Learning to shape as a hobby?

[rmb]

Wanting to attempt to make my own board but don't know exactly where to start.
How and where did the realsurf shapers learn to design and shape boards?

[Trev]

Plenty of stuff in this thread. Just take the time to read through the various topics.

[rmb]

Cheers Trev been reading through it occasionally for the last few months some great info.

[rmb]

Cheers what sort of cost are you looking at getting set up?

[rmb]

How stable do your stands need to be? I need to make some for ding repairs anyway?
You also need a lighting box what height and distance from the board is best?

[pirate_agenda]

1. Get a planer straight away. its the best way to remove foam uniformly. Doesn't have to be anything fancy.
2. Watch JC's shaping 101. its pretty helpful
3. Watch Jim the Genius Shaping Video - Goes into more detail than shaping 101.
4. Read the rail bands thread on sway locks - i think by bill barnfield - heaps of good advice for the stage that most people find most daunting.
5. Tools list:
Shaping:
- Planer
- Surform (i only use mine for getting foam out of the deck near the nose where my planer doesn't fit
- Hard sanding block / pad - 60 grit paper
- Medium block / pad - 80 grit paper
- Make some calipers
- Soft pad - 120 grit
- Shapers setout ruler/square thing
- Gauze / sanding screen for blending the rails - 120-180 grit
- Soft block pad to blend and finish everything
- David combi plane is pretty cheap and will get you out of trouble for getting down 95% of stringers

Glassing/ Sanding:
- Squeegee (or plastic blade if using epoxy )
- Scissors (dont have to be the expensive ones to start)
- Tape - get the good 3M green stuff.
- Blades
- Sander Polisher
- Hard or Medium Pad + 80, 120 grit sheets
- Soft Pad + 180, 240 (and higher if you want to go further - but a sanded finish short board no need to go past 240)
- Some 120-320 sanding sheets for your hand blocks / pads for finishing rails and hard to get to areas.

6. So now you've got a good collection of tools commit to at least 3-4 boards. Your first one will likely not be 100%, but nobodies first is, hell my 50th i am still finding ways to do things better and make improvements. So don't be disgruntled if your 1st isn't awesome.
7. Get into it, but take your time. stand back during shaping and take some time to eyeball the board. if you can't figure out why something looks wrong, sometimes its best to leave the room for a while and come back with a fresh perspective.
8. if you get the the point where you're 90% done and there is still bumps and things that look good, just leave it be for your first few boards... you'll end up just making it worse and 1/2 inch thinner than you wanted!

[spork]

For stands I use an old wooden box with the side cut out and padded with a piece cut off my wifes excersise mat. There's a pic here under the wooden board
http://forum.realsurf.com/forum/viewtop ... 9&start=36
I screw it to an old table and when not in use I use the box to hold my shaping gear. You may as well buy the cheapest tools you can because they are not working very hard ploughing foam. Aldi has electric planers for $39 and orbital sanders for less, you just have to wait for them to go in the catalogue. Buy sandpaper off the roll at the hardware, it is much cheaper. A 'hard sanding block' is a piece of wood, a 'soft sanding pad' can be made from a piece of wood, some contact glue and some more excersize mat or kitchen sponge. Pot scourers are great for finishing foam as is an old piece of flyscreen. A quick pair of calipers can be made from an old wire coathanger. A spokeshave is heaps more versatile than a plane and will allow you to get a good curve in the stringer, especially near the nose. Advise for sanding: make a long sanding board by gluing some 80grit paper onto, at least 350mm x 100mm, out os some 3mm mdf or 3ply. This will flex to the rocker and allow you to get a reasonable foil without the dips and hollows that ruin the shape. I use a plaster float that I got from bunnings for $12, they allready have sponge on the bottom and Iwrap the paper around the ends and secure it with a flat head philips screw. You can see one of my sanding boards in the bottom pic on this page on the bench in the background. This one has two handles to allow me to control the amount of bend.
http://forum.realsurf.com/forum/viewtop ... 9&start=18