G’Day Chaps have a ? I have been brewing over would like to hear what you all think.
I have three clark blanks left 2 which are in cherry condition. A 6’3" and two 6’2 C’s. I have been waiting to shape em to see what the foam deal will be. Now since it is apparent that there will be plenty of foam and a whole new eps epoxy movement in swing I don’t necessarily need them for boards. Should I shape em up or save em for sentimental value? I thought it might be cool to do a photo essay here shaping my last clark foam:) Kind of played out though…dunno what do you guys think?
I’d save them for special occasions. E.g., you could save one of them for a Swaylocks shaping session. Or for future charity fundraisers. Think what a clark blank retro fish might bring at a charity auction 5 years from now…
Speaking of Clark blanks, I’ve been asked to make an 8’6" minigun for a local (female) surfer, for her birthday. I can’t find a suitable blank, though. If anyone has one they’d be willing to part with, or perhaps trade, let me know.
By all means save them. Wrap them in plastic and store the suckers. There are other materials, including other urethane foams but there won’t be any more Clarks.
To give you an idea… I paid… “Are you crazy? That’s way too much!” for a 12’3" Clark on Ebay recently. I planned to wrap it and store it. Maybe put it on display someplace someday.
Out of the blue, an unsolicited offer of $1000 arrived in my email(!) The gentleman had saved the original listing and tracked me down. Someday it will be worth more but I accepted the offer and have received 1/2 deposit. What can I say? I need the money.
I know some people resent the idea of collectible blanks and any kind of price speculation. For me it only made sense. They simply aren’t making any more of them. I hadn’t even put it out there and the buyer set the price.
I’ve used this analogy before and it still fits… are you going to take that silver dollar your grandfather gave you and spend it on something that is worth a dollar?
Don’t be a dummy - shape a Walker, an import or an EPS and take care of those remaining Clarks. Don’t trace or cut an outline, don’t hit 'em with a planer… just leave 'em alone and put 'em in a safe place. You won’t regret it.
Interesting take on an interesting (for me) topic as I have 5 Clarks from a 7-9 E to a 9-1 Y - with anywhere from 1/4" spruce, 1/4 + 3/8 cedar to 1/2" balsa stringers - and have contemplated the same thing.
What to do??
Shape them? My attitude now is that if I touch them, I’m going to be damn sure it’s going to be a special board. No more experimental shapes,“Hey, if it doesn’t come out like I expected I’ll just get another blank and tweak it.” Too rare for that now. But, I have a couple of boards in mind - that’s why I got the blanks in the first place…
Stash them? I’ve thought about that for a couple of them - selfishly thinking," What if I hold on to a 9-1 Y with a 3/8"cedar stringer for a few years and blow somebody’s mind and put it up for sale in 2012?" Or, just save it for personal use - whatever… There’s the storage issue itself. I wasn’t so concerned about wrapping in plastic as I don’t think there would be a deterioration problem (is there?) - but maybe to just keep it clean is a good idea. My main concern would be to keep the blank(s) in such a way that there would be no way, no how that they could possibly twist or distort in any way. Keep them dead to nuts flat (level) with nothing bearing on them that could possibly cause a twist, bend or bow - not even another blank on top of another - because, like wood, if it isn’t stored properly it could be useless down the line. I’ve seen glassed boards distort stored in funky positions for long periods so I would be extra careful with blanks.
My attitude so far is that I’ll take my sweet time with each but will shape them - eventually - though it may take 5 - 10 years to do it (and yes, I agree, don’t touch with pencil or saw until 100% sure what the finished board will be).
It’s funny I am going thru my last box of Clarks also. But I am cutting the 8’8" down to a 7’10" pin egg and experimenting as usual. These things were made to cut, mow and glass. Life is short these blanks in 3 years will be silly and outdated - have fun make some boards that will hold you for a year.
I say shape. Sure be more conservative but make something that is fun to run.
G’Day Chaps have a ? I have been brewing over would like to hear what you all think.
I have three clark blanks left 2 which are in cherry condition. A 6’3" and two 6’2 C’s. I have been waiting to shape em to see what the foam deal will be. Now since it is apparent that there will be plenty of foam and a whole new eps epoxy movement in swing I don’t necessarily need them for boards. Should I shape em up or save em for sentimental value? I thought it might be cool to do a photo essay here shaping my last clark foam:) Kind of played out though…dunno what do you guys think?
Jesh Sell one of the 6’2 C’s to me. I’ve been looking for one since the fallout and haven’t had any luck. In desperate need of a fish for the summer and was a week late in ordering one from Mitch’s. Pleeeeeaaaasssssssssse help a brother out. AG
I have a triple stringer 9’9" blank by Clark that has been sitting in my garage for over a year and a half. After Clark shut down, I decided to shape it. The fun that I am having (and will have) by shaping and surfing it is worth more to me than any amount of money that a collector would offer me. One of the reasons that attracts me to shaping is that the medium is pragmatic. When someone calls a board magic, it means that the board rides great, not that someone will offer them a lot of money for it or that it looks great on the wall.
Shape it and surf it and enjoy the ride. After all, isn’t that whats being a shaper/surfer is all about.
I don’t think storage is really an issue, provided that the basics of humidity, light, and rodent control are met. About a quarter of my shapes last year came from a container of Clark blanks shipped to Lacanau in the early eighties, and in storage since then. Some were really dirty on the surface, but one pass cleaned that up. Two 6’3"B’s actually had little teeth marks in them, where some small creature tried making a PU den to pass the winter. I believe that these were stored on-rail at first, and then degenerating into a pile as blanks were taken out one by one over the years. On the shorter blanks that I’ve used, distortion wasn’t a problem. I haven’t used longer blanks from this collection though.
Keep or shape? Just depends. There are several high-quality blank makers out there, so finding a quality PU blank won’t be a problem in the coming months. There is, however, something really fun about taking an old blank, something with a bit of nostalgia to the dimensions, and carving a board out of it. I used an old blank to make an 80’s inspired thruster recently, and it was just like going back to Jr. High without the acne and school-dance stress.
This past week I’ve had the opportunity to paint a variety of different blanks: spackled EPS, Walker, Teccel and Clark blanks. Suprisingly the Teccel foam is actually much nicer foam than Clarks. It is whiter, has a tighter more unform cell structure and does’nt finger dent easily like Clarks.
Saving the Clarks as a collectors item/antique is another thing but, you would’nt want to shape them because that would ruin its value as a collectible.
I’d shape them. There will be plenty of PU foam out within a couple of months. The blanks will start to turn brown as they age. Specially around the stringer from when the blanks was sawed in two. But, you can always paint them or glass them with color to hide that.
shape them dude, even though they’re clarks, they’re still just blanks.
Don’t go just blow them off though, and pull a chip (I think I’ll make a 2’1 stubby out of this one…), but put lots of time and thought into them and go all the way (resin pins, tint and gloss, even on a shortboard it’s part of the poly experience) on them and really turn it into a work of art.
and after they’re shaped and glassed, be real nice to them, store em in the dark and keep em protected, maybe just use them as special occasion boards.
but in the end, do what you want to do, even if that means making a coffee table, it’ll be a clark coffee table.
Speaking of Clark blanks, I’ve been asked to make an 8’6" minigun for a local (female) surfer, for her birthday. I can’t find a suitable blank, though. If anyone has one they’d be willing to part with, or perhaps trade, let me know.
I was at Foam EZ in OC and saw walker 9’0" blanks for something like $117