what kind of tolerance do these machines have? I might make a board for a friend and was going to have it done on a machine I have everything designed to with in a 1/16 f an inch on the whole board. Would the machine be able to do this or would it only rough out and I have to get the final shape.(i know about the ruffled potatochip deal)
I’ve worked with a friend who uses a machine
I believe their within a 16th
but remember its foam, as your cleaning off the ridges , you could take it out of wack.
or if the blank aint centered, ooops
or fliped acuratly,ooops
Buttt ya, the machine is acurate
Hi rider,
One of the great things about making your own boards is making boards for friends as gifts. My question is this, if your going to make your friend a board why don’t you make the board instead of the “machine?” Not trying to be a dick. I really dont get it. Kind of like if I knit you a sweater for Christmas, and send the numbers to the sweater mill( or where ever they make them when it’s not grandma) to have it made. “Look rider, I made you a sweater. Merry Christmas.” Know what I mean? Merry Christmas, rider, ( and I mean it) and I think the machines are probably very accurate from the scuttlebutt I read on Sways, but I have no experience with them personally. Mike
To have less ridges ask for more cutting lines. It will cost more. There is a technic to finishing a machine board. It takes at least 15 minutes to finish a shortboard. Like Rooster say’s why not shape it yourself? Remember that the machine is only as good as the file generated.
I have too add in here too. This isn’t a whack at anyone on this post, and it isn’t a whack at the CNC machine either…but,
I think that anyone who has a plan to make a surfboard, or surfboards should first become knowledgable in the ways of shaping by hand, and glassing. This isn’t saying they should become an expert of even a good novice, just semi proficient. Everytime you make a board with your hands you learn a bit more, and isn’t that what this is all about? 90% of us don’t do this for a living. Another 5% wish they could, but want do something else that would pay better. Another 4% have grand ideas that they can maybe make a living at this. Then the last 1% actually make a fair living at making surfboards.
If you plug your numbers into the APS, and then send the board off to Moonlight for a $200.00 clear glass job, what have you learned from the process? I know all you computer geeks, programers, and engineers are screaming. But it never ceases to amaze me how many experts have that have never turned a rail, of foiled a rocker by hand.
Hey, keep the art alive. Learn something in the process, do the best job you can at every step of the process, and take your time.
-Jay
From the little shapeing and glassing I’ve done I’ve learned that I’d be better off having a board cut on a machine and glassed at a pro glassing service, especially if I was supposed to give it to a friend…
Too bad there are no machines and no glassings services around here.
regards,
Håvard
I would shape the board but I am in college and live in the dorms, so I don’t have the place to shape. The friend I am getting this board done for also can shape, but he is also in college and in a dorm. At his college he doesn’t have access to a machine. It isn’t a gift, I am just doing this for him because he is having a hard time finding a board on the racks that suits his style, he is paying for everything. And Havard I am having it professionally glass. I hate laminating, but don’t mind the rest of the process, but due to the space constrictions, I am having it glassed for him too. Thanks a lot for the information though
I’ve had a small number of boards off an APS3000. It’s supposed to be accurate to 0.5mm, but I’d say add a millimetre on top of that when it comes to thickness (about 1/16th of an inch). Given the choice between handshaping and finishing off pre shapes I’d take pre shapes eleven times out of ten. Hand shaping is just too much labour for my liking. If you haven’t laminated before then I’d say having it professionally done by a glassing shop would also be a very good idea. Have fun.
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This isn't a whack at anyone on this post, and it isn't a whack at the CNC machine either....but.
Damn. I was hoping to see a good slinging match. Something that Don King would be proud of. I wanted to “hear” people screaming how much they love their planers/shaping machines. It could of been World War III only on a smaller/virtual scale. How I miss those days.
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I’ve worked with a friend who uses a machine
I believe their within a 16th
but remember its foam, as your cleaning off the ridges , you could take it out of wack.
or if the blank aint centered, ooops
or fliped acuratly,ooops
Buttt ya, the machine is acurate
Here’s a test. Make a rocker template from your plug or board that you are copying. Then check the rocker after machine cutting. Not all machines, programs, or operators can pull it off. An 1/8th of an inch off can kill the design.
How many hand shapers can get close, especially with the variance in blank rockers?
Planers or shaping machines are only as good as the operator.
Interesting idea but could you not do the same thing to your rocker template?
i tink handshaping and glassing to be worth diy
i wouldnt fark with shaping machines unless i wanted to do heaps of boards
peops should learn to do it themselves
in any case youse is not making the board either
someone else is
at the end of the day
unles the guy surfs like a pro
itll make f all difference anyway
so at least a bit of joy and pride in ones own handiwork could be a valuable experience
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what kind of tolerance do these machines have? I might make a board for a friend and was going to have it done on a machine I have everything designed to with in a 1/16 f an inch on the whole board. Would the machine be able to do this or would it only rough out and I have to get the final shape.(i know about the ruffled potatochip deal)
a good machine with an accurate fixturing should be able to replicate to within .003 - .005" repeatability all day and night. I generally shape my boards to with in ±.005" thickness.
not all machines and methods are the same. methods, operators, and programming are key to accuracy.
1/16" deviations is like a mile. why bother using a machine?
Oak, I’m gonna call you on that one.
.005" is the thickness of two sheets of paper. No one can get it that close once, or on a repeatable basis, nor does/will the machine.
oooops I get it, you’re joking. but at least a smiley to let us know that next time, okey?
no I am not joking. why doesn’t everyone that has a machine mill to those tolerance? 
yes, it’s routine for me ±.005" in thickness checked with dial gauge. my scans are done in true 3d, not done by the slices or cross sections method. rockers are true surface 3d scan run down the entire length of the board. the board you scan is the board you get. no surprises.
Hi Haarvard,
I am getting a DSD this january, and will offer pre-shape for the northern europe. Being in the netherlands, it will be the cheapest for all of you in the Northern european countries.
regards
Arnaud
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Oak, I'm gonna call you on that one..005" is the thickness of two sheets of paper. No one can get it that close once, or on a repeatable basis, nor does/will the machine.
oooops I get it, you’re joking. but at least a smiley to let us know that next time, okey?
Industrial CNC machines cost about the same as an ASP3000 machine. The industrial machines at that cost do 1 ten thousandth of an inch - 30 to 50 times more accurate than Oak says.
The issues with surfboards are the ways you hold the blank, speed of the passes, and number of passes (as well as extra long translation stages), but 0.001 is easily achievable if it is a good machine and it has enough time. Although a cost-benefit usually has people leaving ridges in it for smoothing.
If you are off by 1/8th from a machine operator, take it back and/or go elsewhere.
Reality check.
Resin shrinkage, particulary polyester, during board lamination can throw board dims way off, particularly rocker. I think being within 1/16" is quite commendable, and this talk of ‘target’ tolerances within 0.005" is laughable, and primarily used by cnc shaping machine makers to ‘one-up’ their competitors.
I have concluded that it is not possible to produce
a board that is true to a CAD model by machining
a blank and then covering it with layers of glass,
sanding, etc. The weight of the wet laminate can
easily alter the rocker. The thickness of the laminate,
how it wraps the rail and how the fill coat is tuned
will determine the final shape. Especially in the last
30% of the rail.
The only way to achieve fidelity with the CAD model
is to machine a mold and a core to fit, then do the
board in one hit.
Other methods certainly are viable and blank shaping
machines definitely have their place.
But if you need dimensional accuracy in a finished
composite component, you need to mold at least
the A side surfaces.
-Hein
P.S. I have the utmost respect for all shapers no
matter what type of tools they use to produce what
is in their mind’s eye. Use what ever you want to get
it done. If you do it justice then it will involve considerable
time and effort. And that just adds to the enjoyment
when you and your buddy are out riding what you made.