Okay, this thread stems from a comment I just made on another post. I have watched my shaper shape. I have helped him sometimes on my own boards. I read a book on shaping about 10 years ago, but I have never actually crafted a board from start to finish... Can one of the veterans give me the following info: A) What the absolute necessities are (tools that I MUST have and materials that I MUST have) B) Where to get said tools and materials, since there are no shapers or real shops within a 2 hours radius of me. I order all my repair supplies of amazon since I live here now. C) Best Guide or Book to use as reference. D) Where to get a foam blank from... And I know they sell real traditional block style blanks, and correct me if I am wrong, don't they also sell somewhat "pre-shaped" blanks... I.E. with general rail and tail dimensions already trimmed down somewhat... What to go with and where to get it I am sure there has been a similar thread somewhere. But I want to get the bare minimum of tools and costs. My wife won't be very happy if I dump $500 into building my own board when Micah would build me one for way cheaper.... ya know? I just want to give it a try.
Shaping: beers, a decent stand, harbor freight power planer, jigsaw of some sort, small rounded plane for the rocker-y parts, assortment of sand paper/blocks/screens. Glassing: beers, Scissors, 1 gal containers, measuring cups, rubber squeegee. Patience, Orbital sander, a dust mask, and some clothes you hate. both shaping and glassing make a damn mess so a big ass fan is a good idea also. I've been able to source everything from normal hardware stores. Blanks / cloth /resin etc from us fiberglass products (wrv) It cannot be taught, only learned. (ok I made that part up, videos, ask lbcrew when you get stuck)
Very much so actually. US Blanks has a distributor down in Jacksonville. I am down there about once a month and could swing by and grab a blank there....
So, something along these lines won't cut it? http://www.foamez.com/ez-starter-shaping-kit-p-867.html plus beer of course. I have a jig saw, orbital sander... I have no planing tools or a stand, but that should be easy enough to build... It's a good and bad thing that I converted my garage into a man cave with a pool table and all kinds of **** in it, so I will have to make this one a back yard project. Neighbors are gonna love me.
I mean, it'd take all day with a handplane or a couple of hours with a power planer. I got the cheap one at harbour freight and it was seriously sub $50. Some tool snobs will scoff at that but I'm not exactly running a board factory so it works.
If you're referring to surfsource, they have tools, plans, blanks, fin boxes, books, and just about anything you could possibly need. surfsource.net is their site. Nice guys in there, very helpful for sure. I've been scoping them out hoping to try my hand at ****ing up a perfectly good blank too.
Illstreet.net has all the glassing materials you'll need. They're big into carbon fiber and car accessories but carry everything you need for surfboards too. They're on James island off of folly road.
Did you know there is a company called "big ass fans" that makes big ass fans? They are ceiling fans...and many models are, "big ass fans" sorry for the useless fact, but just want to be sure no one gets confused
Yep. http://www.bigassfans.com/ These suckers work too. They efficiently move the air rather than just blowing it on you. They were primarily for commercial/industrial applications but it looks like they've got a residential line now too. They also seem to have spun off a lighting division. http://www.bigasslight.com/
Everybody's got the tools down for ya. A measuring tape would be useful. Good even lighting. And in all honesty i'd shell out the 150-250 to just have someone (if theres anyone in your neck of the woods that does it) glass it for you. Its the worst part and the easiest to mess up the whole entire board with.
This is the truth. I think epoxy is easier though. I've heard of people mixing up a real hot batch of poly resin and completely altering the shape of the board as it cures. Epoxy can cure much slower so not as much as a worry there. But the sanding and finishing.... Just remember you're not going to win any big money contests on the board so it doesn't have to be perfect. I'd make a big, voluminous, forgiving shape that you can have a good day on and be happy you caught rides on your own craft.
US fiberglass is great; nice folks and you can get bulk resin for both laminating coat (first with glass) and hot coat for pretty cheap. I was just in their shop yesterday as I am in the outer banks for a while and I am dry docking a longboard and fixing some major 20 year old delam. I have only made hollow wood boards so the beginning of the shaping process (rocker and outline) was dictated by the dimensions of the internal struts (think airplane wing) and original glue up. All my shaping was rails. Those are all feel and eye, and the tools you need are accessible from someplace cheap like Harbor Freight, which has already been mentioned. You will need a power planer for the original rocker, a simple handsaw for the outline, and a small block plane for rail shaping. You also want some 80 grit sandpaper for rail shaping as well. You want to draw your outline in sharpie and cut it, but then draw your rocker plan on the side edges as well, then plane down to roughly those marks. You need a gallon bucket for resin and catalyst, and a cheap plastic spackle knife, like 6 inches, for glassing. You also need Swaylock's like a drowning man needs to breathe. This may be the most important of all the above, as I swear with enough input from sway locks and a stone tool made by a caveman, you could shape at least a useable board. There's my $.02
Here is a pretty nice "how to" video (more of a video biography of the birth of a board) that's right on this cite. Not a step by step, but I think it kind of walks you through the process in an enjoyable manner... http://www.swellinfo.com/video/a-board-for-bobby
www.greenlightsurfsupply.com has everything you NEED in a kit. If you send me your email address I can send you part of a packet I hand out to the people who take my course. That'll get ya started...
Where is Greenlight when you need him... He posts on here from time to time, I am looking into getting some stuff to shape on weekends.
Ill have to look at that site. I was referring to US Blanks. They have a distro warehouse in Altantic Beach, Fl. Didn't know where that was so I googled it, and its right by the beach in JAX. I stayed downtown last time I was there. Did the family thing. The zoo. The fair was in town. Next time, we are for sure going to go to Neptune or somewhere along the coast. I am excited to spend some time in a larger city again that has legitimate surf shops etc.
Yeah, after looking at the blanks, it looks like they already cut the blanks with concave, rocker and relatively decent shape. Looks like you really just have to trim it down, smooth it out and make minor adjustments based on your needs. And I DEFINITELY want to shape a long board, because I think the intricacies of it would be a little more forgiving. Not that you can just throw and 9 foot wood plank in the water and expect it to ride well. My current semi-long board is beat to hell. I have repaired it 100 times over the past decade and it still rides very well. When shortboards have the wrong dimensions or start getting beat up, they are rendered useless fairly quickly.
