new surfboard, a twin fin 5'8''

a new twin fin just come out of the bay......

I've been lazy with blogging but have been doing some nice peaces at the bay and it's a shame not shear with you, so I think I'll be less lazy with blogging and post the new surfboards that are coming out of the shaping bay.

D'Arcy Surfboards keeping it clean...shaping up Benny's board

Thanks to the talents of Benny Morison for putting this and many other awesome D'Arcy shaping video's together....

#9- 5'7'' Fish

There has been a 5'10'' fish blank sitting in my room for over 3 months just begging me to do something with it. Now with winter break in full swing I have finally had time to shape it. I was fortunate enough to get to shape it in the FOAM EZ shaping box. Its a great set up, there is literally every tool in there you need to correctly shape a surfboard. There is good lighting, the planer is hooked up to a vacuum for minimal foam dust, and even a small radio and c/d player to get your jam on. It got all the bells and whistles in it and its a convenient place to shape if you don't have an ideal set up at home like myself. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to shape a surfboard whether they are first timers or veteran shapers. Thanks Brad @ FOAM EZ for letting me use this great set up!

Because of the portable shaping bay this was the best surfboard I have ever shaped. Granted this is only my 9th one and I am not ashamed to say there is still probably some problems with it. Before using the FOAM EZ shaping box I would shape at home under insufficient lighting and making due with my limited tool resource. But now I can see after using the shaping box how much it helps to have proper lighting to see all of the lumps and imperfection in the blank when you are shaping. So it is for that reason that this surfboard has turned out better that the ones before.

I shaped a 5'7'' keel fin fish. 17" nose, 21 1/2'' wide, 16 3/4'' tail, and 2 5/8'' thick. I carried the thickness throughout the entire blank so it is a full shape and very buoyant. Which is what I intended because this is going to be my small wave board. After doing some research and looking up dimensions and outlines of other fishes my board is pretty standard, except for the tail. I came across a popular Australian shaper Daniel Thomson of Tomo Surfboards. He has studied the aerodynamics of fighter jets like the F-18 and has applied the same theories to surfboard design. This has allowed him to come up with some very interesting shapes and designs that seem to work very well. For fear that I will not explain his ideas correctly go to his website here tomosurfboards.com for more info. One particular aspect of his design that seemed to make sense was in his tail shapes. You can notice in the first picture the tail is not a traditional swallow tail. I turned the swallow design into two straight angles instead of a singl curve because Daniel Thomson's theory is that water flows faster off of straight edges and should therefore get a little more speed out of the board. I know that there is a lot more going on as far as foil and rocker goes in Daniel Thomson's shapes than what I did on this fish but I like his concept. I don't know if this tail shape will make a difference or not but the nice part about shaping your own board is giving this stuff a try because there is no lose if it doesn't work.

Next stage is fin placement and installation then onto glassing. I have decided to try my first resin tint on this board. So stay tuned for more updates on the process of my 5'7'' fish. This resin tint is either gonna make or brake the outcome of this board for me.

***All photos are courtesy of my friend Brian Kucera, check out his website briankucera.com**

-Daniel Thomson inspired tail

Alpine Horn

This new little ink drawing has become the new logo for the 5'9'' single fin surfboard that is still in the works. One step closer with this lam. This came about from some brainstorming with my friend and I. Swiss Alpine Horn men never get the respect they deserve.

Check back for more updates on the single fin surfboard. Glassing should start soon.

New Exploration

Here is a new 5'9'' single fin I am shaping for a good friend of mine. This is going to be the 8th board I have shaped and I just want to say I have the greatest respect for anyone who shape surfboards. The first board I shaped awhile back was more out of curiosity than anything else, just to see how the process of making a surfboard really worked. After hacking out my first board my curiosity grew because I knew what I did wrong the first time (which was just about everything imaginable) and wanted to correct it on the next one. So this curiosity has now brought me up to board #8 and I still have many more mistakes to correct. But shaping a board is a lot of fun for me because there is constant learning involved and the satisfaction of finishing a large project like this is feels good. Slowly but surely my baords are getting a little better each time, almost to the point where I can pass them off as functioning surfboards...

My good friend was brave enough to let me shape him a board so we have collaborated and came up with this, 5'9'' round tail single fin, with a double concave on the deck. We were inspired with the idea of a concave deck after watching a clip of Ryan Birch riding a fish with a single concave deck www.http://www.korduroy.tv/2009/ryan-burch-pink-fish-pt-1 found on korduroy.tv As he explains, the whole idea is the same concept as a skateboard deck, there is a more grippy and connected feeling with the board because of the curved surface of the deck. As of now the board just needs to go through finish sanding and it will be ready for the funnest and by fun I mean most stressful part for me, glassing.

Stay tuned for more updates on the production of this board!

The faster surfboard: Skin friction and the 'contact angle' of the surfboard surface

It is well known that the molecular structure of the watercraft's surface can have a dramatic effect on skin friction.Surfboard designers and builders have not often taken advantage of this fact except in the use of temporary surface coatings.What I am suggesting is that the surface of the surfboard ( the resin and glass) has a measurable contact angle which is not particularly beneficial in the drag stakes... this can be improved either by adding a surface coating or by adding other substances to the resin. We have had good results with a graphite resin additive in the past, the board with graphite coating needs to be electrically charged by hand polishing ( no wax!) in order to improve the contact angle.http://www.ramehart.com/goniometers/contactangle.htmThe contact angle and water sheeting properties of some surfaces are not always fixed, for example there is a titanium coating in use which is activated by uv light to improve its sheeting properties, this process is temporary (or semi permanent ) and needs to be repeated Or to put it bluntly:It is possible to make the surfboard surface itself out of a material which is lower in drag than resin due to a molecular structure which ATTRACTS WATER There are contact angle measurement devices for sale out there I would love to get one to test various resin additives, the beauty of it is that a lower contact angle means lower drag guaranteed so there's no speculation involved . . . if one has the measuring gadget.http://www.ramehart.com/goniometers/contactangle.htmHere's a board with a graphite coated bottom and fin, it was very fast

Singlefin 6 footer panels all ready for lamination

6'4" JC Peter Mel Machine

Size: 6'4" X 19.38 X 2.3

This shortboard is from Surftech and is aimed at the bigger surfer, or in my case the older one.

It has a slightly wider nose and tail than the generic 6'4" shortboard. The volume was also spread out through the board, which made the board very floaty for its size.

The board was quite sensitive to vibration (due to its PVC Sandwich). This is a feature of Tufflites, whereby you feel every bump in the water. So from the off it had a different feel.

It could paddled great and was super at getting into waves. Once up it was fast and loose and surfed really well. Just writing this makes me want another one (had to trade for a winter wetsuit).

The finish was quite good. The baggage handlers on a trip to Lanzarote managed to put a compression on the deck and the previous owners dog chewed the corner a bit, but normal use did not leave a mark.

If your comfortable on Surftechs and are a Bigger, older or novice shortboarder, I really recommend this board.

Rating: 4/5