Parabolic Power Sytem / Parabolic Preimeter Stringer... . . Where are the parabolas ???

General Discussion
21
Quote:

…i would assume that because the stringers are a wide version of a sideways parabola twice is where they are getting their parabolic stringers???..

Well there is also this:

“A particular case arises when the plane is tangent to the conical surface. In this case, the intersection is a degenerate parabola consisting of a straight line.”

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabola

Coming at this from a totally different direction, the etymology of the word “stringer” and its history in the domain of surfboard construction strongly suggests a straight line.

-Samiam

"Why don’t we just agree to dissolve the hyperbole about parabolics in carbolic?? <g d &r>

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Quote:
Quote:

I guess they could be called the “stringer roughly following the outline of the surfboard but inset about an inch or two from the rail.”

Right on! Now that will sell.

Well, at least it is more accurate.

…

“Rail stringer”?

-Samiam

23

roy , this board in the photo was built in 1994 …

in this photo it is 10 years old , it came back for repair , the tail was so mangled , i decided to put new tail blocks on …

note the posistion of the early vents ?

right on the tail …

this board belonged to a guy called Rob Branson of busselton in west oz …

my first of this type date back to early 90s , i have a friend who still owns the very first board i built this way …

i used to call them rail stringers or wooden rails when combined with foam skins or built on a P/U…

not a real fancy name …

but when i first logged onto sways and met Greg Loehr , Greg used the term parabolic rail and ever since then the name has stuck , i thought it sounded pretty good so i ran with it …

i also built Oneill long boards in the early 90s , they were P/U with the same rail stringer set up you see here …

the last time i saw one alive was 5 years ago …

because i got so busy with sandwich boards , the P/U version actually just got sidelined and was never resurected …

in longboards they went great , because that typical shudder you get in the nose when paddling through chop was really reduced due to the fact the nose had substantially more timber and the ends were actually stiffer , so you didnt get that typical rail twist off in heavy turns either …

they still had that classic twang the parabolic rails give (is that ok Roy ? or do we need to consult the book of Roy on a more accurate name ?) but still the feeling of the ride that crew who are into P/U longboards like …

i had a friend Johnny Geyer who ripped on his , full old skool , he loved the free kick he got out of bottom turns…

personally i didnt like the weight …

i had recently considered resurecting the concept , and giving P/U lovers the chance to try the wooden rail as well …

if you like Roy i can give you the numbers of the people mentioned and you can ring them to confirm dates if you like …

you will find the earliest references online related to this construction date back to 95 …

prior to this i ran under the name Sunova Beach , but in 95 changed to Sunova …

i have early news paper articles and adds dating back to early 90s with this construction alongside the Sunova beach name …

would you like me to dig them out scan and post on this thread ??

thanks for letting me borrow your soapbox roy …

regards

BERT

www.sunovasurfboards.com

24

Well if it gets us an interesting read like that Bert then my soapbox is doing a good job.

Tom Blake beats both of us though re. perimeter stringers except in the flex department.

Funny how none of the Aussie magazine guys I spoke to (tracks in particular) had heard of flexible boards back in 1996, in fact they thought it was a crackpot idea, hadn’t they heard of your boards either ?

Thanks for the lowdown anyway, and the nicecross section picture, it looks like we were on the same wavelength back then in some respects

Parabolic stringer is still BS but if that’s the term everyone is using now courtesy of Greg and co then I suppose it is going to stay.

Cheers

Roy

25

I did the math and according to my geometric calculloidal golden mean of specific gravity, this subject factually and actually numerically only rates a muttered aside buried deep in a post buried deep in a thread buried deep in the archives. The formula is too esoteric to go into, but suffice it to say the truth values of the alphabetic symbols of “parabola” are realigned and rectified in a deep context of dark math, while viewed under ultraviolet light of a highly specific wavelengthitude that only I know or care about.

HTH

26

You guys got way too much time on your hands. Go surfing and get some excersize.

27
Quote:

I did the math and according to my geometric calculloidal golden mean of specific gravity, this subject factually and actually numerically only rates a muttered aside buried deep in a post buried deep in a thread buried deep in the archives. The formula is too esoteric to go into, but suffice it to say the truth values of the alphabetic symbols of “parabola” are realigned and rectified in a deep context of dark math, while viewed under ultraviolet light of a highly specific wavelengthitude that only I know or care about.

HTH

Undoubtedly one of the most clear minded and insightful posts ever seen on Sways

:wink:

28

The Bev Morgan article in the recent surfer’s journal talks about a bob simmons board he rode in the 40’s that was 6’ long, plywood skins, eps core, balsa rails… hot damn.

29

I don’t see the big deal. Parabolic stringers are pretty darn close to the shape of a parabola. This is how I see it. If you hold a flexible piece of wood at the ends, and pull them together the resulting curve “looks” like a parabola. I’m not exactly sure of name of this shape, but who cares.

Galileo used to think that the curve that a hanging chain made was a parabola. Several hundred years later it was determined that this shape was really a Catenary curve. My point is that to the naked eye you can’t really tell the difference.

If any marketing people are listening, here’s your next opportunity. Just think… the “Catenary Stringer” is going to be huge!!!

31

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Yes Oneula old sport but the term ‘parabolic stringer’ is being paraded as a technical term which describes a specific design feature, so it’s misleading terminolgy, whereas my stuff is just vibe stuff, not presented as technical terms.

If you look at the articles around on parabolic stringers they are very serious and techno (supposedly) but there isn’t any parabola, and the actual shape of the stringers isn’t critical anyway, what is important is the fact that they go around the perimeter of the board instead of down the middle.

Surfing abounds with misleading pseudo techno terminology, it’s fun to debunk it, and useful too, don’t want sloppy thinking do we?

33

Come on, Roy…most of your arguments are pretty fun, wink-wink, tongue in cheek…

Its time to let this one go. You’ve made your point. Its just boring now.

34

I’ve said it elsewhere, and I’ll repeat it here:

There is no “power feature” in your Power Surfboards! No internal combustion engine, no electric motor, not even a mouse running in a wheel. Perhaps you should rename your boards “Passive Surfboards”?

35

Yeah, but who’s going to buy a board called “tHe CLunKer”?

36

Yes, we have basically covered the ground, so now we know how dim we are talking about parabolic stringers.

Anyway all this parabola stuff got me thinking about a Parabolic Vort-x Cutaway D-fin for the Power Pig, how about this: (?)

37

Hi Hackesackey,

Take your pick:

Noun

power

1)Physical force or strength.

2)Control and influence over another entity and its actions.

He exerted his power upon his subordinates to obtain illicit, personal satisfaction. The party has won power thanks to the influence of its charismatic leader.

The first one applies both because it takes physical strength to surf such big heavy boards, and also because the power which a board has is proportional to it’s mass

The second definition applies because the boards control the crowds

We won’t mention ‘Charismatic leader’ in caser Ambrose is watching

:wink:

38

This is not an unusual reaction.

39

…just stumbled on this thread from earlier this year while doing ‘research’…yeah, this happens to all of us.

Gee the board looks like a surfboard influenced by Greenough’s flex spoons that have been around much longer than most any other claims…true, the surfboard isn’t spooned, but George had the foam rail and then shifted to balsa for its better compression.

Still, kudos to everyone thinking in alternative terms…and whoever in here (I’m too lazy to go back and see who suggested it) who said stringers historically have alluded to being “straight” is suggesting an antiquated notion. If you peruse the thread, ‘stringerless longboards’, you’ll see yet another perimeter stringer aka rail stringer aka parabolic aka evs…that I’ve contributed on.

Design is design…marketing is marketing…the two rarely, if ever, conicide perfectly. More like kissing (or hissing) cousins than identical twins.

40

This is correct and looks like what I saw in my dictionary…it also reminds me of the IKE Surfboard fins on the beaches of Santa Barbara when I was learning to surf in 1959…