How to Shape the Bottom of a Surfboard

The bottom of a surfboard takes a beating from the sand and waves, so you need to make sure that you take your time when you shape the bottom of a surfboard. If there are any high and low spots left, it affects how the board rides in the water. Here is what you need to do to begin the shaping the bottom of a surfboard.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Shaping stall
• Hand planer or shear form tool

1. Decide what types of rails you want. Choose hard rails if you want to the board to respond quickly and easily to your movements and a soft rail if you want more stability while riding big waves.

2. Lay the surfboard flat on the shaping stall. Double check to make sure the bottom of the board is facing up toward you.

3. Mark the tail of the surfboard. Before you begin planing off the foam, you have to measure out around the last third of the surfboard, and mark those measurements. You don't want to plane off the edges in this area.

4. Measure the nose of the surfboard. Mark the surfboard blank at about 12 inches from the nose. While shaping, you don't really want to take too much off this area so use a light touch near the nose.

5. Begin shaping the bottom of the board at the rails. Holding the hand planer or shear form tool at about a 45-degree angle, begin slowly taking off the excess foam from the surfboard template.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use medium to firm pressure when shaping a board. This allows the foam to come off smoothly and prevents the planer from slipping out of your hands.
• Lighten up the downward pressure on the hand planer or shear form when you reach the nose section you've marked off. If you press too hard, this section will break.

Resources

• Find additional surfboard shaping tips at nssia.org.
• Learn the fundamentals of shaping the bottom of a surfboard at islesurfboards.com.