my hollow wooden surfboard blog

The basic concept of Bahrman Rails is this:  The rails are built separate from the framework of the board, and all that is required to build them are the rocker and the plan-shape of the board.  Because of this, the system lends itself to a "rails first" type of build, although its not necessarily mandatory.

The rails are cut in plan-shape.  This is key.  The rails are cut from flat stock to follow the curve of the board's outline.  These flat pieces are laminated in a stacked fashion.  There is no bending.

The rails are assembled on a flat surface, and once assembled, are very strong, providing a rigid framework within which to build the board.

The rocker on the bottom may be cut once the rails are assembled, the board's framework built, and then the top of the rails cut to follow the shape of the deck

The rocker is found by marking coordinate points along the rail, which correspond with points on a side view of the board (or, in effect, the stringer) showing the rocker in full size.