tail
https://swaylocks7stage.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/306.jpg
Looks really goos louis… I saw some bits on shapers australia website, really costly … I hear a flat bit is best for eps and extruded. Nice work though shapes look really easy to clean up .Does you machine leave any tabs on nose area or tail ? is there a bit of clean up necessary in these areas?
A 100 dollar worth is not going to buy you soul.
hey louis,
well done mate! hand built, custom made shaping machine… pretty neat stuff. I can tell you’re pretty stoked on it.
I don’t get why anyone not interested in machine cuts would even bother to post on this thread, but hey ho…
Thanks Royal,
there always be haters… i hand shaped so many boards with my skil 100, i always been passionate about shaping and the culture of board making, much like the hotrod scene, pinstriping, polishing… i restored many skil 100 and no, i wont shape with a hitachi… Ordinary Citizen,when you really start mowing foam youll see ur little hitachi’s bearing melting the body, now what do you do? piece of shit, I would buy a skil if i was you. I have a few in stock that can restore for you, about 7 left 600$/piece completly mint 800$ polished like a old brewers’s plane, now the board would have so much soul, not even funny 
i attached a photo for you to see. that one i powder coated it, look sick but expensive.i also have a couple 676 if you want to go way back in the timber days.
anyway, I can say that working with a cad software did open my creativity to higher place from having a limitless amount of templates.
with eps, sky is the limit, i mean sometime you are stock in the blanks format but with a big fat block of eps, a hot wire and a shaping machine… wow, insane fun.
Petey, the bit leave a little edge in the middle of the rail about a 1/16th, 30 sec clean up.
now with a different bit, things might be diffferent, will find the best cutting bits eventually. for now seem like getting the shapers australia and get it balanced by a cam shaft machinist will be the way, i heard that they last only 300 boards and about 50 if you cut the stringer. Miki was talking about having a tool changer , that might be my best option, cutting with the normal router bit on the stringer and change for the DSD bit for the rest. The square router bit seem fine to me, i just had to put 5 more pass on each side to make the cut cleaner, not sure how long it will last before it get dull.
Boardcad was extremely difficult to set up but once i got the help from Ross, we made happen and its actually simple, only when you know how…its all about support and there is none, nobody respond to the forum because not many people drive there machines on it, i think. I have to say that its a very good software, its free and i wouldnt go back to something else at that price, OPEN SOURCE is the bomb… now i might go all the way and using EMC2/ubuntu instead of Mach3/Windows to control the machine but one thing at the time. Mach3 is also very powerful and simple and also cheap at $180.
the goal was a simple machine with a simple operation that you can fix without major mechanical skills, and parts you find easily , but that didnt come easily, couple years in the making and lots of pain in the a… The machine is not perfect, the rails can be updated to a better quality, suction cup could be softer, a couple things i could do to make it better and tweak it and i will but for a low entry priced machine i couldnt ask for more.
[img_assist|nid=1069828|title=skil|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=93|height=100]
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Good work.
I make my own cutters for myself and for others. I machine them in Seattle to your speck and get them coated and balanced with some real arse chewing conical grit… They run $300-$450 depending on size, complexity etc…
MS,
i had the dsd cutter (bullnose) rounded tip with little spike all over it from when i worked with the DSD , super clean cut but boardcad’s tool path is better with a flat tip cutter.
how your software, is your tool path better or worst from different bits? i am not talking about finishes but only toolpath.
please post photo of your cutter. i was going to use oliver to make be a custom style but if the price is right with you the work is done and keep the business in the industry.
later,
L
Louis do you use SHAPE 3D version X?
I think this is the best one so far.
Kind regards,
surfding
The software we developed is dynamic and the path adjusts to cuttter dims/radius and curvature of the board… It looks for shortboard vs longboard curves and makes slight adjustments when outputting code… We call it APO or “adaptive path optimization”.
I like a more rounded cutter… Makes for better decks curve roll and entry/exit of the caves IMO.
I have not used S3D-X yet… I do make it an offering with all our machines… It has a very cadesque interface which can be difficult for the PC challenged IMO. It is a very good software and is supported well which is why they charge for it.
You can find pics of my cutters on my website… The “RIGHT PRICE” is always justified by something that works really well, is supported and guaranteed to perform beyond how it was intended …Thats why somethings cost money…
I like the term fair price which is what we have always provided…
Mike
The software we developed is dynamic and the path adjusts to cuttter dims/radius and curvature of the board… It looks for shortboard vs longboard curves and makes slight adjustments when outputting code… We call it APO or “adaptive path optimization”.
I like a more rounded cutter… Makes for better decks curve roll and entry/exit of the caves IMO.
I have not used S3D-X yet… I do make it an offering with all our machines… It has a very cadesque interface which can be difficult for the PC challenged IMO. It is a very good software and is supported well which is why they charge for it.
You can find pics of my cutters on my website… The “RIGHT PRICE” is always justified by something that works really well, is supported and guaranteed to perform beyond how it was intended …Thats why somethings cost money…
I like the term fair price which is what we have always provided…
Mike
SUrf ding,
not using Shape3d because of the price.
for the cnc setup and all option it cost about 5gs but its possibility.
its easy to make it work for my machine but the goal was shopbot price point so boardcad works very nicely.
if people dont like designing on boardcad, you can use shape3d lite for free or Aku light and Boardcad will read both extensions.
you will then use boardcad only to create a toolpath and export it to Mach3 or EMC2 , there is lots of freedom available for all taste and budget but i have great success designing and cutting within boardcad.
cheers!
Louis
We have a 3d laser scaner we made but the product is really more machine vision allowing for sloppy operators to just slap a board down without using lasers, clamps blah blah, min, minutes tickin… We stick beacons on x and she hunts making adjustments to connect the dots “literally” You must be capable of using a metric ruler and it currently will work only with our PSD-3d, Cut 2D and PS-Hotwire software ). I used the surfboard application for testing but it really is suited for products that cost much more to make. We might make it available to others after patent trials and when I finalize the support documentation, procedures and hardware warranty’s. Right now its an option for some of our users which entails passing an apptitude test first.
New machine owners shoud focus on learning the machine/software first especially if they are green with cnc m-o. To many bullets in the gun and most will shoot themselves. Haste makes waste.
I don’t think a scanner is really needed for most surfboard guys. But hey what do I know?
Viva La revolucion! : )
I have a JOHN YOW 3DM machine.
It’s a work horse.
Solid steel frame and servo drives.
Win CNC controllers with SHAPE 3D version X.
Design, Export, CNC, Scan version.
I guess it depends how serious you want to do this?
http://surfboardshapingmachine.com/
Kind regards,
surfding
Hi Louis:
I mostly scan these days. (MAKE FILES TOO)
We use fitted deck rockers from US BLANKS.
Find the profile that fits your model and add your rocker.
The shaped blank is the fondation of a surfboard (Well Designed of Course!)
Skim the decks 1/32".
Do not pentatrate into the shell.
Kind regards,
surfding
Very Good Louis!
It takes a different set of skills to get as far as you have.
Enjoy the journey!
Kind regards,
surfding
here is the hot-wire software, the green line around the board is the tool path (where the hotwire goes around to cut the blank)
you always have the right blanks for the board you want to cut.
very simple and efficient, its actually brilliant.
I wanted to thank Jonas and Haavard for their hard work making boardcad a world class software for surfboard cutting.
enjoy!
centering laser centering system is looking good and efficient.
just need the suction cup and its ready to ship,
Here is the new hot wire module.
https://swaylocks7stage.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/IMG_0371.JPG
HEre check out the new machine in action!
hit wire bow test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqzg-hDcls4
board cut test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uaNG84py_o&feature=youtu.be