From time to time, you come to meet a customer who’s looking for a one of a kind board. Stephane wanted a 9’00" longboard. He wanted it with three stringers. He wanted blue swirls on the bottom. He wanted cloth inlay on top. Since we were going for something special, I suggested to add a wooden tailblock and a fiberglass leashloop. I enjoyed making this one very much. My daughter and nieces enjoyed posing with it. And Stephane enjoyed picking it up two hours ago. Waiting for feedback tomorrow. Measurements are 9’00" x 23" x 3 5/16".
The colors are actually darker and more contrasted than appears on the photos.
I thought the law said you had to put the inlay on the nose. (Kidding). I like how you did the inlay. I have a daughter who might like that layout too.
Dennis, coming from you, fine comments are all the more valuable.
Janklow: that’s the kind of feedback my ego needed. Thanks a lot. Sorry, the only pic I have is the loop during lamination. Not great, but here it is anyway:
Lavarat: yeah, sure, much faster than red for instance… Haha! Want one? Easy, send me a PM (and a 30% deposit…)
Greg Tate: no, Greg, that’s good ol’ PU/PE. Inlay is authentic tahitian pareo that Stephane provided. I had planned to do a middle deck patch but then I remembered some old Weber Performers that had those 3/4 from the tail floral patches and I thought it might look better.
Hicksy: what was your tailblock made of, again? This one is wenge/tauari/wenge. Hard woods, not easy to match with foam. I used the Hitachi with the shaper’s barrel on it for most rough work, then the sander with 60 grit, then fine-tuning with whatever seemed to work OK…
Reverb: how did you guess? As for the functional part, I’m waiting for feedback anytime today since Stephane was planning to have a test ride in Biarritz (Côte des Basques). I’ll keep you informed (as long as it works, of course. If it doesn’t, well…)
Rooster: bingo! I knew someone would do this one. You’re the happy winner!
Thanks again to you all. It’s good to work for people who look at their boards as to something else than a piece of plastics.
Balsa - theres no doubt your in the high end of board production, of all the boards I see coming through sways your one of the few who come top of the class.
Another work of art I think, let us know how she rides.
beautiful board, Balsa. The only thing you forgot is, you should post this one in the photo resources, so that people will see it later when they are looking for inspiration for their next board…
Hicksy: what was your tailblock made of, again? This one is wenge/tauari/wenge. Hard woods, not easy to match with foam. I used the Hitachi with the shaper’s barrel on it for most rough work, then the sander with 60 grit, then fine-tuning with whatever seemed to work OK…
The ones I made for Chip were good old fashioned 5 ply plywood. Stuck together the day before using epoxy. I think there were about 6 layers of 5 ply in there…
I found the ply good to get a more consistant shape as to can see the size of each layer…
We cut the ends off the shaped board and used the bits to get the profile to put back on. I used 60 grit on a belt sander turned upsidedown in one of those clamping work benches.
I think a little weight on the nose and tail changes the way it rides.
Your boards are beautiful as always…top work Balsa
