Hey everyone, I just built a little shed shaping bay and shaped my first board this month. I’m mostly happy with how it turned out and cant wait to glass it. I think the nose looks a little off/asymmetrical…I’m not sure how to fix this without taking length off or what the best way to avoid this in the future. What is a good way to make sure your board is symmetrical at the end stages other than just eyeing it?
It’s been a fun expereince and I’m excited to do my next board. Here are the pictures of it so let me know what you think
One thing that doing your own built-not-bought boards will demonstrate is that a board doesn’t have to be perfect to be fun. So if you want to glass it at this point this shape will definitely surf and you’ll definitely have some fun with it. Enjoy it for what it is and try not to get upset for what it isn’t. Everyone has to start from somewhere.
With that said, if you’re trying to build your skills then it will not be a waste of your time/effort to put a little more work into refining this shape before glassing it. Work clean to get clean. It’s WAY easier to glass and sand a clean shape than a wonky shape.
Here’s something you can do (if you’re so inclined). Lay a line of masking tape on either side of your stringer (on the bottom of the board), and take a carpenter’s square or a T-square and mark off 3" measurements down to the 12" market and 6" measurements from that point back. Measure both sides of each point and write the measurement down on your tape. Then go back to see which side is narrower, and bring the wider side down to those measurements. You may end up taking some off at the 16" mark on one side but then taking some off at 18" on the other side.
Use a sanding block with some 60# grit and make some long strokes to do this. Go gently, just a couple strokes at a time and go back for frequent re-measurement until you get the numbers you’re looking for. Some sections of that curve will need a little more material taken off than others.
Once you get to symmetrical then use the sanding block to re-cut the rail bands at the various angles - again, you want to go real gently and walk that sanding block from end to end, because it won’t take much. Stand the board on its tail and sex-grope the rails with both hands at the same time to feel for the consistent thickness and shape of both rails. Go back and make further adjustments as necessary to get your symmetry. If it takes you an hour to do this the first couple times you shape a board then that’s fine. Once you get the shape and thickness and outline even on both sides, THEN decide if you want to shorten the length of the nose to get the wider/rounder shape at 6" and 12". Even if you do decide to go shorter you may only need to take 1/2" or 1" off. That won’t be enough to significantly affect your ride.
After you refine the shape and thicknesses you can go back and turn the rest of the rail by hand to finish them off in preparation for glassing. Save those finishing touches for last.
Another ghetto backyarder (whch is what I am) tip for next time is that you might consider standing the board on its nose and looking at the board outline when it’s upside down. As a means of trying to see what the curves actually are as opposed to what your brain expects them to look like. It’s the curves that are important, not the numbers.
Do as gdaddy says and you’ll be able to get it symmetric… A carpenters framing square will do the trick. Those of us who do this regularly invest $25 or $30 in what is know as a “Shaper’s Square”. Clear plastic that has 0 (Zero) at center. We then are able to check for symmetry throughout the shaping process. Looks good though. Nothing like riding your own hand shaped board.
