Second board was supposed to be a fish.
The outline got all messed up and I decided to make a shortboard instead.
So this thing is 18 inches wide, a shortboard template I fattened the nose out on and I left it 2.75 inches in the middle.
I’m mostly wondering if there are shortboards like this out there? Assuming it’s gonna wanna go pretty straight? Rocker I would say is moderate.
Oh yeh and 5’11"
We are going to need a rocker shot and a couple angles of the nose, tail, and rails to give you an opinion over the interwebs.
Otherwise it all looks good from here!
Have you had it out for a surf? Impressions?
(Dances with Wolves: Nice Pipe, how does it smoke?)
I think the board will surf. But (unfortunately) I also think that it’s too thick/narrow for your stature and too parallel through the middle. I don’t think you will enjoy paddling it or surfing it as much as you would if the middle was wider. This is one of those rare times when I’m not going to encourage you to simply finish it and surf it.
However,
18" is wide enough for a 1990s style high performance shortboard so I’m sure you could salvage this blank and get a nice shape out of it, albeit smaller than what you ever intended.
The stock dimensions for a Channel Islands “Proton” at a 5-10 length is 5-10 x 18 x 2" (21.7L), but that’s a highly foiled and relatively highly rockered design. You could go a little chunkier but at 18" a 2.5" thickness might be too much.
If it were my project I would use this blank as a test mule to practice on. If you started out with a fish rocker then you can thin the overall thickness down while adding more rocker to your nose and tail. After you thin it down you can lay your new template down and (most likely) adjust what you have to what you want with a sanding block. Then redo the rails and go from there. Then you could decide whether or not you liked the shape well enough to spend the money to glass it. If not, that’s okay because you will have used this blank to practice on 3 shapes instead of just the one that you started with. There are worse ways to spend the cost of a blank.
Others may disagree, but I don’t think you should spend the money to glass a shape that you’re not going to want to surf. Worst case scenario for you is this turns out to be a $70 practice blank.
Also, if you could share how it was you ended up going with a Plan B we can probably provide a suggestion or two for avoiding it happening again in the future.
And yes, almost everyone has been diverted to a Plan B at one time or another, so don’t let that bother you.
Basically, my template wasn’t even because my saw cut was too diagonal (not up and down) i kept sanding to try and fix it a messed it up worse and worse. When I measured it was too narrow, I took a shortboard template (90’s era) and layed it down. I’ve surfed a 90s shortboard and dislike how narrow the nose was and the whole swimming not paddling feeling. So wanting a bit more volume, I rounded the nose out. Finished it all up with a thickness that would target around more litres (my only real shortboard is a lost puddle jumper).
I added a bunch more rocker, can photograph and measure when I’m back in the bay, also a single to double concave throughout. At this point, I guess I could flatten the deck a little more to take volume out and narrow the nose a bit or leave it how it is. I’m mostly wondering if this was ever a style.
The rail primary band is at ~1 and 1/4 inches otherwise it’s a knifey rail template.
I shaped 6’6" egg just before hand as well its has some massive changes from thickness in the nose to the middle to the tail, but I’m excited to see how it will surf.
I haven’t glassed a board yet, so I’m tempted to just say eh, glass both and treat the glassing as a learning process.
Anyways rocker and rail photos soon.
That’s the deck? Is it domed? Looks like you could maybe clean up some of those funky angles, such as the rail bands near the nose. But, then that means more sanding which could shrink the board even more. Or leave it how it is, glass it, and learn from the whole experience. It’ll ride. What fin setup are you thinking?
I like your fridge.
It’s your board and it’s your progression as a builder. If you want to glass what you’ve got then do that. Don’t worry about what is or isn’t a commonly used design. In the end everyone has to work their own progression.
What I will tell you is that the board will be easier to glass and sand if you clean the shape up. You can see in the pic above how uneven your rail bands and rails are. Those will clean up if you put more time/effort into them.
If you take the center down 1/4" and extend the flat portion of the deck all the way to the nose you’ll expand the width of the flats and you’ll get a better foil in the nose. Then you can redo your rail bands.
In terms of technique I think you’ll find it easier to get what you want if you adjust your approach to your skill level. Watching the pros eyeball their rail bands and knock them out with 4 or 5 passes with a heavy planer is inspiring and aspirational, but you need to recognize that it takes a lot of practice to attain that level of control over your tools. So for your first few boards I think it go easier for you if you employ some backyarder cheats.
One of those cheats is to lay your rail bands out using masking tape, just like you would if you were taping a board for glassing a lap line. Blow all the dust off the blank with an air compressor so the tape will stick and lay of masking tape on the inboard side to protect your flats, then sand the rail band to meet the edge of the tape. Since you’ve already taken most of the material down you can finish the rail bands with a sanding block. Hold the block at a consistent angle and walk it from end to end and try not to sand into your tape.
When you get the first one done then repeat the process for your next rail band, and so forth. Then flip the board and tape the flats of the bottom to within 1/8" (at each end) to 1/2"(through the middle). At that point you’re ready to refinish your rail - again walking it from end to end - and blend the other bands into each other. Pull tape and you’ll had an edge where the flats end and the rails begin, and your rails will have both an edge and a bit of a tuck from end to end. You can choose to leave the edge on the bottom of the blank up near the nose and middle or blend them in - either will work.
It’s all a bit mechanical when you’re starting out, and not at all intuitive or free flowing the way the pros do it, but after you do a few of them you’ll be better able to get what you want without the training wheels. Obviously this all goes a lot faster with a planer than a sanding block, but the sanding block is much easier to control.
As for not getting the vertical cut when you template the board, next time you want to compensate for that. If you know your sawing technique is flawed then saw well outside your template line and then plan on coming back with a planer and sanding block to square your cut up. If you have to saw 3/8" outside your line in order to leave enough material on the deck side of the blank to compensate for your blade getting a little diagonal then just do that. Then flip the board in its side in your racks with the rail side up and bring your cut down to your template line. You can always take more off a blank. You can never add more in. (well, you can, but that’s a different discussion).
Again, watching the vids of the pros hitting their line perfectly with a handsaw is obviously a quick and efficient technique to aspire to but in the meantime you have to work with the skills you have. Always work on getting your cuts vertical and square relative to the bottom, and when you can do that reliably THEN move your cut closer to your template line.
Also, if you’re not already doing it, plane your bottom and flatten that out (straight edge flat) before you template your board.
You really need to post a pic showing the thickness and foil .
Here are some more pics:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bfCJc5ixzG7ouR9p8
Seems I have work to do foiling the nose for sure!
I’ll dive back in and try to be more detail focussed even if it’s just practice here.
Thanks for the advice so far and looking forward to more.
