channels, a jouney of madness

done 8, fits the fin placement absolutely perfect, not happy yet, im getting closer, would love a proper blank to hack into but one more attempt, will flip over this one and do some on the other side.  I welcome any comments.  I tried one side with a more sloping channel and one more upright, not sure which one I should try, any thoughts welcome.




looks like the channels arent straight in the photo, but they are perfect straight, its the poor lighting, I need to continue to work on blending them in at the start as well, trouble is I didnt have room to do this as there is channels on the other side straight away

on relooking over the photos I need a longer blank to hack into so I can stagger the channels better and concentrate more on blending them in, will look at some of my snapped boards to see if there is room to do this, a few more attempts are needed to refine what Im doing more

I dont think I like the idea of finishing the center channels early, Im thinking this would disrupt the water flow out the back of the board to much so I will carry them all the way through the board and exit out the tail.

ive gone back into the shed many times to relook at the board with 8 and I get more dispondent every time I look at them, I think I overshaped them, tried to hard to get it perfect instead of letting it be if that makes sence, some I over sanded so its not the same all the way down the channel, others are good.  Dammit, so bloody frustrating,  back to the drawing board for another go at a later time.  Im on holidays this week from wenesday through to monday.  I hope to get two sunny days to lam a board and hotcoat another one, praying for sunny weather.

keep at it.  Eight are quite a few for a first attempt.  Even guys that have done them over the years would have a hard time if they hadn't done a set recently.  I've never attempted more than six. Four is a good #.  You're getting it though.  A glassers nightmare.  Although with UV there is a technique that will help the glass lay down.  Just had a conversation with a shaper a week ago about how prone glass-on fins were to snapping on channel bottoms in the old days.

...how did this end up , digger ?

 did you ever end up finishing it ? 

....have you  glassed  it , and surfed  it , yet ?

or ...

 

  did you make another one , from a fresh blank ?

if so ... HOW did it go ?!

 

....meanwhile ...

 

  THIS was at my local surfboard shop , today .... a repair job . I hope it interests you , and other 'channel[l?]ers ' ?! [ ....if it does , I can post up some more shots of it , if you like ?!]

singlefins015res.jpg

singlefins016res.jpg

 

  cheers !

   ben

  

wilderness

photo DSCF8005_zpsd1105c4d.jpg

 

… by the late Allan Byrne  , of Byrning Spears …

photo DSCF8958_zps5d0ee5b0.jpg

 

I find soft channels work best for me, more predictable

A custom 8 channel quad all-around by Peter Poppler of Backdoor Kauai and a Rhino Chasers fireball fish longboard 

 

 






I’m trying to get a grasp on the channel theory, and would appreciate some clarification. I understand that when the water flow is parallel to the channels how they would help direct water, but once the board is turned and the flow becomes perpendicular, how they function?

Is there still a flow directed to the tail,  or does the water run across them loosening up the board?

Seems like the multi-fin design that Giffin is using would be a better way to direct water flow, but I don’t have any experience riding a channeled board.

 

Thanks

 

 

I’ve decided to foray into my own madness with the new wakesurf board I’m building - I wanted the fangs to be functional more than just widening the rail, so I thought what better place for a couple channels… I didn’t like the way the two individual channels looked next to my concave center (looked like they’d make drag following the rail line like that) so I opted to take down the middle and go for one, massive tail-wide concave channel in the back of the board. 

It’s still only rough, I’ve got to do the deck, rails and then clean everything up, but I’m pretty excited so far… It’s gonna be hard to resist trying it myself before I send it off to my Brother, but alas, I don’t have a boat

[The two channels before I took down the center]

So, it may not be channels anymore, per-se, but that’s how it began