Previously posted by me on the photo thread …
…but , I felt this deserved its own thread , and would like to hear people’s comments and questions , as Bill kindly sent this to me and said it was okay to use .
A “transition period” board , I guess [c. 1968] …
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I really like it Bill, Is that eps foam? good work!
Hi Josh, no, it’s just an old 8’ 3" Surfoam blank (Surfoam is french homeblown foam) that I had forgotten since 2000 in some dark corner, no stringer in it (as I like to glue-in my own stringer(s) from time to time). The trouble was that the blank was an early production one, with uneven density and such so I thought that putting a stringer in it would be a loss of time and I started wondering what to do with it. And then I remembered those stringerless first aussie V-bottom by Mc Tavish and thought it might be fun to revive one. (Although 6’ 00" is two feet shorter, at least, than the originals…) And I went on to make me something for summer beachbreaks. I’ll keep you informed of any progress… I plan on doing tinted bottom lamination, fabric inlay on top, and a giant flexible fin, like in the “good old days”…
how did you go shaping it Bill ?
I noticed with my stringerless blank , it “bounced” around a fair bit …
Good on you Balsa! on a side note, I read McTavish has started replicating the original 68 egg, not the newer thruster version.
Have fun!
how did you go shaping it Bill ?
I noticed with my stringerless blank , it “bounced” around a fair bit …
Shaping was actually a nightmare. I tried to set my stands as near to each other as I could, but, even then, the blank kept binding in the middle so I had to use feather strokes all the time. Besides, as I told you, the blank had those long uneven density marks in the nose area, making it very difficult to hold a nice curve without bumps. Also, not having the stringer as a visual reference point for symetry isn’t easy either… I penciled a middle line to help, but it kept erasing, so I went on working by eye…
Ben, before you ask, it’s 6’ 00" x 21 1/2" x 2 1/4". Although I laid down the template as far back as I could (had to keep some width for that giant tail) the rocker in the nose is still more than I wanted. So the plan is to laminate bottom first and, since there is no stringer, it should flatten out a bit with resin shrinkage. Then fabric inlay, then deck laminate.
Some more inspiration for you Balsa.
surfresearch
surfreseach
And attached are some good spots to ride it…
Thanks, Josh. Surf Research is one of my favourites sites: I even dropped them a note about a French quotation by Charles BEAUDELAIRE that they had on the home-page and it was not quite well spelled and I got a pretty nice and humorous answer from Geoff CATER, asking if I was in the “Académie Française”… Excellent site, and, yes, there are some pretty V-boards of that golden era (67-69).
my mate Ross is neighbours with Geoff Cater ?!
…small world , eh ?
[I DID wonder why there were so many boards from “Nowra tip” on that site’s catalogue …now I know !!]
ben
Small world, indeed, Ben…
hi guilly/ billy !
…WHAT are the nose and tail , and tail pod measurements on the board , s’il vous plait ?
merci !
ben
Hi Balsa/Bill!
How is it comming along? I really like the way your wide point isn’t as far back as the originals. Your planshape is great.
Let us know how it goes eh?
Onya Mate!
Ps… have you seen “childrens of the son” from 1968 with vee bottom footage?