With no room to shape (I have to rent by the day!) and not much of budget this could be a godsend for me. Of course it’s still easier to hand shape at the moment but it seems we’re getting closer and closer to this.
I personally find designing on a flat screen really difficult. Much perfer doing it by hand. I don’t know if VR would really make it any easier. Looking at that first video it looks like yes, it would. But would it?
Shapelab can actually import models. Perhaps it could import a mesh exported from AKUShaper/BoardCAD/Shape3D? If so then you can, right now, view those Marco blanks in 3D and start shaping them.
There’s a VR party venue down the road. The software for this is $15 but it’s $15/hr. So, a total of $30 to give it a try. hmm… tempting. AFAIK the controls in Shapelab are aimed at sculpting - not useful for shaping like we do.
What do you think? I think it would be like exporting a mesh file from BoardCAD and then trying to shape it further in something like MeshMixer - not particularly useful as far as I know.
Having an app might make more people into designers.
In my experience, when even experienced shapers get onto the software they go through a major learning curve about how design works. Lumps, wobbles, strange shapes, unintended consequences are all part of the learning process as they try to get their models off machines. If they are lucky (like I was before I built my own machine) the machinist will clean up obvious flaws so the board is recoverable. Usually outlines and rockers are fine, but rails and bottom contours can be tricky.
Now picture inexperienced guys designing on their 'phone and trying to make all the 1/8" decisions they’ve never made before so they can send their file off to a cutting service. I reckon that the cutting service will essentially be redesigning the boards just so the cut will come out clean. All the overhead will be in this redesign phase.
The outcome may be that joe soap starts to appreciate the subtlety involved in taking “I want a board that can surf closeout beachbreaks and onshore slop” to a reality.
A more likely model is that the design software app will compare the joe soap effort by a search through an online warehouse for a similar design that is proven, and then recommend it, with the owner of the design paying per recommendation and joe soap paying for use/adaptation of the design.
This is good. Not only can you design a board with 3D, AKU or Board cam, you can have it CNC’ed. And now you can sit on the friggin’ couch and pretend you shaped an imaginary board. We’re a society of epidemic diabetes, obesity and C-pack machines. Lol
I would draw the line at VR. I do not want a ‘virtual’ shaping experience, I want a real experience holding the actual tools and materials in my hands.
Clicking on 20 drop boxes over the course of a minute to place an online surfboard order is not the same as spending the actual time designing, shaping, and glassing.
I use CAD and CNC to enhance my build process which is by hand. The CAD helps me visualize the board as it is being designed in my mind and drives the CNC to cut the 24" 60cm pieces for the templates I glue together to use for rocker on my homemde blanks and outlines for the boards. Then I use a hot wire, planer, anding blocks, etc…
I use an EPS and surfboard-grade epoxy resin material set as PU blanks and surfboard grade PE resin are not locally available and the resin has too high of a VOC content for setting up an ad hoc shop in the house during the long frozen winter. Fin boxes and surfboard grade glass cloth are by mail order.