After a nap, I went out into the garage to work on the boards in progress. First up was getting the volume distribution on the big prone/light wind winging board dialled in.
I broke out the Makita 18V planer for this work.
I'm comfortable with where the top deck and bottom rocker are at currently. I'll try and keep as much volume on this as possible, so that'll mean minimal foam removal. There will be chines on the bottom deck, but most of the removal will be at the tail block - which I haven't completely figured out yet.
I'll go through some iterations in my head - but I think it will involve tapering after the track boxes and keeping the bottom as flat as I can.
This will most likely become a 'V' tail.
And while I was at it, I got the template marked out on the new prone foil board (I need to have more room forward of where the current 4'8" track is installed).
I didn't hook up the vacuum to planer today - just focused on removing bulk foam.
And with these short prone boards, since I know how I want them to end up, the rough shaping goes pretty quick. I got this one pretty much completed today (still need to sand it and then I'll install the mast track reinforcement block, etc, etc, etc).
The boxes are laid out 2" further forward than the current board.
When you know what you want to emerge from the blank, shaping is easy - just takes time (so you don't take too much too fast).
I also really like shaping stringerless blanks - so easy when you don't have to shave down stringers.
I really like this length - the current board has been super versatile. And the shorter boards I've made since have helped me define what works for me and the waves I usually find myself in.
