well , it looks like plan b …
a while back there was a conversation happening about new materials , new techniques, the pressure on the existing industry , i remember commending greg loehr for being willing to pound the pavement and bring new materials and concepts to the existing surfboard industry …
myself , having had my fair share of pounding the pavement and pushing something different , was quite happy to sit back and watch things change , for better or worse , it wouldnt really affect me coz ive got more work than i could do in a lifetime …
so ive decided i can do my bit for an industry that is feeling pressure from many sides , and thanks to swaylocks i can do it from the comfort of my own small production set up and not have to pound the pavement …
what ive got in mind for this thread is showing you guys the principles of vacumn forming and building custom sandwich boards …
i know some crew will think its crazy to just give so much away …
but ive been doing this for so long now that ive pretty much solidified my position in this field , i feel i dont have to hide things anymore , even if plenty of board builders went in this direction , it wont change anything for me , im not giving everything away , but i will show stuff that i was doing years back and some construction concepts thatll have some of you foaming at the mouth …the reality is , its not as easy as people think , to invent something then make big money from it , ive got to the stage where all i wanna do is go surfing and enjoy life , every possible way there is to make a dollar from intellectual property always involves , hard work , more hard work and sacrifices im just not willing to make anymore , lifes just to easy these days , hanging with the family , going surfing,skating,or sandboarding with the kids , and making a few boards each week , so if im just gonna sit on this knowledge and do nothing with it , then i might as well pitch in and help out with what i know …and if any of you guys run with it and incorporate it into a production , just remember me , where you got it , and maybe give me a mention …
for me thats a way nicer scenario then having to deal with corporate bullies who just wanna cut you out the picture , or run with your ideas claiming they own it , coz they have the money to say what they want …at the end of all this i might get some better offers or opportunities , you never know ???
i know the asian production houses can benefit from some of this stuff , but the ones that will benefit most will be the custom board builders , coz as it stands at the moment surftech have surged into an open market with no competition …companies like salomon and surftech have set a benchmark pricing structure , but none of them can deliver true customability , so already you should be able to see a margin there , plus a competitive edge …
the following comment is a quote from a customer email recently
As far as boards go – I’m not too fussed on price – you have something that no one else does… and I’m bummed if I have to surf anything else…
this guy is overseas , but the amount of crew who i see in the water and who come to the factory , who are so bummed out coz they dont want to wait a year for a board , but end up being forced to ride second rate equipment coz they have no other choice …
i know there are the knockers out there , but they only knock coz they cant compete , so they figure, better write off the emerging technology to save there own arses …
another motivation for doing this thread is to show cobra that they dont have all the answers …
at the end of this thread itll be common knowledge how to make a pvc custom sandwich board ,
but cobra will still have no idea about how i do my woodies and how i get the results i do …
thatll basically end there assumption that there leading the way in surfboard construction technology …
ive got everything i need in stock now to build this board , i said i was going to sell it , but i might keep it for myself , i wanna try something different with the outer glass job ,…
theres so many variations with the vacumn forming technique , mr j did a thread a while back , bluejuice does sandwich work as well , so if you guys wanna pitch in with some photos that show variations , feel free , especially the rails …if anyone has questions along the way ,jump in and ask …
im going to build this board around my current work schedule so it wont happen over night …
ill show the cheapest easiest way of doing each stage , plus ill show a few pics if you wanna step it up and go for a long term production set up , the type of equipment and tools youll need to build more …
ok i will start this baby tommorow …
the truman show starts soon …
one of the ingredients …
regards
BERT
