Decide for yourself.
If you type the web address into the babel fish alta vista translator, it gives you the option to translate a website.
Keep in mind it doesn’t translate directly as perfectly as you might think. It takes a bit of wordsmithing and decipering. But if you read the entire thing, you can get the general picture of where the text is going.
Dave,
If Skip does shit some bricks, have him sign them, I think they can be sold on eBay! We may as well make some money too!
doesnt sound like supreme ingenuity.
i think i may have surfed with a guy from there once a while ago. maybe could check it out.
if your gonna bomb them give me a heads up.
peace, without rats and thieves.
I almost just fell off my chair when I read that one Bill… that was good… perhaps we could lay up some wings on those bricks to really set the job off!
In further research, I found info on SHAPE, but it is a NATO outfit, so my translation must have picked up something that was linked by the name or something… I doubt if NATO has time to blackmarket big label boards… hahaha.
Also, Josh Hall just enlightened me on the whole thing, so… I guess I’m not the first to know about it… and my facts may be a bit construed due to poor translation.
I think I’ll put my cloak & double-billed cap up on the rack, and put my magnifying glass down for the night… I need to stick to the planer and bay… I have enough sleuthing to do in there with our current project!
yeah, i thought you guys were selling your boards “Through” them.
These are all legit boards. M’s is a quality shop and one that has been selling Velzy boards for a long time. Fran and her Japanese licensed Velzy producer are making the Velzy’s off the machine and a good number, if not all, are being finished by Ernie Higgins.
There are Skips boards there and then there on that page and there are Skipish boards which are by Josh Hall, the images are small on my iPhone and the lams are tough to see, or some “Frye” guy who spent a few minutes in the shaping room with Skip and now knows just what to do make a Frye-esque board. The others are straight up who the label says.
I’m just going on what I saw and read.
I talked to Skip directly, and he said he has never authorized the machining of ANY of his boards, models, or templates… So I guess, even me shaping a board off of a Frye template would be frowned upon… although, I’ve told him about the boards I’ve shaped based on his templates and dimensions, and he has even allow me to watch him shape and has helped walk me through some of my shaping. He has had offers by surftech / tuflite to reproduce his models, but he told me he doesn’t plan to ever reproduce his stuff. He wouldn’t even let Jeff Warner make a website for him… Jeff approached him about one and he said Skip came unglued… he was pissed that he was even talking to him about it… he say’s he doesn’t care for the internet and where all this tech is going.
Skip never authorized “AGABE” labelled Fishsimmons, Swish, Eagles, etc. He say’s it’s not true. The only person he has allowed to emulate his shapes is Josh Hall.
I believe that you are correct in what you said, so I stand corrected about the Velzy’s and the others. You would know more than me about the Velzy’s and others, being on the inside of things. I was mainly concerned about the Frye boards I saw and read about.
Bye the way, Jim, thanks for allowing me to visit your shop to lay out that Arc Tail with Bill the other evening. Your work amazes me. You are another one of the Masters whom I hope to learn more about the trade of shaping from one day, a true artisan… and if you ever allow me to learn from you, I promise, I’ll keep my fingers out of your Jointer/Planer! (I know Rhino, and I know he has a good sense of humor, so I thought I’d nudge him a bit… no harm intended;)
I think what you’re going on are board images and a poor translation including and incorrect interpretation of what the site was saying.
Of course Skip would never “authorize” anyone to use his programs or any of his actual templates. I think though that Agave is probably only a brand replicating the Skip style and the Japanese are running with it.
Josh is not alone. There’s a group of guys who use Skips name when describing their “heritage” or the influences while they replicate one of Skips shapes.
Also sometimes the Japanese will name things based on what they think sounds descriptive or familiar which sometimes turns into replicating a shape or name. About 3 years a go we had a bunch of boards in Japan, one of which was a 11’ swallow tail board. When I saw it on M’s site they named the board the Fishphillips. No harm and kinda descriptive and tributish If it would’ve been called the Double Eagle by Jim Phillips we would’ve said something.
Lastly, I’m not Jim. Jim posts under Jimthegenius. I’m Jim’s rep. I’m glad you had a great time in the bay with Jim. He’s probably the most giving of his time and talent than anyone with that kind of pedigree. Shape on…
oops… I saw the “Phillips” logo and wasn’t looking at your User name… Sorry.
“There’s a group of guys who use Skips name when describing their “heritage” or the influences while they replicate one of Skips shapes.”
A long time ago Skip had his shaping room behind my store. I was able to watch and learn. I also got to work for/with several other BIG name guys. Each one had their own take on what a board should be. What I have tried to do is incorporate what I picked up along the way and develop my own style.
While my boards do not look EXACTLY like the other guys in fact not even close to some of them. I can see the influences and know where they came from. Skip was part of my"heritage" and I am personally proud of that, I don’t go out of my way to “copy” a Skip or anybody elses boards, but I would not have achieved what I have with out their “help”.
We all start out “copying” someone. The ultimate compliment is to at least acknowledge their “gifts” but don’t rip em off.
Exactly. Well put.
I just got off the phone with Josh Hall and he laid it all down and made it very clear what is / was going on. Since I got my answers, I am going to put this thread to rest.
Thanks for the input.
Skip knows what’s up now and that’s all that matters to me.
Dave