The first step in board building is the idea. You imagine what you want the board to feel like and you begin the design phase.

This is a an example of an outline template. it has some important measurements that help us draw out our plan shape. We also want to consider how thick we want the board to be and what type of rocker we want.

We don’t have to have every design element mapped out at this point, but a few measurements will better help us select the right blank to use.

Once we’ve selected our blank, we measure it and compare it to our design so we know where we are and where we want to go.

We can cut the blank to length, and then begin the shaping process.

First, we foil the blank, creating the rocker and the thickness that we want.

The next step is to draw the outline and cut it out.

Shapers use templates the way a sewer uses patterns. Templates are used to draw the curves of the boards outline.