the board as soon as I wake , if it ever happens . [ Anyone here remember Greenough’s dream-inspired boat [the “coop” ] in the movie "Crystal Voyager " … and, the “way out there” story behind that ??? … absolutely CLASSIC !!! …Shipman , you’d LOVE it !!]
Anyone here remember Greenough’s dream-inspired boat [the “coop” ] in the movie "Crystal Voyager " … and, the “way out there” story behind that ??? … absolutely CLASSIC !!! …Shipman , you’d LOVE it !!]
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Was that the completly roofed boat? Yeah Classic hey! I thought you could add wheels to it and call it the ‘dingy of doom’!
Very cool… I loved the section where he, nat and richie where on the sail boat he remade and just surfed and lived on the ocean…best movie ever!