Hey I have built a CNC router in my garage to cut a few boards just for myself and friends (nothing commerical). I am currently trying to learn the akushaper/shape3d software but am struggling a bit.
Is there anywhere (except the shape3d website) with a bunch of surfboard files I can look at and learn from? I have been on the shape3d website and downloaded and few and played around with them but an wondering if there is more out there?
Not here to steal anyone’s shapes or anything just trying to learn and I’ll share every board I design and make.
If you’ve cut boards, then you are running the design software at a high level already. It takes a bit of knowledge to convert the design files to cutting files that produce a board-shaped piece of foam. If you have the knowledge to do that then you are far ahead of most of the CAD designers.
If your cuts have wobbles then go back to your design and you’ll see where it’s coming from. Too many slices are a frequent source of error because the software struggles to interpolate the transitions. Remember control points affect what happens along the entire curve, not just to adjacent control points.
Nose and tail slices also create dramas because they will push strange rail profiles down the nose or tail. Keep the tips a decent size 0.5 to 1 cm and hold the shape simple.
It takes a while to get a design right to where it will cut right and hit the shaper’s marks. It’s taken me a lot of cuts to get my boards how I want them and the story is the same with other fussy pro shapers I know. I won’t easily share my work.
Of course, there are less fussy people who design and cut and feel the shape is good enough first time round and so may be happy to share, but treat any file you get online with suspicion because it may never have been cut and the cutting paths from that file might cross over and do weird shit. Never good to see a cutter burying itself through the blank.