Wood Skimboard - How to make the rockers?

[RetroRPG]

Hi Everyone.

I'm living in Thailand and I just registered on here because I'm attempting to make my first wood skimboard. One question I have is how to make the rockers. (I believe that is the term for the curve on the front and back of the board. Rather than it being a flat piece of wood.)

In this post viewtopic.php?t=357 if you scroll down about 3/4 of the page there are some pics of someone with their skim board on a work bench. It looks like they are using some other small blocks of wood placed underneath the nose and tail of the board. Then some other boards are placed on TOP of the skim board more towards the center and these boards are screwed down to the work bench. -- This procedure seems difficult for me to explain, sorry about that. I think if you see the pics you will know exactly what I mean. My question is, how do you make your skim board stay in this shape permanently? Do you soak the board in water before you screw it all down like this, then let it dry for a couple days? Or..?

Also, how should my rails be formed? This is just a first skimboard for riding on the sand. Do I want the edge (rails?) to be basically straight and flat just like when i cut the pattern out of the sheet of plywood with the jigsaw -- just smooth them up? Or do I want the edges to be rounded (sort of like a bevelled edge) ?

Thanks for taking the time to read my first post!

[RetroRPG]

Since my original post I've learned that the table I was referring to is actually called a "rocker table". However I still haven't found any more info on using one..

[tungsten]

Hi RetroRPG, a rocker table is used to put a defined curvature into the board. How, depends on how you build it. A wooden board can be built in different ways: you can glue layers of veneer together over a rocker table, or wet out your wood with hot steam and let it dry on the rocker table, or make a foam board glassing it over the rocker table, or you glue battens of light wood together over the rocker table ... there are many ways to build a board. If you need more general info, check youtube for board building, many good clips there. Also many different ways to build a rocker table, from a work bench with a couple battens shoved under the board, to adjustable performance rocker tables... I'd start with the easy one, it's good enough for a woody.