When I first started shaping surf boards it was incredibly frustrating figuring out what tools and equipment I needed to start my shaping journey. There just wasn't info out there about what tools were best and how to use them. Here is a master list of the basic tools and supplies I use to shape boards.
Safety Gear
- Love this one, definitely recommend
- has cool quick comfort latch so you can quickly lower the mask to talk etc.., then snap the latch closed in a jiffy sealing the mask back to your face
- P100 Filter, more durable than a N95
- wear this while shaping to prevent breathing in foam dust!
- Wear this when glassing to protect you from VOC's (volatile organic compounds)
Basic Shaping Tools
- great for cutting down the stringer
- great for cutting down the stringer
- just a little bit fancier than the stanley hand plane, works just as well
Planers
- great cheap intro level planer, does the job!
- very nice powerful planer, a little on the heavy side but will last a lifetime!
- very nice powerful plane, lighter than the makita,
** currently developing modified planer parts for this model, if your interested in hooking your planer to dust collection, I'd go with this!
Sanders and Sand Paper
Porter Cable Random Orbital Sander
- great entry level random orbital sander
* one downside is no dust collection system
- Very powerful, fastest way to sand a surf board
* downside is no dust collection system, very powerful and easy to burn through the hot coat while learning to sand
- the ultimate sander! very pricey but top of the line!
- has 2 modes, variable speed for fast sanding, and random orbital"rotex" mode
- has dust collection system built in, just hook to a shop vacuum
- does the best job with dust control when using a vacuum
- my absolute favorite sand paper when using a shop vac
- cuts well and lasts long
- does a better job than Mirka or Cubitron in the very low grits, exceptional for sanding down fin boxes
- used with the dewalt variable speed sander!
Dust Collection
- budget option, very powerful for the price
- I've been using mine for years with no problems
- great slinky hose that stretches
- great hose for mounting to the ceiling, stretches with you as you work back and forth along the board
* essentially the same as the Shaper Supply hose, slightly different diameter by 2mm smaller (no functional difference)
* will require some jimmy rigging the connection between the slinky hose to the larger diameter shop vac hose,
** I'm developing a connector now, soon to be released**
Shaper Supply Flexible Planer Hose
- great slinky hose that stretches
- great hose for mounting to the ceiling, stretches with you as you work back and forth along the board
* essentially the same as the Foam Ez hose, slightly different diameter by 2mm larger (no functional difference)
* will require some jimmy rigging the connection between the slinky hose to the larger diameter shop vac hose,
Home Depot's Blue 1.75 inch FlexDuct hose
- does not stretch but incredibly flexible
- 12 feet long
- amazing when working with a shop vac on the ground. hose freely flexes as you move back and forth working on your board without elastically pulling on the planer
Glassing Tools
- great cheap squeegees
- work great, and great price point
- 3” Brushes I Use
- works great and great price point
* make sure you pull any loose bristles out before use
- if your just cutting fiberglass these are overkill... but very nice and top quality
- if your cutting cabon fiber, these are the best and honestly pretty essential!
- there are fancier electric scissors out there, but after testing these pretty much work just as well and are price point!
- Definitely highly recommend these for cutting standard fiberglass
Epoxy/Poly Resin and Fiberglass Cloth
- use slow cure if your new to glassing, gives you more time to work on the board
- I absolutely love this epoxy!
- stronger than polyurethan "poly" resin
- longer working time for beginners
- mix part A and part B together before use
** does not emit smelly harmful VOC's nearly as much as Poly resin, I still do wear a respirator with organic vapor filters though to be extra safe
- fast cure if you feel confident and can laminate a board fast!
- shorter cure time so you can more quickly flip the board and start glassing the other side!
- sylmar 249A is the standard polyurethan resin for glassing a surfboard
- this resin does not have the wax surfacing agent that is used in the hot coat to make the resin sandable, this resin cures slightly soft and tacky
- comes with included MEPK catalyst
* i pretty commonly will cheat and just use sanding resin for laminating boards as well, if there are any imperfections during your lamination, you can then more easily sand them out if using sanding resin
- sylmar 249A with an added sanding wax agent
- this resin cures hard and is sandable
* i pretty commonly will cheat and just use sanding resin for laminating boards as well, if there are any imperfections during your lamination, you can then more easily sand them out if using sanding resin
- great fiberglass cloth I use all the time
- "E" cloth is the workhorse standard cloth used for shortboards
- has a special standard weave design that helps prevent the cloth from absorbing only the required minimal resin keeping the board light
- there are other types of fiberglass weaves, Warp cloth, S-glass, Volan etc..., these are all special use cloths that have a specific niche for glassing boards. I recommend sticking with E-cloth for beginning
Setting Surf Board Fins
- use this to easily mark your fin placement
- jig kit to route out futures fin boxes
* does not come with the required Makita Router RT0701C
- great router, use it for routing fin boxes or any other home project
- aftermarket finboxes that aren't OEM
- work just as great and way cheaper than OEM futures boxes
- seem just as strong, i use these in all my own personal boards
Art Tools - Airbrushing
- great little air brush, I've been using this for years and love it
- make sure to dissasemble and clean after every use!
- use the airbrush cleaner linked below
Airbrush cleaner for acrylic paint
** must use after every use or your Air Brush will get clogged up fast!
- makes acrylic paint less viscous for easy use air brushing
- I use this to cut out stencils for air brushing designs onto surfboards
Sticker Material I Use for stencils
- cameo 4 uses this material to cut out stencils
- rice paper i use to print logos on
- you can use this in your standard home printer!