Surfing Waves

Hiya!

Can somebody give me an idea of how difficult it would be to build a visually appealing wooden shortboard/fish? it does not need to be surfable

I have looked online but they mostly seem to be tutorials for hollowed out ones, which look like they require lots of tools and time which I unfortunately don't have. it is for a school project and therefore does need to look nice, but the actual weight/performance of the board is irrelevant.

Can anyone help? What is the easiest way to do this?

Get a board and copy it. Or you can do it from pictures but first you need an outline. Most boards have carefully designed rockers or curves viewed from the side but I guess since it doesn't need to work then you could just minimize them to fit whatever wood you are working with but to make some boards accurately you might need a very thick piece of wood (or add some wood on to the areas needing more rocker than the thickness of the wood) and you could do the rocker before the outline if you add on wood or either way if you don't. Then you need to figure out the rails and the thickness of the board. It seems like to me that if you don't have power equipment then it's going to be very laborious. Here is the first part of a 2 part instructional to make a wood paipo board. I totally don't know the easiest way

A chunk of wood that is long and thick enough to create a surfboard out of will be very very heavy and probably quite expensive

So first up I would grab some wooden planks, probably non structural pine is the best/lightest/cheapest, that were maybe 6ft long and at least 2 inch thick (thicker than that is better)

Lay them very flat and glue them together well until you have at least 19 or 20 inches wide. Suggest probably have some dowel or biscuit joins. This isnt going to be a really solid join so treat it delicately.

Next either hop onto the free Board CAD program and design your surfboard, or find a CAD drawing online. Print out the design to scale - you will end up with about 40 pages or something. Attach them in the right way and cut the outline, then put that onto to the joined together boards and thats your outline. Cut around and there is your board. Other option is just to trace around a real board onto the wood

You will obviously have to sand away the hard edges etc to get your rails, but do that last

Now you have to do the hard part - creating the nose rocker. If you want something really accurate, you will have to plane away the deck a bit (other than where the nose is) to get the nose raised above the deck; and also at the bottom; but perhaps you can just sand away to create a bottom curve and have a totally flat deck. Tail rocker a bit as well. This is why a thicker plank is better because you can remove more; however for your purposes maybe a 1,5 inch thick board is fine. Most shapers do this using a rocker template (basically a bit of plywood with the curve already cut out of it) which is probably worth having just to get a smooth curve in your board

Sand it all smooth and maybe stain it, or paint it (the pine obviously wont look too great). If you want a fin, probably easiest to find an old fin or a very cheap fin and cut a small groove and glue it in and back fill. You can make a wooden fin but thats a fair bit of work.

I should say that, once you have your square chunk of wood at 6ft x 20 inches or whatever, after that you pretty much are shaping it just the same as a foam board is shaped (except you will need more powerful tools and more arm effort). So have a look at normal board shaping videos

Shape one out of a styrofoam block then lay wood laminate on the outside?

BTW what is the point really? Is it like a sign? You said it doesn't need to be surf able....get a flat sided interior house door from home depot, draw an outline and jig it out, seal the sides and paint.

Seems like there are better things to be learning or doing with your time........like surfing....

Big H wrote:Shape one out of a styrofoam block then lay wood laminate on the outside?

BTW what is the point really? Is it like a sign? You said it doesn't need to be surf able....get a flat sided interior house door from home depot, draw an outline and jig it out, seal the sides and paint.

Seems like there are better things to be learning or doing with your time........like surfing....

It is an addition for my final design project... as you mention there are far better things I could be doing and therefore I'm trying to find the quickest, easiest way to do it that will still have a good result.

I figure you don't even surf, because if you did surf, you would be respectful and make the board proper so that it could be ridden. You don't have the Soul or heart to be a surfer, by the way you're approaching this design project. I feel it's very insulting what you're doing.
Why don't you design a plane that doesn't fly ?

waikikikichan wrote:I figure you don't even surf, because if you did surf, you would be respectful and make the board proper so that it could be ridden. You don't have the Soul or heart to be a surfer, by the way you're approaching this design project. I feel it's very insulting what you're doing.
Why don't you design a plane that doesn't fly ?

Sorry, but I dont understand why you're feeling insulted. I have surfed for almost 8 years and I love it more than anything, hence, you may notice, I am centering my final project around it. I would LOVE to shape a board to be surfable, and it's something that I hope to do properly once I'm out of school, but considering the lack of time and tools that I have access to right now, it's either going to have to be done quickly or it's not going to get done at all.Thanks for your opinion, but I dont think it's really relevant. I'm just trying to do well here.

You and I share the same passion. We BOTH love surfing. That is why my comment is so strong. Surfboard making is truly a craft. It takes over 70 steps to make a board. Now I understand yours may be "just" for a school project, but please respect the craft. Just like designing a plane that doesn't fly or a pen that doesn't write, what's it for then ? All show and no go ?

What if you were designing a surfer and not just a surfboard ?
1) Looks like a surfer and can surf - good
2) Doesn't look like a surfer but can surf - good
3) Looks like a surfer but not very good at surfing - Might be a "Kook", but at least he's trying
4) Looks like a surfer but CAN'T surf - Poser !

How about you make a eco-friendly surfboard as your project ? There's a guy here in Japan that made a surfboard out of 2 liter coke bottles, and it actually works. There's design out there you can download for a surfboard that the main structure is cardboard. I'm sure your instructor would like to see something creative like that.

Bananaband wrote:considering the lack of time and tools that I have access to right now, it's either going to have to be done quickly or it's not going to get done at all.Thanks for your opinion, but I dont think it's really relevant. I'm just trying to do well here.

Exactly my point, either do it the right way or don't do it at all. If you don't have the skill, technique, tools and time to do it correctly then you're just doing it half-heartedly ( paraphrased ). Seems you're taking the quick and easy way. A wise instructor said to not go down that path.

waikikikichan wrote:You and I share the same passion. We BOTH love surfing. That is why my comment is so strong. Surfboard making is truly a craft. It takes over 70 steps to make a board. Now I understand yours may be "just" for a school project, but please respect the craft. Just like designing a plane that doesn't fly or a pen that doesn't write, what's it for then ? All show and no go ?

What if you were designing a surfer and not just a surfboard ?
1) Looks like a surfer and can surf - good
2) Doesn't look like a surfer but can surf - good
3) Looks like a surfer but not very good at surfing - Might be a "Kook", but at least he's trying
4) Looks like a surfer but CAN'T surf - Poser !

How about you make a eco-friendly surfboard as your project ? There's a guy here in Japan that made a surfboard out of 2 liter coke bottles, and it actually works. There's design out there you can download for a surfboard that the main structure is cardboard. I'm sure your instructor would like to see something creative like that.

Bananaband wrote:considering the lack of time and tools that I have access to right now, it's either going to have to be done quickly or it's not going to get done at all.Thanks for your opinion, but I dont think it's really relevant. I'm just trying to do well here.

Exactly my point, either do it the right way or don't do it at all. If you don't have the skill, technique, tools and time to do it correctly then you're just doing it half-heartedly ( paraphrased ). Seems you're taking the quick and easy way. A wise instructor said to not go down that path.

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Please understand that this is an 'all show and no go' project. I'm not attempting to trick anyone into thinking I built a beautiful surfboard that rides how it looks - I am merely trying to fufill the requirements of my project, which has a strict time frame. I apologise that you feel the need to take this personally for some reason.

The project is specifically working with wood, therefore (as fabulous as your suggestion is) I will have to turn down the recycling idea. I'm not sure why you are taking offense from my simply innocent high school project. I have a rubric and unfortunately the performance of the board is irrellevant on the rubric. I'd love to be given time to craft the board to surf well, but unfortunately that's not realistic. I'm just trying to pass the grade here. Lay off

Must be very good school and end project! The criteria seem based on quality under pressure of a time frame.
Your English and writing style is excellent .your engagement with detractors and reply style shows maturity and competence in refuting arguments.
The project uses words that are not in all common usage (rubric)* probably sending many on the forum searching through their Funk and Wagnells ( encyclopaedia , books before Google ) for the meaning of rubric.

Please use the useful suggestions , slot into the time frame rather than debate here, and then post pictures and your grade when you've finished . It will be a victorious wall hanging at least.

Cheers from Australia uncle Jaffa

jaffa1949 wrote:Must be very good school and end project! The criteria seem based on quality under pressure of a time frame.
Your English and writing style is excellent .your engagement with detractors and reply style shows maturity and competence in refuting arguments.
The project uses words that are not in all common usage (rubric)*

Jaffa, showing your age here - every school kid knows 'rubric'! My son loves it because he knows exactly what he has to (and doesn't have to) do.

I too would be interested in the end result. If you want to see some beautiful wooden (hollow functional) boards, check out http://www.roystuart.biz/#!

Like I said above, once you have your chunk of wood, its just like shaping a normal board out of foam, but requiring more effort.

dtc wrote:
Jaffa, showing your age here - every school kid knows 'rubric'! My son loves it because he knows exactly what he has to (and doesn't have to) do.
.

Bloody hell
I thought my English straight out of Beowulf was the most up to date within the lexicon.
I actually knew it, but in some sense does a rubric kill imagination?