Shaping software and dedicated machines have evolved so boards can be machined and have become successful at all levels of surfboard manufacture. They provide an efficient means to design and produce a blank that is ready to traditional glassing. It’s a great setup and there is nothing wrong with it. It fits with the hand shaping model.
But a recent visit to the Firewire site shows an industrial CNC router doing the job. And I believe that Sunova uses one too. Here’s a quick how-to I did a while back to show how I use mine to make a foam skinned compsand board: http://impact3d.com/sandwich_proc.html.
The real benefit to a CNC router is all the other things it can do besides cutting a core. I’m using mine to cut deck pads. Yes, A CNC machined kick tail pad. Is that wacky or what?
I do some work for NSI so I have access to all kinds. They sell it by the sheet so you can call them. I’m using a 4# EVA for deck pads.
If I were a hobby shaper looking to get into CAD and then CNCing some boards, pads, fins, molds, etc; I would be looking for a shop bot. It will be an easier sell on the Mrs. since you can tell her you’ll be making some cool furniture. Maybe I should do a search on shop bot. Certainly someone has done that already.
Here is my take on shaping machines ! The machine is here to stay and they will only get better. In a mass production scenario there is no better way to capitalise on time verses money (wages).
however , in the time of alternate materials and artwork the hand shaper craftsman with a bit of spare time and a few dollars to set himself up can and will suppliment his wage with quality hand crafted surfboards. The local shaper provided he can push out a decent stick will do alright as long a there is a population to buy his product.
The average punter in the 25 to 65 age group knows what he wants or remembers what he had and would like t again so the shaper ,board builder in the 25 to 65 age roup fills that niche.
Now in saying that He may have to do repiars to boats, eskys ,shower pans and bathtubs in the mean time but the niche is sustainable.
So let the machines come in let them get better let them pump them out.My customers and they are the people I want , will get hand crafted boards to there specs, and I get the satisfaction tat hopefully I have made that guy/girl the magic stick .
Maybe shaping machines are the new betacord videos i don’t know.
How do you find a shop bot that can handle surfboard size?
All the ones I’ve looked at seem dedicated to smaller dimensions. Once they can handle the size, then dedicated shaping machines become price competitive.
Hein - you could start a “show us your deck grip patterns” thread
I cut mine (EVA) by hand, craftknife, angle grinder, router and orbital sander. It’s a bugger holding them down to do the edges. I stand on a corner, which means I get covered in black powder and my back hurts. How do you do this on the machine?
I’m sorry. My threadline (subject) probably sounded like a hook for a debate on hand vs machine shaping. I didn’t intend that. Believe me, I respect the hand shaping tradition and I am sure your customers do too. I’m just starting to see more CNC routers in addition to the dedicated shaping machines. Both have their place and advantages and yet neither will take the place of hand shaping.
I’ve got a CNC router and use it to machine stuff including boards. Just glad to see others are giving it a go with this type of machine. And was wondering if there are any shop bots being used.
Most CNC routers come with a vacuum hold down table. You can see the grooves for the vacuum channels in upper left in the picture above. You put a LDF (low density fiberboard) over the table and then a roots style positive displacement vacuum pump sucks a large volume of air through the LDF. Any material that doesn’t let a lot of air through will be held firmly on the table. Works great for EVA although it helps to spray a little 77 on the back when you’re doing little pieces or mask off an area to cut down on leakage. I use mine to cut fiberglass cloth: Roll out the cloth,throw a plastic sheet over it and then suck it down. Now you can make nice cuts along a straight edge or other template. I really should engineer a drag knife that I can put in the collet. See how versatile a CNC router can be?
Absolutely. But ask most accomplished designers in any trade and they will most likely tell you to design it by hand first. In other words plan it. Or in this case hand shape it. Then measure. Then get it cut on a machine. Machines are excellent tools in my experience for finishing off a design. I’m also beginning to think they’re absolutley f%@^!&g hopeless for designing from scratch. Ever seen a CNC machine that makes it practical to make an adjustment part way through machining a blank? Didn’t think so. Still waiting for digital rail bands as well.
I guess I’m kinda boasting about the CNC router thing, aren’t I? Like the machine is somehow important. It just does what it’s told. I just can’t sit here all day looking at my CAD model. So I go online and spout a bit. Hope that’s OK.
I think I understand where you come from and I so much support you. Please let it not become another machine-hand shaper thread, they both have their place and values.
Rumor has it that Darren Handley just took delivery of a couple of Miki’s APS3000 so this tells us what the top shaper’s fancy. But then there is the “common man”, the majority of Swaylockers. How can we profit from this technology?
We can have templates cut for little money, outlines and profiles we can fine tune at home with the printer and when we are stoked, we take the file to the print shop or to a CNC machine and have the template cut in plastic or MDF.
We also can design boards and go to the next available Shaping Studio and get it cut or, the pinacle, we build our own CNC router and cut boards, footpads, fins, furniture or toys for the kids.
Crazy? not at all. It costs you less than my friend paid for his new bicycle and it is a hell of a lot of fun. These cheap machines do all we need, they will not satisfy the pro’s in regards to speed, reliability or perfection but they are certainly good enough for the amateur or even small company. The web is full with information, projects and websites that deliver all necessary information and I would certainly have some experience to put in. Other Swaylockers too?
I suspect alot of shaping machine owners would be willing to one-offs for hobby shapers, but for me that takes a bit of the hobby out of it. Not that cnc tech doesn’t appeal to me, I love it, but I get a real buzz when I true up an outline and it actually looks good…
Any suggestions for making a hold down table for the garage guys. I’d love to some how incorporate a vaccum table to my rocker table so I could just bag everything on a sheet of Plexi, walk over the the table and have the vaccum suck and hold the shape. How much air is required? Right now I’m trying to build a slight overlap in the table on the sides that I can slide my plex sheet and bag into to hold the shape.
