How do I get a CNC machine to rough my first board? I know there is software, I know there is hardware, I know that if I really want to learn to shape I need to do it my self.
I don’t want to become a shaper. Normally, I’m happy buying from the experts that already have the skill and experience. What I do want is to improve on what I have. My largest board is a big, fat 11’ 2" board that is not so great. It was shaped by a guy in his garage and it has plenty of problems. That said, I still have some good fun with it, and it was cheap. Now I want something similar but better.
I’d like to build something around 11’6" but I don’t want to try to shape it myself. I’ve done a bunch of repairs but this would be my first board and that would be too much to handle. I’d like the shape done by machine to maintain all the critical dimension and then I’d final sand it, set the fins, and glass it.
My idea is that there is a guy who has the software that can create the shape that I take to a company with a CNC machine. I provide the blank, the program, and the money and they give me back a shaped blank with all those little lines on it and I do the rest.
Is there someone with a catalog of shapes in their design program that I could select from? Can a proven shape be upsized a foot or so?
By the time you buy the blank, pay the guy to run the CNC, and pay the glasser,(I’m assuming that you don’t want to glass either) fin guy, and glosser. Your looking at the same cost of buying a board off the rack. So go buy an off he rack board…or
go buy a blank, skin it with a cheap power planer from Harbor Freight, draw out a template on some card board, cut it out, transfer it to the foam, cut the foam out with a hand saw, turn the rails, glass it. sand it, surf it. It will be fun, educational, messy, and full of stoke! And best of all, it will be your first board #00001. Don’t be a wimp, go mow foam. if you get stuck, look it the archives here, if you still stuck, ask a question here.
You really don’t save much money making your own surfboard, and then you only save that by doing it all yourself. I mean even Skip Frye drives around in an old Station Wagon, there’s no money in this side of the business.
Thanks for the reply. I thought about doing that but having the shape cut seemed like a good idea. There’s so much that I could screw-up in the shaping. I really worry about being symetrical.
Actually, all I want done is the shape. I’m willing to sand, set the fin box, glass and gloss myself. If I do that is it more feasable?
Where can I get this Jim Phillips DVD? Also looking for a DVD copy of Glassing 101. I’ll be making my first boards this summer, and thought these would be a good place to start.
Where can I get this Jim Phillips DVD? Also looking for a DVD copy of Glassing 101. I’ll be making my first boards this summer, and thought these would be a good place to start.
My one beef with the glassing DVD is that a chapter on glass-on fins has been omitted. BTW, both DVDs are well worth the money and I did my first resin pin line with only the instruction provided on the glassing DVD. It turned out great.
Howzit susej, Forget the glassing 101 video and get the Damascus Masterglassing video instead, it's a lot more informative where the 101 video is very vague and really doesn't cover all the things you need to know when it comes to glassing. Aloha,Kokua
Thanks kokua and gunkie, I’ll look into those. Funny, the Japanese version of glassing 101 still has the glass-on fin section. The problem with it is that the Japanese instructions are even more vague than the English ones, and it’s dubbed, no English track on the DVD…
Here’s the thing, about 12 years ago I met a shaper in his shop to go over the board he was going to make for me. In one of the rooms was a stack of boards that had come from the CNC router. Those were regular shop boards waiting to be finished. Recently I was in the Foam EZ supply shop and saw some boards that had come off the router. They belonged to a shaper/customer of the shop.
This CNC router thing has been around for quite a few years now, so there are lots of shapes out there that are digitally mapped.
There is also software that can create shapes and modify them. They can be tweeked and then uploaded to the CNC machine to cut the blank.
Somebody, or many people, out there have access to these shapes. I’d like to get a nice shape and size it up to really big cruiser, then have it cut on the machine.
I don’t pretend to be a shaper. My two main boards are by really good shapers. I bought the big beater I have now because I wanted to try something large. Now I would just like to have a good, really big board to goof around on, not have to spend $700 plus for something I won’t use often, and maybe learn a little more about board building.
Does anybody know the name of a CNC boardshaping company in Southern Cal.?
I tried to go the route you want to take. Asked alot of questions and pissed off a few people. If I can pay for a finished board why can’t I buy a blank pre shape by the machine. No body wanted to sell me one of their blanks straight off the machine. I bought a planner ,surform ect and I’m better off for it now. Actually its quite rewarding riding boards that I made from the ground up. I’m not sure the web page but KKL is one of the companies running a shaping machine.
Ray…I really don’t think he wants to shape a board…
Ryan… It aint gonna happen, you can’t get a pershape from KKL or any CNC shop. You have to go through
a shaper to get a board or build your own. You could shape your own board and then have it scanned into the (KKL) CNC, then you could change your shape any way want. I hear is gets really expensive to muck around with altering the master shape though.
Find a place with a cnc machine and just ask them. Most major shops have standard regular boards you can buy a one time use on the program. You might have to buy a two board minimun. As far as sitting down and getting concaves and all that other jazz you want, forget it. You will have to shape in that yourself. I pay 200 dollars per board to be probed and I only can adjust length( 1 foot either way) width and thickness.
Why don’t you avoid all the headache, go order a shaped blank from a shaper. The blank you want is around $130.00, no name shaper will be probably $100 and a famous amos will be $150-200. All the tools and sandpaper and assorted accesories to finish your board will be mega bucks. If you have no tools and are starting from scratch it would be cheaper to buy a new finished board.
If saving money is your main goal, you will be nickled and dimed to death. If learning how to make a board is your goal, save your money and take a lesson from a shaper and have them help you build your board. There are build your own board classes in so cal. It will be money well spent for a quality board and exposure to a not so glamourous profession to see if you actually want to pursue it any further.
If your looking for a template, I have a really nice 11’4" Brewer longboard shape on Masonite. Your more than welcome to use it, and if you want you can cut it out with my router. I think that would get you started in the right direction. PM me if you need to use it.