I need to shape a fish for a loyal customer. He wants an 8’ board. I think a US BLANK 9’3 A would work very well.
the customer is about 6’ and 240 . I would say his skill level is beginner. Basically he saw a fish and thinks it would be cool.
I think that the board from that blank would be a little hard to ride for him. It would be about 24-1/2 wide
and 4" thick. I was wondering if anyone else had any expierence making one this big? Props to Mr Ben Aipa
for the inspiration of this design!
I love fishes, but I'm sorry - that just sounds wrong to me! But then again, "the customer is always right" - you, my friend, have a conundrum on your hands!
I think an 8' funboard would be a better option in this case. Just my opinion.
I am 6’ 4" 255 lbs I would shoot for something around 8’ x 18" n x 23" w x 15.25 tail and 3" tk .also I would keep the rocker low , make it a versa plane fin configuration so you could run it as a twin a quad 2 +1 whatever you like. Bottom flat to a vee cut out a swallow tail. Check out the Us blanks 8’ 3" H I would not go thicker than 3.25" you got a ton of float @ 23" wide & 8’ Hope this helps : Rockfish
I once made an 8' x 23'' four inch thick ''mini board'' for a 265 pound customer. He required a board that paddled as well as his 10' 6'' x 23'' longboard. The challenge is that the board is so thick the rails are near impossible to make look attractive. What I ended up doing was to template the board on the bottom, cut it out, and the shape a bottom contour that I knew would ride well. I then turned the rails sharply down to to that bottom contour in a down rail form. The board was easily one of the uglier boards I've ever made, but the customer was delighted with the performance. When the board was upsidedown on the glassing racks, it looked like a beached whale. (according to the glasser) My point is that it's going to be a difficult task, but can be done. Just go at it slow and deliberate, and think your way through it before you start cutting. It's far easier to take foam off, than put it back on.
This is the US Blank 8'2" A 8' X 23 1/2" X 3 1/2"
you should contact Herb Spitzer: http://www2.swaylocks.com/privatemsg/new/1000156 ...
he'll have some good info/advice for you... speaking of, has anyone heard from him lately? hope all is well.
thank you Bill. My main concern is that once he is surfing a board that big,he will have to plan his turns 5 min in advance. I was going to go with similar rails that you are describing. very 70’s.
thank you MR Huckelberry. I have already made him a 10’6 24" 3-1/2
long board so the key is flotation flotation flotation! I did suggest a board as you described though.
He also wants his wife to use it, and an 8’ funboard is along those lines
than you mr tjrm that board came out great the outline is very basic and the rocker looks like what I am shooting for
A 6' 240 lb beginner would benefit from any added volume you can work in to the equation. Check 'The Beast' as example of a board that is out of the box. At 7'4" it is 25 1/2" wide. The thickness is listed at 3 1/4" but I wouldn't hesitate to go thicker and even wider if the blank allows it. If he can't get his arm around it, tell him to carry it on his head or install one of those SUP hand grips in the deck.
http://www.clonesurfboards.com/funboards.html
Basically big guy beginners need all the help they can get.
thanks for the tip j. Im going to try to get him to go for 2 boards. One , the monster fish he wants and the other a fun board for his wife.
thanks mr rockfish i was thinking of the 9’3" blank so i could cut a little more of the nose than tail thus flattening out the board and eliminating some nose rocker. i will take another look at an 8’3"h
Your choice of blanks can be US Blanks 8-2A (which can be made wider) or the 9-3A. I am starting to make shorter wide boards for the big boys. In Hawaii it is all about paddling power. You can rip if you can catch waves. Here is a board Delray made we a few years back: http://www.swaylocks.com/resources/detail_page.cgi?ID=2278. It is a great board for sloppy soft waves and it catches waves super easy. It does tend to track when the waves get steeper. I am re-thinking fish boards and opting to go with wider round pin tails with quad fins. I like Joe Blair's take on quad fins. It is simple and very functional. See www.jblairsurf.com.
Mahalo,
D
thank you mr d. the 9,3a can be cut more from the nose flattening it out,
he surfs kind of mushy waves in mexico. im going to check out those links you suggested.
much mahalo
thanks for the help. when he comes up with the money i keep you posted with the progress
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It's far easier to take foam off, than put it back on.
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Thank you. I just found my new tagline!
!!
thanks for all the help everybody! i shaped the board in may and it came out great, it is 8'11",24" wide
and 4" thick . Don't call it a fish, just call it something Ben Aipa would ride.
it works well in 2' to over head . it goes real fast.= and as I made it a twin fin, it has excellant manuravability.
thanks for all the help everybody! i shaped the board in may and it came out great, it is 8'11",24" wide
and 4" thick . Don't call it a fish, just call it something Ben Aipa would ride.
it works well in 2' to over head . it goes real fast.= and as I made it a twin fin, it has excellant manuravability.
gee, it ended up changing from original plan of an 8'0" fish ? did customer change his mind or did you guys want different result ???
looks more like a longboard with swallow tail now ( not being smartasss, just big change from original plan and I am interested in the thinking and reasoning )....????
