Ready for glassing...

Finished the 9-1 yesterday and placed it in the glassing rack.

 Board features shallow nose concave with double concave through moderate tail-V. Dimensions are 9-1, 18x22-3/4"x14-1/2"  3-1/8". Board will be finished with a tri-tone rootbeer resin tint tail, topped with beige opaque band, and then clear in the forward 2/3 of the board. fin set-up will 2+1 with Future boxes.

Back to SUPs....

A new longboard...finally

After doing way too many SUPs and Mini-Simmons boards, I have the opportunity to do a cool little LB. This one will be a 9-1 Nova Speedster 2+1 with some trick rocker and bottom contours. The customer selected the cool T-Band using 1/16" Cedar-1/8" Basswood-1/16" Cedar.

Here where I left off. The blanks has been skinned and about 90% foiled. i still need to tweak the rocker in the nose and tail, and then adjust thickness at both ends as well. At this point, I'll  lay out and cut the template. After that I finish the bottom contours, do the aforementioned tweaks and then  turn the rails.

Waaay too many SUPs...

The shop has contracted with three different manufacturers to build SUPs, and I've been up to my eyeballs in   finish-shaping.

I've done maybe 10 of these in the last few weeks and still have another 10-20 to go. Most are pretty straight-forward, but some (like the one above) arrive with a ding or two that needs to be "fixed". Just part of the gig. EPS foam is much harder to finish than polyurethane foam due to its bead-like structure. Impossible to get that polished satin finish, especially along the stringer. Its factory production work, for sure. Not very rewarding, but it has given me a ton of experience with EPS foam. My summer board this year will be an EPS longboard in the 10-ft range. A cruiser to challenge the SUPers on small days in the cove. Can't wait...

Only thing I miss about San Diego...

The occasional clean, shoulder high Spring morning in Cardiff with only one pesky SBer.

Wall hanger finds a wall...

I really like the shape of this 7-6 Nomad. Its one of my favorite templates, a cross between a Velzy egg and a Martinson egg, with a little more peak in the nose (my input). Add a couple of feet in the middle, and it would make a pretty nice longboard shape...hmmm. Here it is in its final resting place...

Mini-Widget for Joe...

In an earlier post, I documented the shaping of my mini-Simmons design, which I like to call the "Mini-Widget". After lamination and hotcoating, the Futures boxes were added ansd the leash cup, followed by more sanding and a lot of polishing...

And, here's the final result...

    The Mini-Widget is a great small-wave alternative to a longboard or a fish. They can be built with a variety of tails including wide arc-tail, straight, or a fish like notched-tail. Fins can be twin keels, or quad.
Contact me if you want to try a demo.

Cleaning-out the demo quiver...

Time to let go of some of these demo boards....

Nova 9-6 18x23x14  3-1/8   $599

Nova 9-6 18x23-1/8x113-3/4  3   $599

Hybrid 5-fin 6-8 13"x20-1/2"x15"  2-5/8"  $465

6-4 Stubby 2+1  14-1/2"x22"x16"  3"  $399

Email me for more pix and info tp4surf@gmail.com  PayPal, Visa, MC, Amex accepted

Sweet fins...

Here is the Tyler Warren Quad Set from True Ames:

There are a couple of things worth mentioning about these beautiful fins. The rear fins have a slight amount of foil on the inside surface. This produces a smoother feel, especially during turns. These "80/20" foiled fins seem to work best when the rear fins are set closer to the stringer. The Future-based fins have a shallower base on the rear fins to accommodate the thinner part of the tail where they are placed. FCS fins don't have this problem. These fins are a sandwiched bamboo/Hexcore construction, keeping overall weight very low. This particular set is destined to be used on 5-4 Mini-Widget currently being glassed.

Wall Hanger, Part 2...

Finally got its turn on the glassing rack...

We spent a lot of time adjusting the color before mixing up the final batch. I wanted a color that would be just "a shade" darker than hi usual Ice Green. Ray takes a piece of scrap foam and a piece of scrap cloth to test how the color will look on the blank. Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with the results...at least so far.


Typically, the bottom of the board is laminated first, with the cloth lapped around the rails. The "lap" is then evenly trimmed on the deck side. Next, the deck will be laminated with one layer of 6-oz cloth and one layer of 4-oz cloth, lapped onto the bottom and trimmed. Board will then be ready for hot coating.

Beach-campin'...

Just spent a few days at my favorite beach campground. I'm totally sold on the whole travel-trailer thing. I've tent-camped on this point before and its not much fun, especially with the wind. Pretty windy this day, too, and the surf was blown-out. I hung out inside, drank coffee, read my new Surfer's Journal and watched the ocean. SJ has a great article on Aussie shaper Tomo. Had me reading Lindsay Lord's book Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls. Same book that inspired Bob Simmons. Interesting stuff...in a shaper-geek sort of way.