Garage Works - 9/6/2025

I spent some time dialing in the rough shaping of No.42

Here's the result of today's effort - 

Port side looking at tail forward to the nose

Side on view

Port side nose looking back towards the tail

Starboard side nose looking back

And more starboard side nose.

I'll sleep on the shape as is for a day.  I already think I need to trim some foam from the tail (bottom rails) and clean up the top deck near the tail.  Then I'll fine tune the shape by sanding and install the mast track block.

Garage Works - 8/23/2025

I did spend some time in the garage today.

First up was getting Marlon's foil board repairs forwarded.  I got the track block glued in place.  Tomorrow will see trimming of the glue and carbon installation.

Then I shifted over to No.42

I got the template cut out of the blank I glued up.

And I emptied the shop vac and cleaned up the garage floor.

I did that other stuff because I wanted to think about the nose rocker on this board and how I'm going to shape the bottom.  Sometimes it's good to think about other things so you can clear your mind before commit to cut foam.

Garage Works - 2/1/2025

Yesterday morning I got Scotty's barracuda back to him, so that meant the rack was open again.

When I got back I got to work on No.40

This board is going to be a shorter/wider version of No.34 - that board has proven itself to be incredibly versatile, so I wanted to make a version to compare against No.39 (which are the two shapes I've focusing on recently) 

I started by skinning the top and bottom and started bulk removal at the nose and tail.

The tail bulk removal is driven by the track placement.

After using the planer I shifted to the Surform, dragonskin and then sanding screen.

I got through the rough shaping pretty quick.

Here's the bottom

And here's the top

I left the board alone for a bit (did some other work) - but instead of not coming back to it for a day, I looked for the discrepancies and got to them with the surform and sanding block - so I ended up getting the secondary/fine shaping done also.

I then broke out No.39 and did some calculations on track placement based off of placement on that board.  I marked it out and then kept going.

Here is the slot all routed out.

And the track block dry fitted

This is just before I opened up the Gorilla Glue...

And here it is with the glue curing.

I don't think I've ever gotten a board through these stages this quickly before...

Now I feel compelled to see how fast I can get it laminated.

Garage Works - 6/2/2024

I helped Marlon get the clear coat on his new longboard.  We opted to go with a 2K Clear Coat (2-part) and it saved us from having to deal with more fill coats and sanding.

It came out really nice!  We are going to need to fill in one area where there was an air bubble in the epoxy, but after that he can FINALLY surf this board (I think over two years in the making).

And after I got back from winging and helping Marlon spray the top deck, I got to work on getting the rough shaping done on No.36

I had to tweak the outline a bit - and it looks a whole lot better.  I got the rough shape dialed in to a high degree (probably close to 90%)

I'm thinking about putting footstraps on this one - I'm going to have to transpose where I believe I keep my feet when I'm Foil Drive-ing No.33

This is the top deck.

Or maybe I won't bother with the footstraps - I've got a few days to think about it.

I also got the box position decided on and marked the cut line.

If I have time, I'll sand the blank tomorrow and get the reinforcement block hole routed out.

I'm going to use carbon patches underneath basalt cloth on this one.  Will do a pigment fill coat top and bottom.

Garage Works - 3/1/2024

I got Matt's board cut out -

And I also got it skinned, the rocker cut in, and started dialing in the overall shape

Tool of choice today - rough Surform in three different ways

And here it is after rough shaping.  There's a concave rear deck.

And I got the bottom shaped also.

I'm going to sit on this for a bit before I do the initial sanding.

I'll get the mast track installed next.

Garage Works - 3/26/2023

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.  

4'8" Wing Board Through Rough Sanding

I spent some time in the garage today.  I got the shape roughed in to about 85% of final.  First I used the surform to clean up the planer gouges.  Then I used the planer to take off some more bulk on the bottom deck.  Then I used the dragon skin and rounded out the parts that needed it (nose mainly).

Finally I used the 60 grit sanding screen to blend everything in.  I can see some areas that still need adjusting - like the shallow bevel in the bottom deck next to the rails, and others.  I'll break out the ruler and place marks and get everything symmetrical.

Final Sanding on Marlon's Board and The Stubby Taking Shape

I got home a little later than normal this evening - so surfing was not really an option.  Instead, I broke out the shaping rack and Marlon finished the 180 grit sanding.  He says he wants to paint the board, so the rest is up to him.  I told him to rinse the board with water to remove all the sanded particles - next I'll take him to Home Depot so he can get his paint.

I brought out the Stubby (not sure this name will stick - will have to think some more about this) and used the planer to set in rough rail bands.  After that I used to surform to even out the top and bottom decks.  I was running out of daylight so I called it quits after that.  I did take a good look at the overall board - I keep thinking I want to narrow out the nose so catching bigger waves will not be as difficult, but I'll probably just trim it down as I shape the rails and keep it mostly fuller.  This could actually be a longboard shape just greatly truncated in length.

Now that this board is getting its rough shape, I think I'll be more diligent about working on it - I can do the bottom rail tucked under cut and fair in the rails with dragon skin tomorrow.

Electric Planer Day

Got some more work done on the boards today.  Marlon skinned his blank and got some additional trimming completed (the tucked under edge).  Still needs to get the rail bands cut - then we can move on to fairing in the rails with dragon skin (drywall sanding screen).

The electric planer can be intimidating if you haven't used it before - but after some coaching Marlon got the nuances down.

I got the asymmetric fish foiled out more, cut out the rail bands, dialed in the tail a bit, and got the tucked under edge cut in.  I used the surform to get the deck leveled out and the high points on the rails knocked down.  Tomorrow I'll also dial in the rails with dragon skin.

In this time of needing to play it safe for the benefit of us all - making a few new boards for this upcoming summer will help us keep to social distancing standards.