Another T-Belly headed to the glasser...

This one is for Customer Sheila

These mini-pocket-rockets are just too much fun! If you can ride a boggie board you can fly on a TBG4!! 

The T-Belly saga continues...

Here's the latest iteration of my "T-Belly" belly board. With stringer-less EPS/Epoxy construction, and quad fins, this board is fast and responsive. 

The dimensions are 48" x 22-1/4" x 2" 23L. You can read all the technical stuff  HERE  These little gems are a blast to ride, and excel in marginal conditions. Plus they fit easily into the trunk of your car or the back of your truck. Don't leave home without one...you never know when an unexpected surf opportunity will present itself. Also, if physical ailments are keeping you from other forms of surfing, this is your ticket back into the lineup. Plus, a lot more soul than an SUP. Prices start at $299+tx

The last TBG3s...

These are the last two TBG3s. The one on the left is for a 300lb rider, while the one on the right is for a 170lb rider. The biggest difference in these last two G3s is the switch from a well-defined tail concave to a blended double concave tail with slight V. While I prefer quad fins, both customers chose the twin fin set-up.

I start work on the new TBG4 next week. This board will be 3" longer (at 48"), than my old TB3. The extra length will necessitate changes in the outline, the foil and fin position. 

Recent interview with MyPaipo.org...

Check-out my recent interview conducted by Bob Green of the MyPaipo.org belly-board forum. I'm building more and more of these fun little boards.

Pricing starts at $299. Contact me for more info or if you want to test drive one.

Purple Nova...

This 9-4 Nova 2+1 is nearing completion.

I've been pretty occupied with belly boards over the past month. Here are a couple of recent builds.

Follow this link if your interested in the story behind these incredibly fun shapes.













I've been working on a new longboard design that I call the "V-Pig". This is a pig-shaped, single-fin LB, with exaggerated tail-V. Ordered typically 12" shorter than your standard log, its a great change-up from your daily driver. Pig shapes have the wide point several inches behind center, which makes them very easy to turn. Add to that almost 3/4" of tail-v and you have a responsive log, that will go anywhere on the wave and offer noserides as well,

Couple of new additions...

Here are a couple of boards near completion. The first is a 43" T-Belly G2 waiting to have its gloss coat sanded.

Next is a 9-4 Nova for Nick which is waiting for a light sanding and some polishing.

Summer crunch is in full swing, with delivery times pushed out to 5 weeks. Still time to get that summer board before Labor Day.  Call today!

T-Belly Gen2 X 2...

Here's a couple of T-Belly G2s

This one is going to Customer Daryl in Oregon

And this one has already seen some testing at my local point...

T-Belly Gen 2 Build...

This is the second post on the T-Belly G2 build. The blank was given a sealer coat of epoxy resin and cabosil. The sealer coat helps to fill in the tiny pock marks left in the EPS foam after shaping, helps to prevent air from escaping the core and causing delamination after glassing, and generally provides a good adhesive layer for the lamination. After sealing, the blank was air-sprayed a light grey color. At this point the blank weighs 2lbs 4oz. Since the blank is stringer-less, I decided to use a layer of "VectorNet" between the blank and the 6oz cloth on the bottom. VectorNet is Kevlar netting woven into some very fine nylon mesh.

I'm hoping that the netting will provide torsional strength without the stiffness that you  get with carbon fiber. Here's the VectorNet draped over the blank prior to trimming.

And now, trimmed, with a layer of 6oz E-cloth. Normally, I would use 4oz cloth, but the VectorNet causes ridges beneath the fine, 4oz cloth, which can lead to sand-throughs during the sanding process.

And, finally, laminated with epoxy resin and "pulled dry"...sexy, eh?

The deck will also get a layer of VectorNet, but only in the back half of the board where the rider will be. I'm hoping this lamination process will yield a board that is strong and resilient, but also has a little flex.

Summer is just around the corner....

A quick check of the local surf conditions confirms that Winter is over and that it's time to break out the small-wave gear. Here's a few ideas for maximizing your fun quotient in small waves.


         


                48" T-Belly

5-4 Mini-Widget, 5-fin set-up

5-1 Mini-Widget, 5-fin set-up.

7-3 Widget 5-Fin Set-up

7-8 Kingfish with Gephart Marine-ply  Keel Fins




And, of course an irreplaceable 9-6 Single-fin Classic

Summer orders are starting to build, but current wait time is only 6-weeks. Wait a minute, in 6 weeks it will be mid-June!? Better hurry!

Sneak Peak at T-Belly Gen 2...

I've been working on a couple of belly boards, one of which is a prototype for the next generation of T-Bellys. Here are some photos of the early stages of the build. I plan to do a complete article on the whole project in  a couple of weeks.

Tenplate underneath is TB-G1

 

Every shape starts with a template, and if its a new shape, a new template is created. One way I create templates is to print out the full outline from Aku, carefully tape together the 8.5x11 sheets of paper, cut the outline, and trace it onto a piece of masonite.












After cutting and truing the big curves with my Hitachi Planer, I use a surform true up the smaller curves and finish with a bit of sandpaper.

The outline is then traced onto the blank and cut out. I have another planer set-up to just true the outline on the blank. With all the contours on both the deck and the bottom, shaping one of theses takes almost as long as shaping a longboard.

Here's the finished bottom viewed from the tail. Notice the defined tail concave and the elevated wing on the rails.

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Yesterday, my glasser applied the sealer coat to the deck. I like to have my EPS boards sealed with a slurry of epoxy and cabosil, It helps to fill in the little pock marks that plague EPS blanks, provides a great surface to bond the rest of the lamination, and helps to prevent de-lamination.

More T-Belly slidin'...this time in Peru

James, one of my customers from Nor Cal, was kind enough to send me this POV video of him enjoying a loooong left at Puerto Chicama, Peru.

Here's the T-Belly he's riding

T-Belly slidin' in the Pacific Northwest...

This is what summertime looks like on the 49th Parallel, 100 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. I shaped this T-Belly last January for John who lives in Northern Washington. I always enjoy seeing photos of my customer buddies riding my shapes. Thanks for sharing John!

T-Belly for John M....

I really enjoy shaping these little boards. Shaping all of the contours, while trying to maintain symmetry, balance and functionality, requires a high level of concentration and forethought. Its really a meditative exercise. Time flies by as the unwieldly blank (in this case a 6-8RP by US Blanks) morphs into a rideable shape. I had intended to take photos throughout the shaping process, but once I picked up the planer, I got lost in the process until I reached the point where the deck and bottom were roughed-out, but the rails hadn't been turned.

As can be seen, the rocker is extremely flat in the last 2/3 of the bottom. This makes the shape paddle fast and glide fast across the wave face. Here's the finished shape...

I use a sloped-deck approach which allows a nice, thin rail for hold on steep faces. There is a concave down the center of the deck to hel keep the rider centered. The thickness along that deck ridge is 2-1/4", while thickness along the stringer is about 1-7/8". Those gooves on the nose are rail-grips. They will be less apparent after glassing. The nose is scooped-out a bit (more noticeable in the photo above). There is a break in the curve or "hip" about 12" up from the tail. This should coincide with the location of the rider's waist while riding, and serves as a pivot point in the outline for turning.







Looking down the bottom from the nose to the tail, you can see the concave that runs out the back 14" or so. The bevel in the tail bottom starts at the hip in the outline and increases the rocker along the rail in this area. This bevel makes the board easier to turn as the board is rolled up on the rail to turn. The bottom is convex in the nose up to the point where the rocker starts to flatten. The bottom then stays flat until the bevel and concave in the tail. Asymmetrical twin fins are placed 4" up from the tail, in the flat area between the bevel and the concave. Fin toe-in favors speed over turning.

Bottom showing both concave and bevel

Right-side tail bevel

Next, the board goes to Ray for Ice Blue resin tint, bottom and rails, clear deck inlay and yellow pinline.