I’m cuting ties with my supply place who will be name less. I live in Philadelphia area. Here’s the problem, I took them a 9’6" long board I made to have a fin box put in, because I don’t like routers, and they put the box in starting 12" from the tail, because they say they saw a DOT there. The DOT was a shaping marking point that I use, 12 inch from nose, mid, and 12 inch from tail. (for rail bands)…
Anyway, here’s my problem.
I have to rout the box out, QCELL it, then run new carbon fiber glass on top all the way to tail. Then rout in new box. How far up from tail should a BOX be ?
Since I’m cutting ties, I need a place that can make me templates. I’m looking for a 6’0" - 6’5" Lost bean bag shape… I have BoardCAD so if the file is sent I can print it and shape it.
Need to know a place I can get USBLANKS on the east coast.
Don’t use Qcell for the fill. Use a piece of foam to fashion a plug and glue that in and reshape it. You could even ghost in a faux stringer so the fix wouldn’t be so obvious -sandwich a paint stirrer of other piece of wood with a similar thickness as your stringer in between 2 pieces of foam, shape that plug to fit your cavity and glue it it.
Where to put a box depends on what kind of longboard you’re building and where you want the fin. Figure that out first and then put the box in where there will still be some room for fore/aft adjustments.
Don’t use Qcell for the fill. Use a piece of foam to fashion a plug and glue that in and reshape it. You could even ghost in a faux stringer so the fix wouldn’t be so obvious -sandwich a paint stirrer of other piece of wood with a similar thickness as your stringer in between 2 pieces of foam, shape that plug to fit your cavity and glue it it.
Where to put a box depends on what kind of longboard you’re building and where you want the fin. Figure that out first and then put the box in where there will still be some room for fore/aft adjustments.
I did not tell them the fin pacement, I made the assumption they would call, or use there best judgement.
I am to blame as much as them, I understand. But this isn’t the first fin job they messed up, so I’m done.
I know the placement I want, so I don’t need advice on that subject anymore, thank you.
Yes they would make me templates, I would send them measurements of boards I would want to build and they would send me a PDF file that I would take to staples and have printed. It worked out nicely.
This is a hobbie I enjoy, and I’m at the point of throwing in the towel, giving it up. I find the people in the craft to be mean and ill willed, much like the people you meet in a crowded local line up. I don’t need this bad vib, I’m older and past that stage in my life. \
With respect to templates - If you can shape a board you can shape a template. Print your template out in Boardcad - it prints with a 1" grid pattern that helps you maintain your alignment. Cut the outline on each page out.
Take a 1x8 length of masonite from one of the home improvement stores like Home Depot or Orchard or Lowes or whatever is local. Spritz it with a little spray adhesive like 3M 77 and lay your template pages on it with the bottom line lining up with the straight edge of your template material. Tape the template pages together and cut the template out close to the line. Use a sanding block to refine that line, checking often to get the clean curve. The clean curve matters more than exactly hitting the numbers you think you want.
Thank you again. I’m going to have to try and learn BOARDcad, as well as learn how to use a router myself. I’m going to transfer all my shapes that I have now to masonite, they are on paper.
For 1-time use templates I don’t even bother with putting them on masonite anymore. I just tape the pages together and lay them down directly on the blank, usually with a little spray adhesive.
For the last couple years I’ve been making full templates by folding a piece of butcher paper lengthwise and gluing the template to the seam. Cut it out and unfold it for the symmetrical template. Even I can’t screw the symmetry up when I do it this way.
By the way and not to be overly harsh, but, if you didn’t clearly mark your box position then that breakdown in communication is your own fault. You shouldn’t have expected the shop to read your mind.
Understood, but the mark that was on there board was for the 12" from tail mark to do rail bands, that I read from their manual/videos. Also, there was only 1 dot, who says I wanted it after or before the dot. If I was going to make markers where the fin box should go, wouldn’t I make a top and bottom mark ? You are not being harsh, I did mess up, I was foolish, and learned my lesson. I told them of the mistake, without screaming or freaking out, and took my lumps. I can’t return to that supplier, I have been wronged too many time to justify staying.
I’m a little jaded right now from the other comment that I should go eat something…
Hey MrDogBoy, don’t give up just yet…just get into it yourself, learn more, it gets easier…learning and using new tools is invaluable.
As for the arseholes, they’re everywhere. Walk away and try and find likeminded people…someone enthusiastic will spread good vibes way stronger than the downers.
And surfboards and surfing are too much fun, stick with it.
C’mon now. Don’t cut your nose off just to spite your face.
I’ve seen a number of surf shop situations and it’s always been my experience that it pays to be clear right up front about what you want, and from their end what they intend to deliver. Add in a little slop for contingency and that’s almost always the extent of it. It’s where people have these unexpressed expectations that they assume the other party shares that we run into disappointments.
My advice is to stick with the relationship and build on it to make it better. Even if you’ve already chewed them out there’s still business to be done if you guys enter into it in good faith. Starting with acknowledging that you didn’t mark the box and just assumed - in error - that they would somehow just know where you wanted it without you telling them.
Any guy who’s married is familiar with
“if you really loved me you’d know what I want without making me ask for it”.
Even if that’s fine for marital relationships (it’s not, it sux), it’s a non-starter for commercial transactions.
