I didn’t even see this the first time…
sandpaper to hold the clamping wedges in place.
genius.
My friend, you’ve outdone yourself again. Beautiful work.
Out of curiosity, how thick did it end up?
And, could we see a side profile shot?
Drew
Damn You’re Good!
Can’t wait to see it with those beautiful fins. 
Thanks for the compliments. This is the third board I’ve made in that room and so far I’ve only one drop of resin on the floor. Unfortunately it was green and for the next two boards I was asked to make them elsewhere.
Silly- feel absolutely free to use the diagonal cut. With all the help you’ve given me I need to come up with at least ten more tricks for you to borrow.
The board came out 2-1/2" thick. A little thicker than I wanted, but hey, I’ll be 47 years old in a month and I’m making the shortest board I’ve ever owned (6-0). So I feel I’m in my rights to have just a little extra paddle assistance. Still, the deck feels flat ( a good thing). The rails are a little boxy but don’t feel fat. I’ve kind of given up on judging a board on its aesthetics, even though I’m obsessed with aesthetics ( like SIlly said, I’m an artist/art teacher by trade). There’s also just a tiny bit of concave just in front of and between the front fins. We’re talking 1/16" maybe even a little less. Unintentional. But given the skins are thin I’m not going to try and take it out. Maybe the big guy upstairs thought I needed a little concave there?
Rocker came out to 4-1/4" nose , 1-5/8" tail pretty close to my design idea.
Midpoint
one foot up from the tail
Actually, the tails not as thick as it looks in the foil shot.
I might still fine tune the rails
Quote:
I didn't even see this the first time....sandpaper to hold the clamping wedges in place.
genius.
That was not genius. That was rage and fury. I must have tried to clamp it like five times and the clamp kept slipping off. I was literally cursing and pulling my hair out. The sand paper worked though.
I borked my rail lay up and had to do nose and tail blocks.
the tail is just some color coordinated bands of balsa but I had to
do some creative wedge work for the nose block to make up the
necessary area (borked the rails AND borked the block cut).
so the nose block is a mix of staggered pieces and some opposing
wedges…a total nightmare to clamp.
basically…seeing this thread makes me cry…
Absolutely beautiful work. If I place my order now will I be in for a board built during wifie’s vacation next year?
Quote:
Jeff,
Another local compsander here,Mook, has started to skin the bottoms prior to doing the rails, this stops the problem you show here and it holds the rocker true during the subsequent actions. I will be applying the same in future as I had the same problem with my previous fish.
nah bro just stick a small tail block on first
sweet as
Great work! Looks real good. I do bottom skin first then rails too. But I reckon putting in nose and tail blocks before bottom or rails is the way to go. I have been pulling the rails together at the nose too, but they are prone to damage because they end up so thin once you’ve shaped the rails. So a two to three inch block on the nose gives a bit more protection.
Karl
I was just re-reading Greg Loehr’s “Theory of Pitch.” He mentions that the back footed surfer can have a board that’s a little stiffer. I’m definitely back footed so maybe the reduced rocker is OK. I’ve also read that Griffin 5 fin design is meant to ride off the back foot. So far, theoretically everything sounds good.
Also, I was thinking about the tucked edge all the way up. I would think it’s all about release and producing speed. Then the 5 fin cluster gives you back the control.
Anyways, board is glassed and hot coated.
One issue ( like people, every board has issues ) - on my cutlap, a tiny sliver of blue tape, probably the width of an exacto blade was forced into the softer balsa pieces. Almost unnoticeable, unless you’re anal retentive. I was trying to dig it out but realized, aesthetically, I was making it worse.
The lam- I decided every board I make will be a fish species- this one is the “lutjanus vivanus” or SILK SNAPPER. I hope it’ll surf like silk.
Looking good. Is the redness in the balsa? Or just the photo?
K
In the Balsa. Wish they were all like that.
If this one is a silk snapper , what was the 5-fin bonzer ? (fish species wise)
Interesting choice of fish for your “totem”.
Why a Lutjanid? (if you don’t mind the digression).
What kind of wood did you use for the “stringer”?
Stringer is left over paulownia from the bonzer project.
I choose the “silk snapper” just because it looked cool and I had these pinkish colored pieces of balsa. There were several different species of snappers. I liked the sound of silk. Smooth. I like surfers with a smooth style.
I was working night and day, doing my lams and a two stage sand coat, trying to make sure I got each on in time to insure chemical bond. I’ve set the fins which considering the design I considered the most critical stage, trying to get the fins in just the right position
Sneak peek.
I did a rattle can gloss, just to seal my sand throughs without adding too much weight. I’m waiting for it to harden up before wet sanding and buffing it out and posting some final pics.
Board came out 6 pounds without the fins. It felt pretty light. After I put the fins in it was 7 pounds and felt kind of tail heavy. The balance point of the weight is aft of the wide point (and rocker/foil) center. I wonder how that will affect the performance?
I don’t know if Griff explained this to you yet.
But this is what we’ve learned about riding his 5 fin design.
Your backfoot goes directly on top of the three rear fins remember directly on top. Now at take off you jimmy a quick release turn into the face to engage the rear rail fin. From that point on you ride it hard like a thruster or gemini with all the drive off the back foot. What ever you do try not to think about what you’re doing and just imagine or draw out your lines in relation to what the wave face is offering you. If you have your feet in the right positions especially the backfoot, what ever you think about what you want to do no matter how fast or how hard you’re engaging the rail and fins the board will come around at speed.
The hard part is developing a rhythm to link these accelerations but if you do you will go faster and turn harder and tighter than you could ever imagine. Just pick your painting style and let loose don’t worry about setting up or staging your moves the board should deliver what ever you’ll ask from it.
I like to think of it as mind surfing or wave dancing. Maybe Hunter and Dave can confirm what my brother and I have discovered from this design. It may not be as silly as I have painted it but if you let go of your normal riding inhibitions you’ll be amazed of what you can do with these things…
Best of luck and keep us posted…
Another hand crafted beauty as well
It’s done. I was going to buff it out, but after wetsanding with 400, I just kind of like the satin feel and matt look. I remember someone once said a longboard without a gloss doesn’t look right and same goes for a glossy shortboard.
I’ll put a deck pad on it eventually, to save the deck a bit and to help me nail the back foot placement.
Lot of talk about compsands over at the www.surfermag.com design forum.
