I had an old Clark Foam blank in the rafters. We designed this blank for the Bonzers we were making, back in the day. I have not made a Bonzer like this in almost 25 years. Lots of reasons why. A old friend of mine saw the blank and said “make something for me” out of it. Sooo here we go. Kinda missed the rolling pin…I put up the pictures hope it works!? Click on picture for more…
Pretty damn cool.
Hi Ace,
had a gander at your pics; am guessing “the rolling pin” was what you used to use for putting in the concave channels back in the day when you were building these bonzers? -> what have you been using to put them into this one?
Impressive how clean the foam is on the inside despite how old and stained the outsides are.
Cheers.
Nice, Ace
I’ll bet the memories are thick in your head…
love that. learned a bit too. thx for putting that up.
all the best
Looking really nice ace.
Outline looks so nice.
I have Clark lams if you need one.
Looking forward to the finished product.
I will let you know if I need a laminate Barry. I have another idea planed but you never know. As far as what I use now for channels…I have a 14", good luck inding one, Surform with a round blade that works good. I also use the power sander up on edge this requires some practice. And a couple of home made sanding devices that get used as needed. One thing I use a lot is a four way folded piece of sanding screen. This fits into just about any curve letting your hand feel the shape. Plus one secret “electric surform”. Tools gotta have tools,The “rolling pin” was just that a special drill powered rolling pin with floor sanding paper on it. The whole contraption was about 2-1/2 feet long fun to use…
Excellent job! It has a bit of a camel toe… Should be a smooth rider!
Great looking board. I always loved how you could get the brown crust off an old blank and turn it into a gem.
cool!
Nice detail Ace. I pulled out a 10 year old Clark 9’8-S last year and shaped a 9’6 out of it. It came out heavier than I thought it should have. My conclusion was that the foam was extremely dry and sucked resin. I will probably seal the next one. Lowel
Electric surform?
Fool for tools here.
Cheers Ace.
I was guessing it was a surform that was being used to do the concave (going by the patterns of scratch marks).
So what happened to the “Rolling Pin”? Did the accumulated friction over time enlarge the axle hole so much it ended up wobbling around too much for accurate use?
Cheers all.
The “rolling pin” had ball bearing handle one end. The other was a engine valve that went in to the drill motor welded on to a plate with screws into the pin. I think Schinder Racing Cams made that part. It could handle lots of abuse very little wobble.
Here it is ready for Art to pick up. I have known Art since high school. This board is pretty special in more ways. Art’s mother just died and this board put him into a happier place. Surfboards are still cool…
Never disappointed in your threads, Ace. Pics, check, explanation, check, quality work, check, ego, nope. Thanks for sharing!
awesome board and work Ace.
Very Nice Ace Love that fin.
I love the whole thing but the Clark logo really is a nice touch. Did you ever do 5 fin bonzers (4 runners instead of 2) and if so what do you think of them?
OK short answer Yes played with 5 finners. I designed the fin for the Bonzers we were making that fin is easy 25years old…
Long answer. Wil Jobsen was showing his Twinzers around trying to get some commercial interest. He came by the shop where there was a few big brains sittting around, the guy with the big hat and funny glasses, Woody Brown. the guy I worked for and a few others. He was explaining the water chaneling effects of the Twinzer and comparing it to how a main and jib sail worked to chanel air on a sailboat. Having had some sailing experience it kinda made sense to me. Woody said “Well that is not exactly how that works.” He designed sailboats. The guy I worked for never had interest in other guys designs becuase his stuff was the best stuff why change. Me I just listened. But in the middle of the night I had one of those DUH moments “Twin fin Bonzer” might work. And it did pretty good too. The guy I worked for wanted nothing to do with em until one day I pretty much forced him to try one. “WOW I like it” he said after getting some good rides on my board. We, I, came up with a name the guy I worked for said since I developed the idea while “working” for him it was now his design to sell…I was a shaper and got paid only to shape any r&d I did on this was at my time and expense he even went so far as to call em “Albert’s baby” until he finally rode one. Than he took my baby.
The “Zingers” started to sell an definitely had some advantages to the 3 fin Bonzers especially with wider tails and in smaller waves. The Bonzers worked good in bigger waves but were not keeping up with how surfers were starting to surf. Fast and straight was not gonna cut it anymore.
The Zingers were looser and turned sharper more like a twin fin. BUT as time went on there were some obvious flaws. In whitwater they could have a mind of their own. I solved this by putting a small center fin in one BOOM fixed alas a 5 fin bonzer was created. I did not stay with the guy I worked for several reasons, some of these reasons were why I “quit” making Bonzers, bad memorys. I continued with my multi fin designs but took a little different approach to the runner fins. The five fin designs do work good but fin placement is critical. When correct they have a very fluid feel. When worng all kinds of crazey stuff going on.
I honestly feel the “Blackjack” fin I designed, again on my time at my expense, was more of a game changer for the Bonzers than all the other stuff. It added a new element to to top turns and a squarer bottom turn. The only negative was it was a kelp catcher. But with the runner fins it was not too bad. When properly foiled the head of the fin turns with the board. The guy I worked for still sells and uses the fin in his boards I have never recieved a dime or even credit for the fin or the Zinger’s…I have used a bigger version in single fin longboards with really good results.
Sorry for any spelling or 'grammer" errors being undiagnosed dyslexic all thourgh school made english classes hard.