Longboard shaping advice

by **Cole** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:26 am

I am currently shaping a longboard and would like to get a general consensus on some dimensions. I am attempting to shape the board so that it can handle large waves, not gigantic, but up to double overhead+, and still be fun in the small stuff. My outline is about 17.25in N, 22in W, 14in T, with a round pin. It is 9 foot now. Im worried most about bottom contour, I have started some vee running through the back, with slight concave in the nose. I'm not straying too much from the original blank outline so far as rocker goes, but it looks right. Its still at the point where I can make changes if appropriate. Is a 17.25in N too wide? How about rail shape? I am trying to avoid "gunning" it out as much as possible, and leaning towards a 2+1. Thanks in advance.

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by **Roy Stewart** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:14 am

General consensus will make a camel board. .. . a camel being the proverbial committee designed horse.

You don't say if you want a surfboard or a noserider. . . it makes a big difference because if you want a noserider it's like a ball and chain on the whole shape in terms of waveriding efficiency.

I'd start again and go 25 to 26 wide pull the tail in up to four inches and leave the nose width as it is, get rid of the concave and vee, make the tail rocker as flat as possible and give the nose a lift, but then I don't noseride.

Twenty two wide is dismally narrow and with the tail at 14 the board will be a poor turner except for tail pivots, plus narrow equals low lift so it won't have much 'get up and go'.

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by **Cole** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:45 pm

Thanks for the input! I'm scheduled to get the thing glassed though so its too late to make any changes at this point. (we're running out of winter swell and I got impatient) I did end up getting rid of most of the vee and concave anyways though. The blank I had started at 24in, and ~22in seemed like a number I was seeing a lot of from other boards.
- I didn't want a noserider, that kind of outline seemed like a poor idea for more powerful surf. Sounds like a great way to pearl. I think I was kind of modeling it after the Takayama DT-1, but only roughly. You're probably gonna be right about the tail though..
Worse case scenerio I'll just end up with a small wave board, I tried to avoid putting in too much nose rocker just in case, since I dont really own a small wave board.
I'll put up some pictures as soon as its done
Oh by the way does (6oz bottom, 2x 6oz deck) seem like a good bet for glass?

by **Roy Stewart** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:19 am

It sounds like an interesting board, looking forward to seeing it.

Glassing sounds ok, i'm a wooden board maker so don't really know a lot about glassing foam. A heavier board is going to be better as long as it has enough buoyancy, so heavy glassing sems like a good idea.

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by **esonscar** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 9:58 pm

Well, let's see the board then !

How does it go ?

Come on ...... lol

by **Cole** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:15 pm

Hey thanks for the enthusiasm! Believe me no one is more impatient than me, but the dude who is glassing it has a lot of work right now, and Im almost at the end of the list... bummer.. Ive had to resort to shortboarding 3 foot blown out slop. No joke, it will probably be another month.

by **Cole** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:13 pm

Ok finally..

: 261371901701.jpg (157.02 KiB) Viewed 1428 times

: 261777056645.jpg (147.62 KiB) Viewed 1428 times

So long story short, it will not be a big wave board by any stretch.
The rails are not symmetrical, the nose rocker is probably too low, and somehow I accidentally shifted the width slightly towards the tail.
All of this aside, a beautiful little shoulder high south south swell hit Morro Rock and over a grueling 6 hr session I think I got a good feel for it. It turns amazingly well off the tail. I think that since the width got pushed about 6 inches aft of center it may have actually loosened the turns up. Nose riding was difficult, but that's me more than the board. After pearling several times I realized I really had to angle the takeoff and avoid sinking the rails, which is in stark contrast to how I am used to surfing. This may be the case with all longboards though. The board is really heavy, probably 15-20 pounds, and amazingly I was duck diving 4 ft sets without getting tossed.
This whole experience has really made me appreciate how difficult shaping really is. My hat goes off to the shapers who do this professionally. It is no cakewalk and good hand shaped boards take skill and dedication.

by **esonscar** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:35 pm

I like a heavier board - I got a heavy gun ! tracks down the line like nobodies' business !

I got a huge reo off the lip once, and usually reo, floater or hang some toes on every wave !

Your new board looks nice and clean and should hopefully last too being its heavier than you thought.

Buy a good leash and have a blast.

Longboard shaping advice

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