How to Round the Nose of a Surfboard

Once you finish carving the overall design of your surfboard, you need to begin smoothing and shaping the hard outer edges of the board, including the nose. The shape of the nose of the surfboard is important because it prevents the board from digging in the sand and helps to keep your board clear of water while surfing, allowing you to maneuver the board quickly and easily.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Shear form tool
• Finger planer
• Spoke shaver

1. Gather the necessary tools. You need a finger planer, shear form tool and a spoke shaver in order to begin to round the nose of a surfboard.

2. Break through the shell of the surfboard blank. The shell helps to protect the soft inside foam core of the surfboard. Shave off this shell using the spoke shave.

3. Grab the shear form tool. Once you remove the hard outer shell of the surfboard blank, use the shear form tool to begin smoothing out the lines left by the spoke shaver and round hard edges of the nose.

4. Shave the surfboard blank with the shear form tool in an "X" pattern. Begin at the stringer line, and work the shear form tool diagonally in one direction and then in the other.

Tips & Warnings

• Draw the surfboard design, noting the measurements on paper first. Once you do this, tack the paper onto the wall in an area that is easily visible. Doing so helps to prevent shaving off too much foam.
• Always stop and check your progress often. You need to make sure the surfboard nose is even on both sides of the stringer line. If you don't stop often, you will shave off too much, and your nose will be too thin.

Resources

• Get surfboard nose shaping tips at 360guide.info.
• Learn about different surfboard designs at surfinghandbook.com.