Trying my hand at shaping: What shape should I start with?

the first few boards i made were wide fishes. One good thing about shaping a board like that is that the fish blanks dont really need significant rocker adjustments to make a perfectly good riding fish. Concaves and other fancy details arent that critical in a fish, (i think ive made some with flat bottoms i.e. no concaves to speak of at all - that ride great) and its not that hard to put two keel fins parallel to the stringer.

 

Hey kielsun,

Good for you. I've shaped 4 boards now and it is an awesome process. I chose my shapes based off of what I am used to riding. I put elements of different boards I have liked and try to link them together. They rarely turn out the way I want but whatever. This way I cancompare my hand vs. theirs. Obviously, it's hard to compete with a machine and YEARS of experience. My suggestion would be to stick with what you know. If you're a longboarder and you haven't ridden a shortboard before it's not going to be worth the time and money that you put into it. Go for a fish with true retro fish dimensions or try something a little shorter than what you're used to. Maybe in the mid 7' range.
IDK, just my two cents.
Have fun with it and post pics as you go.

 

Ive shaped a few boards in the past year and found the easiest one was a regular shortboard with a thumb tail. I copied my favorite board and beefed it up a bit. most of the blanks you buy already have the rocker in them and if you buy close to the size of the board you want to get out of it you shouldn't have to make any adjustments really. I just shaped two retro fishes on 5'8" and one 5' 10". The most difficult part was glassing the tail but I tinted the resin so that adds a little difficulty. A fish style board without the cut out tail would be the easiest in my opinion. If your going to ride the board in decent surf you definatly need put a little vee in the bottom by the nose though instead of totally flat bottom.

 

Surfing is all in our minds. Build the board of your dreams. Then put your art in motion.

 

First... building your own has it's own special gratification. Getting good at it takes practice, but if you have an eye for detail and good with your hands, the learning curve is steep and before long you'll be very happy with your results. Take the leap and don't look back, brother...

Next... stick with a simple shape, and do a clear, free lapped glass job. A fish is a good idea. Natural rocker, simple flat to vee bottom (vee in the tail), not much foiling to do, and down rails. Examine... I mean really STUDY a few fish shapes. Take measurements if you can. Note the thickness flow from nose to tail. Note the profile of the rails. Look closely at how the tail tapers at the stringer. Keep that image in your mind and try to replicate it as best you can.

Last... all boards ride. They might not ride the way you expect them to, but they all ride. When you finally start to build boards that ride the way you expected them to, you've made it.

 

I am thinking about shaping a board for the first time, and i'm not sure whether to use glass on fins or install fin boxes? Another question i have that might sound dumb, what is vee? Any other advice would be great, thanks!

 

Depends on how much you want to spend, shaping boards is a very rewarding experience, but there are a lot of overhead costs if you want to do it right. I am fully committed to shaping/glassing and have spent hundreds of dollars on the proper tools and installation tools. The best bet if this is something that you just want to do one or two boards with is to have someone who already has the installation tools put the fins plugs in for you. I did this in the very beginning and it worked out great. I am located in the Lewes, DE area and could do it for you if you are near that area. Also vee is the opposite of concave, the easiest way to describe it is if you place a level on the bottom of the board perpendicular to the stringer, there with be an upside down "V" in the distance from the level to the foam. This was very extreme and popular in the late 60's when Nat Young/Bob Mctavish started the shortboard revolution with their shorter vee bottoms.

 

An egg is a good choice. You could even set it up as a 2+1 so you can have fun experimenting with different fin combinations... as long as somebody else is doing the installation! Ha!

You're a good man, mgarbutt...

 

Thanks haha, I just remember it was nice to have someone help along the way when I started and have always contemplated whether or not to accept others boards to glass as well see as there are little choices on the east coast for guys only making one or two boards. An egg is definitely a fun shape to make, I have made a couple off of the harbour spherical revolver template.

 

My favorite was a Takayama Egg knock-off. Single fin, with those bright 80s colors... lime green and tangerine. Great little board, too.

 

Agree...I think we all have that person who passed along their knowledge.

A few years ago i was telling Jon Ashton how i was installing futures boxes by using a freehand dremel tool to dig out the foam in the shape of the futures fin box. It had worked fine for several boards but was time consuming, and pretty sketchy.

He dug into a box, and fished out two old router bits and an aluminum jig that now turns installing 3/4" and 1/2" futures boxes into a five minute process.

I've since used that kit, that was passed on to me, to help a few first time shapers in my area put fin boxes in their shaped blank.

 

one more question, will cold temperatures effect the process? i am planning on shaping in a very thin walled shed and wanted to make sure cold is OK for the board/glassing material.

 

If you glass in the cold, the best is to use suncure. You could theoretically class a board in the cold, by heating the resin up in a microwave or in a bucket of hot water. Ideally, you want to try and get the shed to around 65-75 degrees. Not having good conditions can make glassing a board hell and frustrating. I used a heated building and its still tough in the winter at times.

 

Also if you guys rather not glass your boards yourselfs, I have some free time this winter and could glass them for you. I had a friend of mine glass my first couple of boards for me before I started doing it myself and it made the process a lot easier. PM me if you have any questions

 

Depends on your size/ability level. If you are stepping down from a longboard then i would go with some around 7'. I shaped my dad a 7'6" single fin egg that he loves, handles big surf to waist high must. A 2+1 setup would work great as well. I have the template for the Harbour Spherical revolver which is a sick shape as well. Do you have a blank already?