I searched online for a website but couldn’t find anything. What are the names of their surfboard companies, or do they just operate as independent shapers? Any dealers in Hawaii?
You get 'em right here on Swaylocks. That’s where I got mine. I’ve got a couple Loehrs and several Burgers.
OK, you have to find the materials yourself. But that’s easy, its all available - or shippable - pretty much everywhere.
Oh, one other thing. You’re the actual manufacturer. But everything you need to be that guy is right in here.
Not trying to be flip or sarcastic. I think its the truth. The two guys you mention have done more to put me on better equipment than any other shaper I’ve worked with, and I got my first custom board almost 20 years ago. The only hitch is, you’ve gotta do the hands-on stuff yourself.
Believe me, I’d love to get back into making boards again. Gotta find somewhere to work though, and space is hard to find on Oahu.
hey satori …
i cant speak for greg …
at the moment , im set up with nev hyman …
weve got a small facility (in commparison to others on the coast)up and running in south east QLD (gold coast ), but currently arent taking any orders from the public …
my previous business was in west oz , under the label sunova , i never had a website or did any formal advertising , but one of my customers in japan , did set up a japanese site to deal with the market there …
before i joined with nev , i came in with a years backlog , now that were in a posistion to increase numbers beyond my previous west oz capacity , that has come down to a 4 month backlog …
the technology i used under the sunova label is now owned by nev and is being sold under the surfburger label …
surfburger doesnt exist as a label in its own right , but merely is a description of the technology used …
the technology is available now under both the nev and sunova labels , with a small surfburger logo showing what the construction is …
we arent taking orders short term because even tho sunova is booked out for the next 4 months so is the nev label as well , if not longer …
so it was decided that we would restrict sales to existing customers , surf media and those within the industry and the pros …
so the factory we have now is stretched to capacity , you can still get nev branded urethanes (p/u p/e )
but nevs in surfburger technology are temporarily out of public sale …
we are in the process of getting a larger production happening , when we have a second facility up , then we will be looking at satisfying retailers and the buying public …
so if your looking for anything related to my boards you should find something on the NEV website or could get some idea from the sunova site in japan (buts it way out of date now)…
what we specialise in at nevs now , is different to what greg does , but closely related in materials …
gregs construction is more closely related to standard p/u /p/e techniques , but uses epoxy resin and eps core material …
we use epoxy resin and also an eps core , but in a completly different way to normal construction …
its called sandwich construction , where the board is built in layers , meaning we can put certain composites that are strong as the outer layers and weak ones that add float as the inner layers …
i have been working with greg on an official basis for a few months now , and while i hadnt had any real success with his style of construction in the past , i now understand that its more to do with the quality of the materials , mainly the resin …and other knowledge and materials which i never had access to in west oz …
recently greg sent some higher density eps foam glassed with one layer of fabric and his resin … i then got the same piece of foam and glassed the other side with one layer of the same fabric but a different brand of epoxy , the best one i could find down here in oz and which ive been using for about 6 or 7 years …
the difference is amazing …
i now realise that the difference between using gregs technique is way different to using his technique along with the materials hes developed specificly for surfboards …
ive seen similar comments from others about having tried gregs methods , but the best results are tied to the actuall resin system greg has developed …
were trying now to get a larger facility running that will do a range of constructions , ive tried to talk greg into getting his hands dirty again , so you never know , we may just see some loehr branded boards again ??
i dont know the exact details surrounding where, if any , that you can get a new loehr board now…
leave that one to greg …
also at nevs , we are also looking at releasing the technology under lisence , but we cant do that properly till we have our second facility up and running , so it can be used as the benchmark and the showcase from which others can get an idea of the systems to take and replicate ,plus act as a training point …
this whole mess with clark came 12 months to early …
other wise we would have been in a posistion to solve a lot of problems if we were more organised …
once were ready for public release , itll be common knowledge via sways and the established surf media …
regards
BERT
hi Bert !
I don’t know if you got in touch with him , but Ross at the longboard shop here was wondering if the boards he gets some time in the future will have the sunova logo on them still [or will they have surfburger or nev ?]
cheers !
ben
Bert, thanks for the info. I checked out the Nev website, I’ll keep an eye on it to see when your sandwich boards are publically available.
Joe
hey chip , same old sunova look and style (may get a changed logo tho ) with this surfburger logo small between the fins …
just waiting on some new rices at the moment …
ross can also get nevs if he wishes …
as nev was going to get me to shape his longboards in this tech , so a surfburger labeled Nev longboard would more than likely be shaped by me anyway …
because of having the two labels under one roof , sunova will be leaned towards the longboard scene and nevs focus will be on short boards …
but you will still see a nev labeled longboard and a sunova labelled short board , but for the sake of marketing and where each label will be directed to the public , thats our direction …
the bulk of nevs recognition has been through shortboards and his shortboard teamriders , where as mine has been through longboards and my longboard teamriders …
so it just kind of fell into place there …
ross is still on the list , being on the existing customer list …
so he would still get some boards out of us even tho we may not be officially selling them to the public yet …
i really have to clear my west oz backlog before he got any tho …
regards
BERT
actually speedneedle designed this logo then it had some salad added by another guy , ive been toying with the idea of a new sunova logo , but thats where im dependant on guys like josh , for there artistic skills …
cheers Bert !
I will let him know [maybe I / you could email him this photo …good idea ?]
ben
Hi bert! I’ve mentioned this before but I got no reply from you that time so I’ll bring it up again, OK here’s my situation: I’ve built myself a new shed for building balsa sandwich surfboards AND other materials like hemp and bamboo but for now most boards will be balsa sandwich. So if nev owns the tech will they come after me and tell me “hey you cant do that thats our technology.”? I know theres lots of secrets with your or nev’s technology and I am sure we’re doing things different but the final product looks pretty much the same.
I am not really thinking big money just wanna be the local shaper around producing better boards than pu/pe.
have got the RRepoxy,s-cloth and balsa ready…
Thanks,Jimmy.
Quote:
a small surfburger logo showing what the construction is …
Lettuce and tomato?
Mate … if you look closely you can see it’s a fair dinkum aussie burger with beetroot and tomato sauce … none of this pickles and mayo stuff.
A
Quote:
Hi bert! I’ve mentioned this before but I got no reply from you that time so I’ll bring it up again, OK here’s my situation: I’ve built myself a new shed for building balsa sandwich surfboards AND other materials like hemp and bamboo but for now most boards will be balsa sandwich. So if nev owns the tech will they come after me and tell me “hey you cant do that thats our technology.”? I know theres lots of secrets with your or nev’s technology and I am sure we’re doing things different but the final product looks pretty much the same.
I am not really thinking big money just wanna be the local shaper around producing better boards than pu/pe.
have got the RRepoxy,s-cloth and balsa ready…
Thanks,Jimmy.
I’ve been curious about that myself, yoshio…
I think that what Nev and Bert have done is brought together the “whole package” in a consistent, customizable, mass-producible form. They probably do have some mysto propriatary processes involved as well that are patentable and infringable, of which we know nothing about. As for making simple balsa-sandwich over eps boards the way that most of us here working on that have done, my personal feeling is that you are pretty safe. It would be tough to patent the idea of a balsa sandwich over eps foam, especially when they have been doing similar techs with windsurfers for years. Now, if you tried to sell those boards as “Nev/bertburger-style” construction, then you might run into trouble…
Of course, I did recently sell a board that was supposed to have been for a friend, it was a balsa sando… If bert is interested in the fee for the info he has provided, I’d be happy to send something along. I was already going to send a dollar to Simon Anderson, so maybe that would be a good precedent. 
not only is it hard to get a patent but it wouldn’t be a wise business decision. Because by getting a patent, you wold have to surrender your whole process in which you show how you make the boards. And the patents are available to the public. Just like coca-cola. The cola companies don’t patent their recipes because it pretty much is just sugar water and any joe can make it but instead they keep the recipe secret so no one can figure it out.
Rio
is there vegimite in that surfburger logo.
yea rio pretty much summed it up …the 11 secret herbs and spices …
all i gave was some clues to direction , you guys will still face many of the same problems and obstacles and challenges associated with these techniques , in the process you will find your own ways of doing things …
at the moment speedneedle has started working with us , as hes learnt a few of systems and seen some of the machines , one of his comments were "well i can see why you havent mentioned this one , looks like we’ll never see that on sways "
its the same with conventional board companies , you still have big ones and little ones , some crew stand out creating a more succesful product …
my original intention for the vacuum forming thread had 2 angles …
1 to put enough information out there , for crew to recognise i was doing something different and hopefully attract the interest of someone with the skills and connections to take it to the next level , while not of coarse putting everything out there so as to still have an advantage if heaps of crew followed this path …
2 to put board builders crying about imports and new tech taking over there markets in a posistion where there could go in this direction and get there markets back with technology without having to resort to thuggery to keep crew on p/u , but it would still take those with some initiative …
so to make boards that look like what i do isnt an issue , but if you tried to sell them with my brand then you still would be crossing the same laws that stop people making a p/u and putting a merrick label on it …
by others actually following this direction also works to consolidate our posistion …
what nev owns now , is the whole shooting match , the techniques , all the development to date , propriety equipment and all the production systems that make this direction profitable …
so while we realise others will imitate , it will also take some serious time ,to not only figure all the performance nuances , but also figure out production systems which allow greater volume , plus figure out the process and the arrangement of the different composite layers , then still have the needed skills and financial backing to take it to the next level , with which were already at …
all i asked in the original introduction was that if it ever made it to a production , that you at least remembered where you got it and give us a mention if you had the chance …
so no your not breaking any laws , if i was concerned about people imitating what i do , i would never have given anyone a look in the door …
just relax and start building boards , your still gonna have to figure out a whole lot of stuff yourself …
if i was giving you the complete list of processes , materials , trained you , set up your supply line , and gave you plans to all the equipment , factory lay out , managment structure , the financial models , and all the history associated with every facet of this construction ,then i would say you owe me something …
so no one owes me anything appart from some acknowledgement …
good luck and i hope things work well for you yoshio …
regards
BERT
Shwuz, me to is willing to pay some fee’s if bert wants and if not I’ll donate a few bucks to swaylock’s from every board sold.
Bert, thanks for your words and now I feel more relaxed about this whole thing.
And yes I think I’m going to face a lot of problems to keep the production profitable,
but I’ll try my best so I can keep doing what I like.
Again thanks for sharing on swaylock’s.
Hope to see those surfburgers in japan soon so i can feel your thoughts under my feet…
BIG THANKS, Jimmy yoshio shibata.
yep we are in for a full scale revolution here.
muuch like when Tom Blake publaished the plan in the popular mechanix.
he left out tthe waterproof glue and the screws,so nobody could have a successful go at it.
to think a little bht in the bread would make that much difference.
let me see if I walk to work 10 miles everyday till next august and put the money in a money market fund when the general public has access to the delivery I can get out the saw horses and give it a go?
aw shux mebe I just sand some 3/4 plywood and varnish it.
…ambrose…
is this any way to have fun
up the revolution
the revolution in the american colonies started when the unjust taxation on just about everything from tea and booze
and the conveyance of legal papers
drove the entreprenuers
to riot and revolution.
when was the australlian revolution…mc Tavish led the charge.
and he held back until the market share was favorible and the production facilities were adequate and the international patents were secure and the secret ingredients wer cornered on the world market and the media exposure had been completed.and all the cool pros were staring at their feet on cutbacks,now there is a world shaker for ya.
…ambrose…
cant wait well maybe I just have to
unless I just let the world pass by the place I’m surfin
on my mat ,or my other boards … the old fashioned kind.
The Surfburger label would have been so much more effective to those of us that know Nev if they were called Krusty Burger. Now that would of been a collaberation made in heaven.
That is of course if Matt Groening didnt sue you as Warner Bros was going to with Rabbit and the WB Bugs Bunny label years back.
Also Bert, best of luck once again with your new venture I think you may have taken me the wrong way the other day when I challenged you and Greg to step up the EPS thing to feel more like PU. Your boards as such are what I guess is called advanced composite sandwich contruct an obvious different kettle of fish and I know that ‘Super Grom’ will like them as well as soon as he wins a heat on one. I was referring more to Gregs style of shaped and glassed EPS. Since that time I have also learnt that the higher density EPS similar to PU with stringers can feel very similar and has less of the gaseous emission that causes delams once glassed. As I also said in that post, give me a board that feels like the boards that I love or better and actually lasts well and I am a full blooded convert.
Do you know if these higer density EPS are available in AUS yet? This foam must be denser than the Blue foam Salomon uses as well is that right?
Thanks.
“…if they were called Krusty Burger…”
naughty gumby ! NAUGHTY Gumby …smack smack smack !
[Oh wait …that should be the pony smacking YOU , shouldn’t it …silly me!]
the Aussie humour …ah yes …it’s a strange thing , inDEED !!
ben
yep thats the naughty pokey photo.
First off, Happy New Year to all, and I hope the hangovers are subsiding by now…
To Bert,
I’d inquired through the Nev site about purchasing a SurfBurger and was told (politely) to try back in mid-Feb due to the backlog. I’m just curious as to roughly when I’d get my hands on a board, from order to delivery, since your earlier quote was roughly 4+ months as opposed to next month. I’ve already decided to make an investment in one of your boards, but still have to plan when I’ll need to spend the money.
I’d also been quoted roughly 1000 AUD start price for a shortboard. From what I remember (correct me if I’m wrong) your boards were much more expensive than that.
Also, how customizable will the boards be in regards to rail shape, concaves, rockers, etc., and what is difference in flotation as compared to a pu/pe shortboard?
Thanks,
Paul