OK back on topic...the Orange board is an 8'3" Simi Gun. Pin tail with the fins set further back....not your average "Fun Board".......
Stingray sat on the beach on the bigger days....I'm about 35-50 pounds thicker than Jeff.....My best all around surfboard is a 7'5" x 21 1/4" x 2 3/4".... speed egg......I can duck dive the board in overhead surf......Maybe we need to have a template sharing day......ha ha.....Back to work now....catch you on the flip side
Ray
The Orange Surfboard shaped by ResinHead just landed in my shop. One of the side fin boxes is blown out....I've gone on a few California surf trips with the owner of that board this year.....Funny....I remember him losing a fin on a low tide day at a "new" spot....we did not know the spot but the waves were great!......I just found out that the Orange board was surfed all week with a 5 min epoxy repair job!!! Go for it!
and...for people that did not click the link..........8'3" x 20.5" x 3.....Rawson 8'5"A blank.
Not a light board....6x4 top, 6 bottom, big stringer...gloss with resin pin lines........not a heavy board....good balance....
I sat on the beach...it's easy to be a sandcrab....Ray
went to the first three events in 03-05..................04 the waves were the best !
herb
So I started brainstorming the board. I was thinking about 7’-7" x 21" (7-7 just because it sounds cool) or maybe up to 8-0. I wanted fairly low nose rocker, because you don’t need lots at Sand Dollar, it’s not steep and a lower nose should aid in paddling in early. I was thinking about 4-3/4"?. However, I wanted lots of tail rocker to loosen things up (and to help when it does get a little steep). I’m finding I like tail rocker. I was thinking as much as 3". Well, what I’ve discovered is that my idea must be out of the “box” because there’s nothing in the blank catalogs that will fit it. Fun board blanks go up to 7-6 but it would be a pretty tight squeeze getting in the tail rocker. Besides I wanted 7-7 which means a 7-8 or 7-10 blank would be better. My experience is that a 7-6 blank will get me a 7-4 or 7-5. The next size up is either a longboard blank which won’t net me the nose rocker, or gun blanks which have too much.
Too bad Ken at Segway is no longer doing business. He would cut me a blank (and give me off cuts for rocker tables to boot). I don’t have the facilities to start hotwiring my own.
So I’ll have to compromise- maybe a little shorter and a little less rocker than I’d hoped. Compromise is sort of the name of the game in surfboard design anyways…
Hi Jeff -
Contact your supplier directly. There shouldn't be any trouble ordering a blank with some rocker tweaks. They'll just cut a stringer to your specs and bend the blank to fit as it's glued up. 3" tail rocker seems about right for that size board. A friend just left me a 6'9" Brewer single fin mini-gun that has 3" tail rocker. Maybe you could even go a bit more?
Hi Jeff,
Just my take, but stay lower than 3" on the tail. Too much tail rocker, and when you stem on the tail, the board just goes nose-up but doesn’t really move. Flat tail rocker, you step on the tail, and it doesn’t turn but accelerates instead. The right tail rocker lands somewhere in between. I’ve done one with 3" tail, and threw it away. Two of the boards I had at plasket were originally 2 3/4" tail, and I rebuilt them to about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2. They went much better.
Bill Thrailkill had some postings where he has really lower rocker. Hopefully he will jump in here.
That sounds like my favorite size board, I have around 6 or 7 step-up boards in the 7’6"-8’ range I will post up some rocker numbers on monday.
The 7'7" R is a great blank for what you are looking for. Maybe someone out there makes it in EPS?
The guy in Oceanside... who sells US Blanks.... told me that anything in the catalog can be sold as Poly or EPS. They also have a store in Gardena. The US Blanks catalog says that blanks can be ordered 3/8 thicker....You might have to mow a bunch of foam but I'm seeing stock blanks you could work with....
The WNC guys were at Del Mar....Their catalog offers an added 1/2" thickness to stock blanks....A Swaylock's guy told me they do custom rockers.....you might have to drive to San Diego but it's not that far......
...And.....Word on the streets is that the guy that bought Segway wants our business! He has all of Ken's tools....if you have computer files from Ken it should be a slam dunk.......
I've looked over some of Resinhead's guns...Keith's stuff too. I did not use a ruler but I'm not seeing 3" of tail rocker on a sub 8 foot gun......and.....one more thing...
....I saw a blank at my friends house last weekend...about what you want.....maybe a flawed second...from a company that went out of business....might work.....want to make a deal? Stingray
Well I broke out the tapemeasure on some boards 
all lengths measured on the bottom curve.
First up a small guy Chris Voss PU Hawaiian gun, to small for me to give an opinion on.
7’6"-- x 18 5/8" W x 2 3/4"Thick with N 10 1/2" & T 11 5/16" NR 6 1/8" TR 2 3/4"
Next is a CI M13 Surftech yes it is a pop out and it surfs great at OBSF–I have bought and broken four used ones.
7’6"-- x 21" W 2 7/8" Thick With N 13 1/8" & T 13 9/16" NR 6 11/16" TR 1 11/16"
And then a Geoff Rashe PU step up board, very fun and HP in clean waves.
7’10"–x 19 5/8" W 2 7/8" Thick With N 9 3/4" & T 12 1/8" NR 5 3/4" TR 2 3/4"
Now here starts the dogs that I have made. My #1 board from the early 90’s that I still really like and ride. An heavy GP gun that works on bad & good days.
7’10"–x 19 1/4" W 3" Thick With N 10 5/8 & T11 5/8" NR 6 1/2 TR 2 5/8
I helped my friend build this one to introduce him to bigger waves-- user friendly PU fun gun.
8’–x 20 1/4" W 3" thick With N 13" & T 13 1/2" NR 5 7/8" TR 2 1/4"
Then I have my Bamboo - cork -1/8" ply-- Xps fun gun experiment, a bit too heavy but surfs ok as a quad.
7’ 6" --x 21 1/8" W 3 3/8" with N13 1/8" & T14" NR 5 1/8" TR 2 1/4"
Hope this gives you a range for step up boards in that range.Feel free to ask for more details.
Thanks for the feed back guys.
I’ll look into the 7-7 R in Us blanks EPS.
Also, Everysurfer, I think you and I have different experiences with tail rocker because of our build/weight difference. I weigh 160 and I don’t think the nose will come up too much. I’ve also had negative experiences with low tail rocker- stiff and blowing takeoffs (nose not coming up enough). Different strokes for different folks.
"I've also had negative experiences with low tail rocker- stiff and blowing takeoffs (nose not coming up enough)."
Me too. The steeper the takeoff, the more the boosted tail rocker 'fits' the wave.
Of course raw numbers taken at the tip of the tail are pretty meaningless by themselves. On that Brewer I mentioned there is a feeder single concave blending to a dual concave at the fin area with a flattening behind the fin. The overall rocker, outline, and foil appear to be just about perfect to my fading eyes.
Recent experiences have led me to this. I’m thinking of using a twinzer with center fin box. So I could use the twinzer set up with e wing (to keep it loose) and then add center fin as needed for control. I’m debating channels.
The rocker is to fit a US Blanks 7-11 EA gun blank. The funboard blanks just didn’t net me enough nose rocker.
ps what happened to the search function?
Board looks killer - search function is on the home page
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ps what happened to the search function?
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Board looks killer - search function is on the home page
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Bump.........
I found a thread that explains how to do a Google search for Swaylocks...type in this...
Site : swaylocks (folowed by a space, followed by the search subject)
So something like..............site : swaylocks Sand dollar beach
Rumor has it John is working on a Sand Dollar board.......
I bought a US Blanks 8'2"A...it's a big guy blank...4" thick and too much rocker...you can do alot with this blank
End result 7'11" x 22 1/2" x 3....I took out rocker by planning the bottom. The surfer is 6'1" and 220#. Much more foam than Jeff needs but I think it would go good at Sand Dollar
Hi Ray -
Let's put the rumor to rest. Tim's new 8'6" winged/pin 'California Gentlemen's Gun' is ready for a buff out and delivery. Pics to follow. I just need to coordinate a delivery date with Tim.
He just asked me for something to take it up a notch from where his other boards would take him. Sand Dollar really isn't a big wave spot in spite of what Bank Wright says in 'Surfing California".... I.E. "Never closes out." HAHA - I've seen it closing out plenty of times. My best rides were on small days.
Anyway, Tim's board should handle anything within reason.
I still go to sleep at night thinking about this board.
Right now I’m trying to figure out if I can make a “convertible.” I’m trying to work out fin plug positions that would work for a bonzer and a twinzer. I was thinking of using Probox rears and a single FCS plug for the canard (twinzer) and/or small runner (bonzer). The problem with such a set up is that the FCS fin tab would be way back on the bonzer runner and way forward on the twinzer canard. I might be able to make it work.
Also the rear bonzer runner and a thruster set up work out fine (about 12" up for a 7’-8"), but the twinzer set up will have the cluster further forward than standard. I have seen articles about how they are experimenting with moving fin clusters forward on Mavs guns, so maybe it will still work.
I still have not got my head around how I can do channels with bagged veneer and I’m not sure how they’d work with a bonzer set up…
If its anything like mine…he will be veeeerrrry happy! Although my 4.0 inch thickness doesn’t help when pushing through head high soup, the amazing paddling speed should get him around the soup through the keyhole.
The BALANCE of curve tail outline, tail rocker, V in the tail, thickness placement, and nose rocker allows the board to "fit into the waves". And of course, the sizing and curve of the the face of the specific wave.
You can't just measure ONE factor and make a judgement call.
