Surfing Waves

Hi guys,
I read some things about shaping your own surfboard, and i was quite interested in it...
Did some surfing on the internet and found some general information about shaping but i still had some questions and couldn't find the answers on this forum either.

Shaping first board (using the basic tools), how much does it cost approx.?

And I didn't quite get the types of blank foams... Found some things about rough foams and on preshaped ones. But when i look on the websites to buy blank foams, all of them already have a surf-type shape! Where exactely does the shaping happens then? Are there foams that are shaped like a long box (with a stringer in it...) that you have to shape all by yourself and where do you get them? See where i'm going?

To make a long story short: can you tell me something about blank foams and cost price of making new board?
Also, how long does it take to make a board?

Thanks in advance!

Mathieu

Most foam blanks have just a general shape with a stringer and maybe a slight rocker depending on the type of blank i.e short / long. This slight shape is not to be confused with a shaped board. There is still a hell of lot of shaping to do

Okay price is subjective to what you already have and what you will need. Most blanks will set you back around $50-$80. You can get away shaping a board entirely by hand using just sand paper and a surform. (i have done one like that - if you dont have a surform tack on another $20) it just takes a while longer and requires more elbow grease To make things easier you use a power planer which the cheapest one around is the ryobi which cost around $70. I cant comment on how much the shaping part cost me as i already had all the tools and i got my blanks free

Now the next step is artwork - i spent a wholesome $8 on paint so not really much of ding there.

The most expensive part is the glassing. You can either do it yourself at which point you are looking at least $80-$120 (cloth/resin/hotcoat/fins/sandpaper) this dont include fin jigs

If you get someone else to do it it will cost between $175-$200+ depending on what you want.

Things get cheaper if you buy in bulk but i dont advice that unless you want to make a lot of boards. + if you have all the tools then its not such a pricey thing.

TOTAL TIME = probably a few hours of shaping and at best 2-3 days of glassing as you have to allow for drying time (if you get someone else to glass the board expect a few weeks wait)

Hope it helps

Oh it might be worth mentioning im pricing things based on US prices best ask kitey what the costs are like in the UK - I know you can buy a board building kit from homeblown.co.uk for something like 200 quid which isnt a bad option if your first board it will at least take any guess work out

mdeknudt wrote:Hi guys,
I read some things about shaping your own surfboard, and i was quite interested in it...
Did some surfing on the internet and found some general information about shaping but i still had some questions and couldn't find the answers on this forum either.

Shaping first board (using the basic tools), how much does it cost approx.?

And I didn't quite get the types of blank foams... Found some things about rough foams and on preshaped ones. But when i look on the websites to buy blank foams, all of them already have a surf-type shape! Where exactely does the shaping happens then? Are there foams that are shaped like a long box (with a stringer in it...) that you have to shape all by yourself and where do you get them? See where i'm going?

To make a long story short: can you tell me something about blank foams and cost price of making new board?
Also, how long does it take to make a board?

Thanks in advance!

Mathieu

This one is easy, post a PM to "Kite Surfer", he is near by to you.

Took me 5 hours to shape my first board not including the time it took me to make my template from scratch which was another hour and a half. Spent $120 US on my tools which was a 6" sureform and a 4" sureform, sand paper, a hand saw (I recomend getting a japanese hand saw), a square, dry wall sanding mesh, and a couple other items. I borrowed the power planer I used, don't be scared to use the power planer. Take it slow and it will be your friend.