.
…from the looks of it, you’ve been there awhile… I know Wilson is hard of hearing by now, but you DON’T have to repeat everything twice to him… or is that for you?
P.S. It’s a miracle that old rusty generator runs on coconut milk, which also subs for plasma, …(true fact about the plasma).
…yesterday arrived a board to my wshop that was “shaped” by famous N shore Hawaii shaper. The board was done a few month ago but have not so many surfed days. It s a single fin around 6 10 (I do not have the board now I told the guy that bring it again next week). He rode it in Indonesia (his son compete in the WQS and he was there shooting photos and hanging around with all the circus…)) and here. The board is a DOG. The guy brought the board to try to fix it with fins…
You look at the board and you instantly see why it s a dog; the planshape and foil; so the volume distro are bad done. Looks exactly like a board shaped (in the past) by a guy who shaped 1 or 2 boards. Even the bottom rocker “fights” with the bottom contours.
Im not putting the shaper as a culprit because may be the machine crapped the thing but the shaper himself finished the shape and put a signature on so he s in the know about it…no matter for him may be, but the board was for this guy that got the deal to brought this shaper here…not so ethic in my opinion.
Why Im posting this?
because if that board was made by me my reputation here would be down very down, due to Im nobody in terms of marketing in this industry; however was designed by a very reputable H N. Shore shaper and the owner do not say anything regarding that. Also many old surfers that looked at it said anything bad about the board; except ohh the fin and box is made in China and all those things but the board is a real dog (for all the guys who rode it) and really bad foiled. Here s the perception by the public that I talked in other comment: if was done by a not internationally famous guy, the board rap IS bad, if it s done by a star, all keep the mouth shout and try everything to try the board comes alive.
So, I m trying to lift my hand and obtain any attention to keep this labor the good way for the near future; because seems that future would be infested by these machined crappy things with famous names on it or in the other end hipsters doing funky shapes or retro shapes and treated like some kind of gurus.
All until we start to not have surf shops (real ones) or even work shops and some corporation dominated everything and sell all the boards (imagine those boards…only look at the skates, leashes, etc) in the supermarkets round the globe.
We hear you Reverb.
Even with machining, there is a right way, a wrong way, and any old way to get the job done.
The smart (or caring) guys using milled blanks for their models have rocker templates cut for each size that they can quickly match to the bottoms to see if they were machined correctly. Same can be done for deck rocker, rail configs etc… it just depends on what extent you want to go to and how much you trust the competence of who is machining the blanks.
Same guy cutting each time or luck of the draw?
Just because they are machined per a file, doesn’t guarantee that they ALL turn out exactly the same.
Then, on the other hand, just because they are handshaped, doesn’t mean they are better. Case in point, I had a couple friends show me an old Chuck Dent multi stringer longboard and ask me what I thought. I replied, “do you REALLY want me to tell you what I think”?
They looked at each other and said “yeah”!?
I told them it looked like whoever had shaped it, had gone to lunch and had a gallon of “Ripple” or “Red Mountain” for lunch then came back and this was the first one he shaped. I said, just because a board was made in the 60’s, and has a classic old label, doesn’t mean it isn’t a pile of shit."
So I guess there is a yin & yang to both approaches.
It really depends on how diligent the guy whose name is going on them as to what the end result will be.
If the guy is just into making as much money as he can and not into quality control, well… you know the answer.
Some guys start out with good intentions, then they get lucky or whatever, and somewhere along the line you see how the guy went from being a really good craftsman to a whore producing dogs.
… you’re only as good as your last shape.
A pop out is a pop out is a pop out… it shouldn’t matter how cool your logo is.
Howzit fiberglasshi, One nice thing about riding single fin is style, some thing that is lost with 3 fins. I just wish that we could get that style with 3 fins plus turning from the middle of the board is a single fin thing. Aloha,Kokua
Gotta agree with Kokua, riding single fins allows you to turn from the middle. That’s one of things I’ve found that I like about them. The multi finned boards are good if you stay on the tail all the time. I also like the way you don’t lose speed when you’re not on the rail. I think the refinements of rockers, rails and profiles benefit single fin boards quite a bit.
Properly designed tri fins are nothing more than single fins with leverage.
I have no argument that single fins promote a different kind of style conciousness, but I’ve seen a helluva lotta classic style in Santa Barbara inspired ny the likes of early day Curren on 1, 2 and 3 fins.
Hi Kokua,
We hear you, those lines from a single fin are oh so nice. Don’t mind the three fin either but the single fin sure is a distinct style that’s easy on the eyes.
wow read the whole thread,
now I will go to sleep…ambrose…
whew!
2014 the year
of the work horse?
I made an executive decision to come in and make some cuts here and there. I think it will save time for those who want to print it out for the use on the crapper.
