Anyone interested in buying a vintage (~late 80’s) genuine Clark PU blank? I have 3 that were intended for some projects that I now realize will never happen.
Basic dimensions:
Blank1: 7’ x 22-3/4" x 3-1/4 Single thin RW stringer
Blank2: 9’-11" x 26-1/2" x 4-3/4" Double stringers separated by about 1-1/4"
Blank3: 10’ x 24-3/4" x 4-1/2" Single RW stringer
Location: North County San Diego
If interested, message me for more info.
mtb
Those things are old!
They look older than that. I guess you could say the are "vintage". AKA really old. How much?
I’ll give you a C-Note for them.
Can you post a pic of the bottom area with the stencil logo and blank/density ID? I know my memory isn't that great, but I thought I'd be able to figure out at least one of those. And I'm stumped...
They may not be as old as people think............ at least anyone who has blanks sitting outside for a few days see how incredibly fast they brown like this. Still, those blanks look like some old models of Clark's. On 2nd htought, after pulling up the side profile attachment, these things are really whacked. The middle one looks like it has negative tail rocker from abuse. The volume distribution is pre natural rocker days as well. Sorry to say, but you should be reported for blank abuse.
On a lighter note, Renny and I were at the factory one day (old quonset hut Beatty days), and I had a shaped blank sitting outside against the wall for a picture. Renny mentioned how quickly they start changing color. Then we started getting silly, and I said "maybe you should shape some old school Spoons, and I'll quietly take them home and let them brown nicely. Put on one of your super old production numbers on them, and I'll glass them with Volan cut laps and do it all early day style. Then you can appraise them for some big fat amount, and we will split the take and keep our mouths shut"!
Of course we were joking around, but NO DOUBT this has been down already. I'd actually do an old longboard style this way just for fun if I could get the old acrylic W.A.V.E. Dork, Greenough Stage 3, Weber Hatchet, or similar to sink into a resin/glass cavity box or set up with a Wonder Bolt. Are any of those fins or the molds still around???
Atttached is a photograph of the bottom of the double stringer blank. It is stenciled: “Clark Foam”, “1st Quality”, and “Super Green”. There are a few other markings closer to the nose (one of which you can see in the picture), plus what looks like stenciled “ML_J” and “O T” – but they aren’t complete letters so there’s some uncertainty
The 7’ blank is stenciled: “Clark Foam”, “1st Quality”, and “Light”.
The single stringer long blank is labeled: “REJECT” Examination suggests that the blank was rejected because there is a thin layer of denser foam on the rear bottom area that needs to be removed with a power planer (I think it would be a real chore to remove with a surform).
All three boards are close to flat in the last 4’ of the blank. The two 1st Quality blanks have a slight positive rocker (they were chosen because they were nearly flat) . But the REJECT blank has concave rocker–a whole 1/16" to 1/8" in the last 4’ of the blank. So CONGRATULATIONS are in order! You obviously have very good eyes! – Not many persons would be able to deduce that slight a concave from the picture!
To make the rocker statements a bit more quantative, if a 4’ long straight edge is placed on the rear four feet of the blanks and tangent to the foam 2’ forward of the tail, the vertical clearance of the straight edge at it’s two ends is about 3/8" each for the 7’ board and about 1/2" each for the “1st Quality” long blank. Moving the straight edge forward indicates a similar rocker continues forward for the next 2’ as well.
As far as their age, the long blanks were purchased in the late 80’s with the intent to make a couple of windsurfing boards. But I damaged my shoulder when wind surfing and couldn’t surf for a year. I decided that I’d rather surf than sail, so
they sat in my shed till the present. The short blank was intended to be used in an experiment.
mtb
I looked at that double stringer and instantly knew it was a sailboard blank. The standard stringer setup for the day allowing the fin box and mast track to fit snugly between the two stringers. The fin boxes still blew out though. We figured out a gazillion ways to improve that problem, but by then most of us had learnned how to land off wind after getting 50 ft. of air........
Up on the nose (bottom) there will be a code for which mold was used, it'll be a length with a letter (or two) after. That's what I was curious about, for the small blank in particular. I'm not surprised I don't remember the sailboard blanks, I didn't shape a whole lot of those.
Almost exactly 20 years ago, I was starting work on my first plug for Clark. A very educational experience, great memories....
[quote="$1"]
I'll give you a C-Note for them.
[/quote] Really SD? Is this some new form of self flagellation like the Assassin in Da Vinci code? LOL...........
P.S. ....looking at those blanks again, if I had made some of my sailboards out of those puppies back in the 80's, my teamriders would have skinned me alive, or at least poured honey all over me and tethered me atop an ant hill near Jalama.
I don’t see anything stenciled on the bottom-nose besides the already mentiioned “Clark Foam”, “1st Quality”, and “Light”. There is a hand written “W” or “M” (i.e. not stenceled and not sure which way is “down”) – but no indication of a length.
mtb
PS. (for SurfDing):
I kept a second short blank for myself. The stencils on the bottom of it are: “Clark Foam”, “1st Quality”, and “SuperBlue”. But in addition, there are the following stenciled labels: “MS3/16BAS”, “820”, and “BOG”, plus a hand-written “F46” above a “2”. Is one of these is the labeling that you were seeking? …if so, which one?
Thanks for your interest in the blanks.
mtb
Update: All three blanks were just bought and picked up. (10:10 AM 7/10/2010)
…I remember that about 20 years ago a customer brought one of these wsurf blanks to shape a longboard…
reminds me the extreme thickness for a surfboard those blanks have.
Here, from time to time was very difficult to locate decent plugs or right plugs for an intended design.
saying that, the board still alive, but in very bad conditions, in a surfschool
so, for the logo, is very possible that those blanks were from middle 80s
I didn’t see a mold number on the short one, but the logo is in a really groovy font…check it out
[img_assist|nid=1052305|title=old clark logo|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=480|height=640]
The windsurfer blank was a 10-1A. NO idea what to do with that one yet…its dang near 5 inches thick.
The reject blank had no info on it that I could see…but its shaping up OK…over 4 inches thick to start. Since it had SO much nose rocker I could only think of one thing to do with it… so it’s now 8 feet 23 inches long and pointy.
[img_assist|nid=1052306|title=old clark 10 foot blank with mongo nose rocker|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=201|height=640]
thanks for the blanks MTB…I’m having fun (and lots of planer practice).
Glad you found a buyer, in typical sway's fashion, we had turned this into a shaper's trip down memory lane. All you wanted to do was sell the things....
I'm very surprised there's no code for the mold used on the tip of nose bottom. The other markings (letters and #s) you mention refer to stringer, glue team leader, and other internal Clark info. They could look at a blank and tell just about everything about it - who poured it, who glued stringer, etc.
That shaped blank reminds me of what someone told me once:
"you clean up pretty nicely"
Hi Keith,
I’m glad to hear that you’e been having fun with the REJECT long blank. Sure changed for the better in appearance!
PS. (What’s with the 8 feet 23 inches? – that’s only 1 inch shy of 10 feet 
Thank YOU. For those of you who don’t know, MTB is a scientist (in real life) and while picking up these blanks I got to see his hydrofoil board (with articulating front foil and fixed rear foil), which was a treat.
Maybe we could entice him to post a photo or two of it here…
PS 8 foot 23 inches is a joke, it’s 9’11". Also because I could never figure out the metric system. Ha ha.
seconded…let’s see the hydrofoil!
