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A
Planks Progress
By Brian James
First
we select the blank that is closest to the desired shape, usually I
get mine from Clark Foam, but in our case,…….. Tony's old "Fat
Boy" board!
Having removed the fiberglass from the foam we were left with a blank
of gargantuan proportions!
The next stage is to shape.
Usually rails on long boards are, from nose to tail,- round to rolled, to hard down rails. I suggested to Tony we had hard down rails right at the first foot of nose, for lift on take off, easing to a very soft low rail about midway so the main edge at the middle of the board would flow smoothly and then easing to a tucked under edge and getting harder towards the tail for grip when going across a steep section or putting in a turn. The bottom would be a flat, flowing too a V in the tail.
But
the fat one said, keep it simple!
So we decided to go with the simple round rails at nose to soft tucked under edge in middle then hard in the tail area. The bottom would be flat with slight V in the tail to help with rail to rail transition! This baby is gonna reeeeeally go down the line fast Tony so hang on tight till yer trunks rip right up the back!!
Normally there would not be a fin box or leash plug in the blank, but as this is a "re-claimed" blank we had no choice but to leave them in,… take them out and the tail would look like shit, and probably fall off!
We spent some time with various templates deciding what would be the best shape for Tony and after a while we played "join the dots" and were left with a classic looking 10' cruiser.
After the shaping, one small touch of style was to insert a balsa surround around the fin box, and then it was time for glassing.
Tony wanted traditional Volan cloth on this board, this cloth comes in
heavier weights than normal cloth, it gives a green tint on the laps
(where the cloth doubles on the rails) and also on the deck patch.
The artwork was completed and along with my logo decal, laminated under the cloth on the bottom first.
After this has gone hard, the board is turned over and the deck is layed up including a deck patch, which gives strength to the top of the board. When the board is glassed, a sanding coat is applied, and after this has hardened, the process of sanding goes ahead. Then a pin line is painted on to hide the "lap" of the cloth on the deck and bottom.
Most
longboards are finished in gloss, and then polished to a high lustre
finish, and this board was no exception. After a few hours of wet n
dry sanding and buffing the final polish is obtained.
Then the moment that I look forward to the most, handing over new toy, to see the grin on the recipient's face. Hopefully this board won't draw blood, as most of Tony's boards do tend to slap him up side the head sooner or later!
This I hope gives you a small insight as to how your board has been made.
Brian James
