One step closer

Finally heard back from the KingMac blank distributor I submitted my order with. He finally has everything in order and will be shipping my blanks. Shipping costs sting a little though...$130! Thats for a box of five blanks. Hmm, I wonder if I'm getting ripped off? Lets see, thats $26 per blank, blanks were about $50 each. I could've gotten them locally for about $70, I guess I'm not too out of line.

Apparently, templating is not as simple as I thought. It only took reading one 3-page Swaylocks post on the topic to make me realize yet again how ignorant I can be at times.

First off, scaling up/down from an existing board isn't so straightforward. You could either scale geometrically (keeping the aspect ratio throughout), or you can use Greg Lohr's 1/8th method, or you could use the force and go by "feel" like all the master shapers seem to be able to do so well. Well, since I don't have any experience I can throw the "feel" method out the window. The geometric/aspect ratio method works up to a point, but fails thereafter. So, that leaves the Greg Lohr method, by process of elimination.

It doesn't end there either, once the template has been drawn out, I must somehow cut it out onto a piece of masonite (or similar material) without the dreaded wiggles. Or at least be able to blend them away afterwards with a plane/sanding block. Apparently, those wiggles turn into a big can of worms later, so its worth the trouble to get the template right the first time.

Sheesh, and here I thought I could just trace my old board. Silly silly me.

Shaping Stands

Finally finished my shaping stands today after slacking off for a few days. I used some leftover foam from an old mattress pad for padding. On top of the foam I used some rubber cabinet liner material to make the "U"-shaped part that holds the board on its side. Zip ties and tape in various places keeps everything together. I dunno if its technically correct, but it looks good enough. Take a look:





Called the guy at KingMac foam and inquired about my blank order. Apparently, he's having trouble getting an estimate for the shipping cost on my blanks. Not to mention one of the blanks I ordered is out of stock in his warehouse. I just told him to substitute the missing blank with something similar. I'm getting really impatient now, I submitted this order three weeks ago, and its still not out the door! Grrr. He said he'd email me when he got the estimate sometime over the weekend. Well, weekend's almost over, and my patience is wearing thin. Maybe its time to try a different foam company. :(

I guess I should focus my energy on things to do before I can shape (even if I did have my blanks in hand). Namely, making a template. My first board shall be a twin keel fish. Slightly thinner than my Brom fish, and one inch shorter. Will have to do some research on how to do this correctly, but I'm thinking of just tracing my Brom fish onto cardboard/masonite and then cutting it out. Must research on Swaylocks for validation and/or other ideas.

FlexTails

Ok, once I get good enough to not eff up a blank, I want to make something like this. Its a flextail quad fish with tapered stringer by DK...and its sooo nice:



DK is an up and coming shaper along with a bunch of others (M. Caro, I. Zamora, D. Hess, and J. Hall) who are re-"shaping" (sorry, couldn't resist) the custom surfboard industry. These young, Pavel/Frye-influenced shapers and the shapes they create are just so much more interesting than the old school big name sellouts like Merrick, Rusty, JC, Biolas, et al (ahem, *cough*cough*... Surftech... *cough*cough*). Dunno, thats just my $0.021563. Man, ever since this shaping thing has taken over my life, I've become such a shaper snob.

Anyways, get a glimpse of the new school here.

Still waiting for blanks... :(

Waiting Game & Tag Team Shaping

Still waiting for blanks. 'Nuff said. :(

In the meantime, feast your eyes on some TagTeam Shaping Action...and the end product.

Fins and The Mandala

Seems like there's some movement in the development of fin systems these days thanks to RedX, ProBox, and SurfTrux. RedX and ProBox are adjustable fin systems that allow you to move a fin forward and back depending upon surf conditions and desired performance characteristics. ProBox has the added option of adjusting the cant angle on a fin by using replaceable inserts in the finbox. And finally, I happened to hear about SurfTrux from a friend (Chris K.) a while back and I saw them pop up again while lurking Swaylocks just now. SurfTrux are the first fin system that feature dynamically adjusting fins. They adjust toe-in angles automatically while you're surfing to minimize drag and maximize maneuverability. The toe-in angle on the outside fin adjust to minimize drag produced as seen here in a pic taken from Teahupoo (notice turbulence coming off outside fin)...click here. If you're not careful, all this fin theory will put your head in a spin. But, I wouldn't be surprised if the next big innovation comes from this area of surfboard design.

In other news, a board I'd recently ordered from Manuel Caro over at Mandala Custom Shapes has been shaped and is ready for an olive green tint and bamboo glass-on fins by the wizards over at Moonlight Glassing. Manny emailed me the other day to let me know he's finished with my "olive greenie" (as he described it) and will drive it down to Moonlight in the next day or so. Check out the stunning handywork:






While on the phone to deliver the good news about my new board, Manuel threw a few words of advice and encouragement when I mentioned to him that I would soon be shaping my own boards. He also mentioned he'd be out here this summer (July?) for the grand opening of the new Mollusk surf shop in Williamsburg. Hmm, I'll have to remember that so I can shake hands with the man in hopes of gaining some shaping wisdom via osmosis.

Speaking of shaping idols, here's one that I happened to stumble upon today. His name is Erik Hakon Olson, and his shapes make me drool...make sure to check out his shapes in the archive! Wow!

Tonight I put finishing touches on my shaping stand (foam padding) and attempt to seal off my work area by stapling plastic sheeting all over the place. Pics to come soon.

kc

Oldy

(Warning: touchy-feely moment ahead...)

So i was flipping through the discussions on Swaylocks this afternoon and got caught up in a thread that might be one of the best threads (on several levels) that I've ever read on Swaylocks or any other surf-related forum (after all, how many threads about surfing and shaping really hit home?...well this one does.)

Iits about a guy who decides to document the board-building process of a quad fish. The thread is entitled, "Journey of a Quad" and spans two months and ten pages on the Swaylocks discussion forum, making it one of the longest threads of the year. For potential boardbuilders like me, it was an eye-opener and will surely be a reference when i embark on my shaping journeys.

However...

The value in spending the time to read through all ten pages comes somewhere in the middle of the thread, where the author (who goes by the name 'Oldy') blindsides us with a revealing post and an even more revealing picture. It reminds me of what "soul" is in surfing, or in this case shaping. But don't stop in the middle, it gets better near the end.

If you don't have time to read through the thread, you'll miss the gist of it and you won't know why it meant so much to myself and everyone on the forum. it might take you a while (it took me an hour), but at least look through his posts, check out his pictures, and read a few blurbs to get a sense of what he went through. Then, when you finish the thread, maybe it will have meant something to you too.

Click here to read

kc

ps. Only click this after you've read the post!!!

Let There Be Light!

When I plugged in the lights last night for the first time, I felt this overwhelming feeling that I'd achieved one of the first major shaping milestones of my shaping career. Amazing how horizontal fluorescent lighting can transform just about any room into a shaping bay! (well, almost)



Shelves/light deflectors to come soon...