9'6" lightning bolt gun

I hope some of the masters pipe in. 

This is the 9'6 pintail I have,

more tail rocker than your numbers though. nose is around 5.25 and tail 4.5 something, the centerline is @ 1.5

Hello Huck, I am not a shaper but I recently ordered a similar board and have been doing some research on the design. Mine will be something around 10'2", we ordered a usblanks 10'6" A Green density with a thick stringer.  I guess you will need something like a 9'9" A.

Wow, that is a real gun you are going to shape, where will you be riding it?

From what I have researched, wide point should be around 6" - 8" up. Nose width between 10" and 11", tail around there too, maybe a bit narrower than the nose. The width you sugested is about right. I decided to keep as much width and thickness from the blank as possible for paddling but thickness should be under chest, tail should be foiled thin and pintail should be "spiky". Deck will be flat to just at the rail where it will go to a down rail with much sharpness on the aft section. Beak nose to keep some foam up there. Bottom, some suggest v to flat to panel v to flat behind the fin, after closely examining a similar Country Surfboards gun we have in the shop, we decided to go with a flat at the tip to basically a slight v throughout most of the bottom, increasing in front of the fin an then flat behind the fin. I have read that this is the bottom Bill Barnfield used on these types of boards.

As for rocker, your numbers sound right. In my case we will go about 3" tail and just flow with the blank's rocker without tweeaking it too much so the entry rocker will be greater than 6" in my board. From what I have researched, gun rocker should be continuous and flowing with no flat spots, breaks or kicks that can catch when you are going fast and trying to survive. It is suposed to be a simple and functional board.

Glassing, we will probably go double 10 oz top and bottom, gloss finish and bright orange color so I can find it when I lose it.

What I am still trying to find out is what fin to use and how far up should it be placed. I guess a board like this doesn't need a fin that is too deep because of the tail spike and the outline/rails in the tail.

Again, I am not a shaper just a surfboard design nerd who likes to read a lot and listen to what experts have to say. Swaylocks is very cool because you can get the experienced shapers and designers to give you some great advice and you get to read some very interesting stories along the way. Maybe Bill Barnfield or Thrailkill can help.

Huck

ya that is a sweet board that Balsa posted,,, google images will give you more pics

all this information posted seems to be accurate

but remember ,,there were lots of variations in these boards in the 70's,, tail widths, rails etc,,etc,,

but down rails were the norm,,, hard at the tail end

where the board is surfed is a major factor for all things shaped,,,

Island boards are surfed in powerfull waves as compared to California Mainland waves

if they don't comment here, it'd be a good idea to PM Bill Thrailkill, Bill Barnfield, and Deadshaper...

really looking forward to this build thread and finished product! i'm sure with your skills and that shape, it's going to be a knockout!

I would defer to BB as he was there makng them.............DS

Im sure the "customer" will like the board when its done.

I cant keep a straight face too much longer,,,

It might be worth pointing out that the rocker dimensions in the diagrams are based on Surfding's preferred computer program which has the profile tilted forward. 

The (more or less) standardized method of rocker measurement with 'zero at center' does not apply.

I would be curious what the rocker measurements are with a 'zero at center' reference.

Hi Michael -

Thanks!  It's much easier for me to get my head around zero center point.  5.9" tail rocker as shown in first diagram seems excessive if you're used to raw numbers.

Geez guys, surfding is trying to help by handing over some good stuff, and you're worried about where the reference line is on his rocker? Or that contemporary rocker might be ''too much''?

Try and find a 70s ''lightning bolt California gun'' at 9'6'', to copy. That might be a challenge in itself, most guns in the 70s were in the 7'-8' range.

Hi John: pretty standard is ZERO CENTER. However I have learned over the last 6 years to use TRUE MATH. This comes from working with PhD's of Math and Physics. They work in true values so that the translation in to G-Code can work with a Multiple Axis Machine. There is a Technic that Phil Edwards would use that is more in line with TRUE MATH were he would maintain the nose and tail at ZERO then proceed to take the numbers every 3" from a Level Horizontal Line. The same way the Academics do it. These are only expressed numbers however the rockers will be the same between ZERO CENTER and TRUE MATH. For example I have taken a rocker stick profile generated by a well know shaper that works with ZERO CENTER just like BB. I scan his board (TRUE MATH) and generate a rocker stick profile from the program file and low and behold they match dead even. However the values are expressed differently. Knowing the translation between the two has been very useful dealing with various shapers. It's only a matter of expressed values.

Don't really know if this kind of information is useful here on swaylock?

Kind regards,

Michael

(Surfding)

interesting education on rocker, thank you mr ding and mr mellor for bringing it up

mr ding and a sup fresh from his multiple axis machine

Hello Huck ,

I have a Clark Foam catalog from 2005......I paid off my credit cards....I have no clue about gun rocker......Keith Melville and Resinhead build some very nice guns.....

Ray