Oneula you may be closest in with your 'opu grab than anyone, but a little tick. Huck that first diagram that says Brewer is closest. Stingray your right he doesn’t shape one rail, but adjust the rails according to the variables as necessary. Stoney your right about the Brewer-Plumaria stuff to a certain degree, and that picture of Doerner on the tracks was taken behind Linden’s place, and you even managed to post a shot of Kendall with RB. The orange ones look like they were at the Sacred Craft, and if so Barry sprayed those. Kendall is probably the expert on all things Brewer, besides RB.
Go feel some Brewer rails, and then find your own.
Huck, that first rail in the assortment of rails pic. is closest.
I spent 16 years in that factory where Brewer and Linden shape.
The closest I’ve ever seen to a Brewer rail being shaped is Gary Linden.
Even his feel a little different than RB’s.
Brewers rails fell kinda angular.
Definitely a flatter deck.
Semi tucked rail. Little edgy.
With a flattened angle meeting deck. (not flat).
It made a 3" thick board feel not so thick. If that makes sense.
It is a hard thing to describe.
If you can, go feel some Brewer guns.
So classic. A definite learning experience.
RB knows his stuff.
gonesurfn,
After all of the descriptions in this discussion, it would be great if you could post photos of your Brewer Gun rail at the thickest spot, the nose and the tail.
Thanks …
Here you go, taken from the thickest point on my 9'10 Brewer gun. circa 1987.
Stop all this nonsense.
oops Double post...
err More info,
Taken from the thickest point of my 9'10" Brewer gun. Built in San Diego when Brewer was blown off the island in 1987?
He was shaping out of Choice studio / Green Room (Rich Pavel place)
Image 3 cropped and inverted (close but no cigar):
I saw your post from 10 years ago resinhead and suggested Huck PM you. I was hoping you still had your “newspaper template.” I did not realize you actually owned a Brewer gun. Thanks for the photo. It is how I remember it from his old website – very distinctive and not easy to describe.
I would still very much like to see photos of the rail on gonesurfn’s new Brewer gun (including thickest as well as nose and tail sections). It would be interesting to see how the new rail compares with a Brewer gun from 10-20 years ago …
The nonsense is to even call it a Brewer rail. It is exactly like the balsa era (1957/58) rails on ‘‘Pig’’ boards that Wayne Land was shaping, with a well crowned deck. What today is called, by some, a ‘‘soft low railer.’’ Frankly, I call it that too. In that 1957/58 period, Wayne shaped for both Velzy&Jacobs, and Burland Surfboards in La Jolla.
I see something unique in the specific shape of that Brewer profile that I have not seen in other rail profiles.
However, it would be interesting to see a 57/58 balsa Pig rail profile for comparison.
I don’t.
Brewer is the man. His influence on the best shapers in the world cannot be denied. I thank him for what he has shown me. Hard to replace time spent in the shaping room with him. RB rocks. Oh yeah he’s got his faults ( so does everyone I know), but the guy rocks, and quite a few others from Lopez, Abellira, Rawson, and Linden to Merrick aren’t going to argue with what I put down here.
You know the old retort when someone brings you a board to have copied.... "If you want a Brewer (or Velzy (RIP), or Merrick, or Hynson, or Frye, or whatever) GO BUY ONE! The trick will be getting them to let you watch so you know for sure it's really shaped by them. Most of us don't get past the salesman behind the counter. Or in Velzy's case, his 'agent.'
Even those with a certain someone's signature under the glass aren't necessarily shaped by that certain someone. There are so many ghost shapers who shape boards for various labels. Ask Jim Phillips.
FWIW - a single point rail contour template will in no way reveal the intricacies of the overall foil. That said, it is revealing that Jay's (Resinhead's) rail profile is pretty much identical to the diagram that shows a 'Brewer' rail. You'd have to be a super technical shaper to get it reliably closer in the shaping room after which you have several layers of fiberglass and resin (and a sander) to contend with... most of us struggle just to get the left and right rails the same.
A recent 'True Brew' Brewer, which I sold for a friend, had visibly asymmetrical rails and I'm sure it wasn't intentional. Brewer himself has commented in an interview that when he was introduced to scanning/shaping machines he was told they would pick one side or the other, scan and let the computer create a mirror image. In the interview, he said he didn't catch on at first, then it was something like "OOOH, OK, now I get it."
Even a computer shape gets distorted during the finish shaping process. One swipe of sandpaper can take quite a bit of foam off along a fine edge.
I did not get the impression that Huck wants to copy a Brewer gun.
My take is he wants to make a Brewer inspired gun.
As a point of interest, I would just like to see if the new Brewer gun rail has the same contours as the old Brewer guns.
[quote="$1"]
I did not get the impression that Huck wants to copy a Brewer gun.
[/quote]
Correct.
Just wanted to get a visual to go with the expression, as I have heard it used.
The pictures posted have been very helpful, as well as the further descriptive terms, and comments. I value and appreciate the imput of all who responded. Thank you.
For the record, I am not making a copy of a Brewer gun, nor am I making a Brewer inspired gun.
like the rails on the gun you had of mine..................with the exception of the underside of nose rails.
as u might recall i said that the board i'm writing about rides it's own shockwave....................it proved itself to me again this summer.
herb
The discriptive term that resides along side ‘‘brewer rail’’
was called that year-"a stacked rail "
to my recolection .
this is a result and direct relation to the very flat deck
and the desire to provide max flotation to influence paddle power.
with the proponderence of shaping ghosts interpreting the conceptual
Stacked Rail derives a Genre and not a specific.
let us not forget the obtuse crew of Edge board Guys down at backdoor
schooling the elders with the brash and ‘not accceptable for primetime’’
Media and contemporary shaping druthers
were shocked by bunker and the mike smith
toilet seats but the undeniable new tracks
of these boards that got them up on a high PLANE
were so enviable that all rails soon dropped
below 50 and a few went all the way
to hard resin and rope EDGE.
the stacked rail was enough to taste
the effect without being overcommited
like bunker and vinny and dana and the value bros et al.
commited to the eye sockets.
Let us not forget the ala moana model
was that the summer of 69? or 70?
was that the star at surfline on piikoi?
that was a combo of the stacked rail
and the mobley volume reactionary to the '69
sub 16’’ wide fly on the wall speeders.
The only reason it is a brewer rail was to keep it isolated
from the rails shaped by Mike Diffenderfer ‘Diff Rail’
the diff quest was to sink a rail or the stacked to skate on the glassy.
when the conditions aint glassy skating went airborne…
and the diff softease seperated the chop and stuck .
so many interpretations mis identified as brewer rails
have diluted the specificity of the term.
tactile apraisal of rails ad infinitum
would lead to a closer understanding.
Ask the sander
of the hundreds of brewers
that came down the pipe
for the most accurate
rail template …
…ambrose…
two bits worth
from the peanut gallery.
…nice board huck,
the best you ever made,
and Its all huck…