#001, Part 5 (Finished!)

I finally got around to some sanding last week and ended up finishing my first board. I must say that I've gained a whole new respect for those who glass and sand surfboards (seems like its always the shaper who gets all the glory).

Picking up where we left off last time, the boards been hotcoated and is ready for sanding. I started with the fins...


My little handheld sander worked great for sanding the fins. I started with 80 grit and worked my way up to 220.

Wet sanded to 320 grit. Mmmm, smoooooth. Pesky airbubbles can be seen in the fiberglass weave at the base of the fin...


After the fins are done, I gather my sanding pads and cut some sandpaper (80, 120, 150, 220, 320) in preparation for sanding down the rest of the board. The little sanding pads (SuperSoft Blue, and Soft Yellow) came in real handy for those tight areas around the fins.


Just when I thought I was getting the hang of the electric sander, I accidentally nicked the leading edge of the trailing fin with some 80 grit. It only took a slight touch to put these two "notches" into the fin. Grrrr!!!! Lesson learned: Sand/finish the fins after the rest of the board.


Nothing to do but do an impromptu fin ding repair. Start by rough sanding and taping off the area...


...reinforce and cover the damaged edge with fin rope...


...now cover with glass. I saturated the repair down with some sanding resin and cut away excess glass along the tapeline once the resin had kicked. Sanded smooth after that.


A similar mishap happened on the nose of the board. Again, with 80 grit, I accidentally hit the nose too hard and burned through to the stringer and foam. Time for another repair...


By the time I got around to sanding the rails, my arms were weak and shaky from wrangling with the (now heavy) electric sander (plus, I wasn't in the mood for another ding repair) . So, I decided to do the rails by hand...


And finally, after sanding the whole thing down with wet 320, my first board is officially done. What a proud moment!..


Personally, I thought the actual shaping of the foam, while involving the most creativity, was the easiest part of the whole process. Most of my time and energy was spent in glassing, hotcoating, and sanding. I really have a newfound respect for those unnamed guys/gals who harden and shine these boards to their final state.

BTW, special thanks to everyone at Swaylocks and the NewYorkSurf.com shapers forum for guidance and encouragement. I would still be chasing my tail if it weren't for you guys! Also thanks to Stephen So for logo work.

kc