Blanks and Shaping Porn

My first official blank order is in! I have a 5-blank order in with a KingMac distributor in San Diego. They each run a little over $50 bucks. Here's what I ordered (see KingMac's catalog for blank specs):

1) 6'2" DE - small fish/shortboard
2) 6'2" DE - small fish/shortboard
3) 6'6" CB - generic shortboard
4) 6'11 M - large shortboard/egg
5) 6'3" CB Second - my "sacrifice-to-shaping-gods" blank (ie. scrap blank for planer practice)

There seems to be lots of discussion as to whose blank is the best since the closure of Clark Foam. Density, flex, weight, ease of use, PU vs EPS, symmetry, glue quality, stringer quality, rocker, and a myriad of other factors must be considered when choosing the right blank. Me, being the simpleton that I am, just went with the one whose guy on the phone was the least rude and most helpful. Actually, all the blank companies seem nice enough to deal with, but I just happened to click with one more than the other. I'm sure once I'm more experienced in shaping I'll be much more discerning. As for now, just gimme some foam, any foam!

Did I mention that shipping costs can be a hard pill to swallow when ordering blanks? I contemplated renting a car and driving to a local source/shaper to get my foam, but in the end I kooked out and let my fingers do the walking. Like I've said before, I'm lazy and have money to burn. So, add to the cost of blanks about $100-$150 to get the blanks to my doorstep (er, my office's doorstep actually...they can't ship to residential addresses). Should be about 10 days, and I shall finally have my beloved foam...Muahahaha!!!

I spent a few hours this weekend finishing up my shaping stands, I poured the concrete in the buckets, banged together a stud-frame wall partition for the garage space (thanks for the help Steve!), and will mount lights sometime this week. Looks like we're almost set to go. Pics of the finished space to come...

Last but not least, I have discovered a whole new dimension as far as surf porn goes...Shaping Porn! Take a look at this, taken at Moonlight Glassing featuring Machado...click here. Mmm.

kc