hi swaylockers,
behind the APS 3000 there is a team, Nev, Jimmy, Ralph and me, Miki. We watch your forum with some interest and I think it is about time that I step in and clarify the confusion a bit even it is a little late. Better late than never. I am what you would call an old fart in the industry. Yes, I can shape, glass and sand a board. Even make fins and stick them on. And as I am also an engineer, machines take my fancy. To give you an idea where I come from, here a small part of my CV: I have profiled way over 50 000 surfboards myself, starting off with a profiler over 20 years ago, worked with a hotwire CNC setup, designed, built and operated a pantograph (the thing that copies boards) and different kinds of CNC machines.
first up, yes you can do a surfboard on a shopbot. Will be a challenge but you will be very proud after you hold your first machined board in your hands. It will be an interesting experience and it would be nice if you share it with all of us in more detail. Show the board to a reputable shaper and have it judged with his experienced eyes. After you passed that hurdle we can look into reliability, consistency and later, the economics. But those things will have no importance for you anyway. And there are plenty more 3 axis overhead routers out there that can be used.
Second, I am sorry that I have to charge for my machine. To get this project of the ground I had to hand over my house to the bank and the family wants it back.
Next, surface finish. Here on the Gold Coast we have all major machines present. I can go and have a look. All of these machines except one are based on overhead routers with very much the same cutter. And these cutters, that is their nature, leave grooves way below the lowest point of the crinkle. The lowest point of the crinkle is the surface of the board. If you have to work below that point you dramatically interfere with the intended shape. All these machines can make the crinkle finer but even if you run the cutter for a whole week over the blank, the problem with the sanding grooves below the surface will not go away. In reality, that little bit makes a hell of a difference. And what about the stringer? How much work needs to be done to get the stringer clean? How will that change the shape again?
But most importantly, where is the custom board in all of this? The reason why my cutomers like what I offer is the fact that each board on my machine is made to order. No doubles for economic reasons ever. Each board is designed and machined specific to order (and his file kept on record for further reference) and to achieve that you have to do much more than steal the design of a green machine and paint it blue. At Base for example you have five big name shapers who do not settle for second best. Just to make the team boards for them is a challenge I love to face every day. and boy, are they picky. Take Murray Burton for example. The biggest voice against machine shaping. But he loves this concept as it enables him to give his customers and teamriders the design he did set out to achieve. Pure custom built. By the way, I deliver 95% of the orders next day, 5% same day.
Now, how does the machine look like? No picture? What do you expect. Why should I give away 5 years of R&D for nothing. And in China and Thailand they would be dancing in the streets. That would be silly, wouldn’t it. But she is different to anything you know. From the holding to the cutting. Look at the result, thats all that counts.
But the heart of it all is the program. The shaper becomes the designer with total control and ease that is. It is a bit scary, I agree. but when Benz drove his “Motorwagen” at an incredible speed (single digit) from one village to the next, people were scared too. It is our intention to give away the design program for free. We will put it on the net and everybody can use it. Please be patient.
And what about the soul, the spirit of custom boards?? When I machined the big guns for Clint Kimmins (a whole set, starting with 10’4") my soul was in it and certainly Nev’s too. And when I delivered them everybody was amazed, standing around in disbelieve, touching and feeling. Its the same boys, the spirit is back. With this machine, the shaper puts the spirit back. The spirit of the custom board is stronger than ever.
have fun miki
