Hurricane Season and rail strips.

The weather is starting to become more active.  Tropical Storm Alberto is making waves in the gulf.  That's making local panhandle surfers happy.  For the east coasters it's making a lot of rain.

Yesterday, I sanded and planed.  The way I lay up my rail strips is very time consuming.  I like to take my time.

This board seems to be working out well so far.  It's a pleasure to work with balsa and paulownia.  Sanding these woods is so easy.

It's taken a while to get the board to this point.  I did a new nose detail that makes this one special.  I'm still figuring out new things to try.

The board is ready to have the rails shaped.  I love to do this part.  For this I use a block plane, modeler's plane and sanding board.  Power tools aren't needed.

Thanks for your support.

Skinned and rough shaped.

The way I build my boards I'm never sure of what to expect.  It's only after I take it out the cradle and trim the skin that I know what I got.  This is just the beginning stages of shaping.

I weighted the board.  It came in at 6.75 lbs.  That's good so far.  I still need to add rails, leash plug and glass.  I hope that it turns out lighter than the copy board.  A little trick I've been doing is cut a 1/8" thick section out of the nose.  Then, I reglue it.  That makes it just a little thinner which is what I want.

On my boards I like the noses and tails thin like regular surfboards.  When a board has a thick nose and/or tail.  That thickness gives the surfer less feedback on how the board feels.  In surfing it's very important to have equipment that helps and not hinders.