…first, ALL the blanks are somewhat badly in thickness measurements all along…
…so, not all the shapers check FIRST this…
…the 1/16" its ok for the outline and the overall thickness, but I ask yourselves: how you obtain such close tolerance all along the rail shape?..I mean RAIL SHAPE, not outline or thickness…
Reverb,
The answer to your question about rails is, a combination of experience, comfort with the tools, good eye/hand coordination, and skill developed from practice. Nothing prepares you for shaping surfboards better, than shaping surfboards. It is also helpful if an experienced shaper mentors you, so that your learning curve is shortened.
…well, Thrailkill, I make a living from board building…not from 58 but most dont started in those years…
…so, check some boards built for me in the archives…
…I meant that is kind of nonsense to talk about 1/16 in outline or thickness, when the railshape is a more important issue…also, 40% of the blanks have crooked stringers at least 1/16"…
…talking about 1/16 in thickness, personally I “waste” time shaping, so all of my boards are smooth and perfectly bottom fited in a leveled rack…
Fernando,
Am I supposed to be impressed with your post? Seems to me there is a little attitude coming through. As I recall your “question” was how those kind of tolerances were carried into the rails. So, I told you how. I’ll take you at your word that you “waste time shaping.” Wait, I have found something to be impressed by…you leveled your shaping racks. Take that comment as you will, a great many shapers don’t level their racks. A solution to the crooked stringers in the blanks, is to cut and glue your own stringers into the blanks. Part of mastering all aspects of the craft. No further response is necessary, or expected.
Paul Jensen; just an observation and story re: your calipers, the male slide (top piece with the ruler attached) that fits into your female rebate is slightly narrower to allow the caliper to slide freely.
I have used this style of caliper many times. A few years back I was shaping a batch of boards that were to go to Japan, the boss “mandated 1/16” tolerance” as he would be fined $100 by the Japanese agent for any defects. We had a few months to do the container and as the shipping date got closer, somebody stole my caliper and replaced them with another set similar, but with a sloppier slide. I did a weeks shaping before I realized that they read 1/8” off. Of course the boss wasn’t too happy…… a very angry bear.
It was my fault. I was lazy, didn’t attend to detail and accept full responsibility for the sloppy work. I had to work my arse off to get the boards shaped again to meet the shipping deadline.
Moral of the story. That type of caliper needs to be made to close tolerance (as I’m sure yours is) and used with the slide parallel to the vertical wall of the rebate (while viewed at looking down, the caliper laying on a table)
If the ruler is slightly diagonal in the rebate, the fault compounds 12” out on the finger ends….and the measurement will not read true.
Bill,
The best shapers are a combination of…
Artist
Designer
Engineer
Craftsman
Perfectionist
Psychologist
Few shapers bring to the table all those skills rolled equally into one.
10% artist
10% engineer
10% designer
10% craftsman
10% perfectionist
50% psychologist
1/8" tolerances are a breeze. Repetition with a high attention to detail, brings an extremely precise level of skill to one’s craft.
I strongly believe that, as the skill level of a surfer increases, so does the importance of accuracy in reproduction to recreate the “design”
Another discussion would be whether or not those tolerances are sufficient to properly control performance variables. But that discussion would probably produce too much emotion fueled by too few facts and too many opinion.
I my experience I find it very uncomfortable to go from “turning rails” to picking up the planer and mowing accurate shapes. It would usually take me the first 50 in a batch of 200 the start to get back in the groove and start “seeing it”. By the time my best work is being done I would be well into the second hundred.
In developing shapes (refer to @ a 6’0” hp short here) for team surfers I have found that I could use this dilution of skill to my advantage. After ensuring that the surfer has adequate machine shapes, (saved as) at his “disposal”, I go into the bay and try to reproduce the same shape off the stick, paying particular attention to the essence of the design but not getting to carried away with accuracy in rocker measurements.
The results are routinely greater that 1/16” sometimes greater that 1/8” out and the surfer most times notices it. Sometimes for the better sometimes not, either way knowledge is gained,
(1) reinforcing a design, a foundation, that can be come back to, “saved as” …Hand shape accuracy + or – 1/16”
(2) indicate that the design needs more development…Hand shape accuracy 1/16” to 1/8”
(3) establish a datum for developing a new design…Hand shape accuracy greater than 1/8”
Of course this is very objective and difficult to quantify due to the myriad of variables that come to play but I believe that in moving 1/8” away from a datum design would qualify for a new design.
PlusOneShaper, Oak
Your attention to detail, fine craftsmanship and passion is in stark contrast to the plague that is endemic in the “specialist machine shops” in Australia. Guys like you would have saved me a fortune that I used to spend each week visiting my psychologist.