Boardbuilding A to Z

Greenlight’s Complete Guide to Building a Surfboard

Introduction

We understand that making surfboards can be very intimidating for the first-timer. Truth is, with a little bit of patience, some good tools, and some proven technique tips, it isn’t that hard to turn out a good board on your first try. Our goal at Greenlight has always been to break down the intimidation factor and make board building attainable to those of us who aren’t “master craftspeople.” (Yet)

 Greenlight’s Board-Building A to Z gathers the most effective, proven techniques from veteran boardbuilders and organizes them in an easy-to-follow, easy-to-search format. While there is a substantial amount of information here, we have broken the boardbuilding process down to 8 basic components, 3 of which are optional:

1.       Preparation

2.       Shaping

3.       Pre-Glass Artwork (optional)

4.       Glassing

5.       Fin/Leash Plug Install

6.       Sanding

7.       Post-Glass Artwork (optional)

8.       Gloss/Polish (optional)

All of the information is presented in the order that it typically occurs when building a surfboard. If you are about to embark on building your first board, we strongly recommend that you read the entire guide start to finish, then re-read each section just prior to performing that step. You may want to copy sections of this guide into a word processing program and print them out. They make great bathroom reading, and you can keep it close by in your shaping space for quick reference on the fly. Also consider getting Greenlight's instructional videos which were created with the first time shaper in mind and demonstrate the board building process in a fool-proof manner.

Part 1: Preparation

Tools

Making surfboards requires a modest but fairly specialized set of tools. Some of these tools are easy to find at home centers or your local hardware store, but some are trickier to find and only available at specialty board-building suppliers like Greenlight.

It is possible to build a surfboard from start to finish without power tools. If you are only going to build one board (yeah right…), than perhaps it is not worth investing in a full set of power tools. But if you think you are going to build more than one board, we strongly recommend you invest in and learn to use power tools (planer/jig saw/variable speed sander/trim router/power drill) in the board-building process. Greenlight offers proven entry level power tools as well as some of the higher-level tools that the pros use.

There is no one “perfect” list of tools, just like there is no one “perfect” way to build a surfboard. That being said, the following is a list of tools that you need to maximize your chances of getting a good end result.

These shaping tools can be used for both EPS and Polyurethane foam:

Shaping Tools

·         Power Planer (optional, not recommended for your first shape)

·         Shaping Weight (a small brick with a clean towel or foam wrapped/taped around it will do fine)

·         Jig saw with 4”inch blade OR handsaw (to cut outline)

·         G-rasp or Shaping Rasp

·         Hard Sanding Block (approximately 4”x8”x1/2”; use with lower grits)

·         Soft Sanding Pad (approximately 12”x12”; use with higher grits)

·         Small trim planer (planes stringer in flat areas)

·         Spoke shave (planes stringer in curved areas)

·         Tigershark Shaping Paper (for rough sanding)

·         Medium Grit Sandpaper (60-80 grit for smoothing)

·         Sandshark Rail Screen (for smoothing rails)

·         Versasquare (clear plastic width measuring and fin placement)

·         Rocker Stick (long, straight piece of wood/metal to measure rocker)

·         Combination Square (for measuring board thickness and rail squareness)

·         Yard-stick or 2’+ straight edge (for measuring bottom flatness and/or concaves)

·         Shaper's Pencil (for marking measurements on blank)

·         Drywall Hand Saw (optional, if you are cutting a swallow tail)

·         Round Rasp (optional, for shaping the “butt-crack” of a swallow tail)

·         Dust Mask

·         Protective Glasses

Glassing Tools

·         Resin Spreader (epoxy) or Rubber Squeegee (polyester)

·         Clear plastic 1-quart mixing buckets with volume markings

·         Mixing sticks (to mix resin and hardener)

·         Clear plastic 8oz mixing cups with volume markings (for fin installs)

·         Clear plastic 1oz mixing cup with volume markings (for leash plug)

·         Sharp, big scissors for cutting fiberglass

·         Ink Jet Logo Paper (optional, for printing logos from your computer)

·         High-Temp ¾” and 1 ½” Masking Tape (for cut laps, hot coats, and covering fin boxes)

·         4” chip brushes (for hotcoating)

·         Masking Paper (optional, if you are doing cutlaps)

·         Razor blade or Exacto Knife (optional, if you are doing cutlaps)

Fin/Leash Plug Install Tools

·         Trim Router

·         Power Drill

·         Forstner or Holesaw Bit

··        Resin Thickening Additive (Cab-O-sil)

·         White and/or black resin pigment (optional but looks slick)

·         Fin Install Kit (Each fin system manufacturer offers its own specialized install kit)

Sanding Tools

·         Variable Speed Sander/Polisher

·         Hard or Medium Sanding Pad (for grinding fin boxes/leash plugs)

·         Soft Sanding Pad (for sanding hot coat)

·         80 Grit Adhesive Sanding Disc or sandpaper for hard disc

·         Cloth Backed Sandpaper (120, 150, 220, 400) 

·         Spray Adhesive (optional, if cutting/sticking sandpaper on disc)

·         Foam Sanding Pad

·         Soft Sanding Pad (Same pad used for shaping)

Gloss/Polish Tools

·         Variable Speed Sander/Polisher (same as used for sanding boards)

·         Wool Compounding Bonnet w/backing disc

·         Foam Polishing Pad or Polishing Bonnet w/backing disc

·         Cutting Compound

Polishing Compound

·         Soft Hand Sanding Pad

·         Very High Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper (600, 800, 1000, 1,500, 2,000)

·         Micro-Fiber Cloth

 

NOTE: You can buy a Shaping Tool Kit, Glassing Tool Kit, and a Sanding Tool Kit from Greenlight. These kits include most of the above critical tools with a discount for buying the whole kit. If you already own a few of the above items, you can also buy what you need a-la-carte from Greenlight.

Greenlight’s prices are competitive with hardware stores/home centers, plus we also have many of the specialized tools (sanding pads, spoke shave, Versasquare, etc.) that you WON’T find at local hardware stores or home centers.

Bottom line, you can find most of this stuff if you hunt around the internet or drive around to hardware stores all day. This is what we did before founding Greenlight. It is much easier and cheaper just to get everything you need from one place. You save on shipping, gas, hassle and time, and you are assured that all of this stuff is tested and proven for surfboard building.