The Ultimate Surfboard Stand

I have been shaping for a couple of years now and the entire time I have been working on really crappy stands that I threw together. They have gotten the job done, but were far from ideal. I decided it was time for a change and got to work designing. 

My goal was to have three separate stands, one for shaping, another for glassing, and a third for sanding/ding repair. Since I do all my work in my garage, I didn't want to have to deal with moving the base around, so interchangeable heads were the answer. Here is how I made them. (You won't find any measurements in this guide. Everything should be customized to meet your own needs and space.)

Tools

Circular Saw

Power Drill

Various Drill Bits

Materials

Tire Rim

4x4 Post Bases

4x4 Post Cap

Lag Bolts

Screws

4x4 Lumber

2x4 Lumber

Packing Foam

Zip Ties

Pipe Insulator

Step 1

Prepare the Base

I chose to use tire rims as my base purely because I thought they looked better than a bucket of concrete. I still feel this way but it added a lot more work and was more expensive than just using buckets of concrete. If I were to remake these stands, I would just go with concrete.

Anyways, I first had to attach the post bases to the rim but the center hole in the rim was too large for the washer to grab. So I had to add some scrap wood to the underside of the rim making the center hole smaller so the washer could hold. 

Next, I cut a short piece of 4x4 and attached it to the post base using some screws and a lag bolt. Finally, finish off the base by adding on the post cap with a couple of more screws and lag bolts. 

If using buckets of concrete, just set the 4x4 base in the bucket and pour in concrete around it. Attach the post cap on top and continue. 

Step 2

Shaping Head

For the first head of the stand, I started with a short piece of 4x4 and screwed a length of 2x4 on top of it. Then I just screwed on more cuts of 2x4s vertically on both sides followed by a final horizontal piece. With everything attached, I cut out a piece of packing foam and used zip ties to attach it to the stand. 

Step 3

Glassing Head

This one was super easy. All I did was take a long piece of 4x4 and screw on so small 2x4 pieces that I had cut in half. This one doesn't need any padding either as building up tape over time will work perfectly. 

Step 4

Sanding Head

For the final head, I copied the shaping stand but it doesnt need to be as wide, so I dropped the middle 2x4 and just attached the vertical pieces to the center 2x4. For the padding on this stand, I used pipe insulation because it's thin and still protects the board. 

Overall

All in all, this was a super easy build and has been awesome to work with. I always hated having to re-level my stands everytime I went from shaping to glassing and the interchangeable heads completely fix that. Switching heads is super easy and only takes a minute or two. It also cleans up the garage a little as I dont have multiple stands floating around

Finally, It was pretty cheap. I know the price of lumber is crazy right now but the whole build cost me something like $150 or so. It was a great addition to my shop and I shouldn't have waited so long to build it. 

Stay Stoked!