The "Fun Czar" - A Bonzer/Twinzer Inspired Diamond Tail

Just picked up my latest creation from the glasser!!! Colors came out Siiiick! Went with a heavier glass job again so the weight feels like a poly board. Did the same on the previous shape and its holding up great, no real heal dents or dings and I've been riding it for about 7-8 months.

 This is similar to the Bing Synchronizer with a fishier nose, the same nose as the Shortbus model, my last shape. 
With the 5 fin box configuration and the deep double-concaves, there are tons of options to play with. First test ride was on a small weak day so I tried it as a twinzer  and that setup seemed to give me plenty of speed. It was very responsive and I got a couple nice close out turns that felt really good. 

It has a lot more hull in the entry than the last shape.

I gave it a little more rocker and kept it a little thicker in the tail since I narrowed the tail down a bit to work better with the single fin option. 

My little bubby Asher helped me every step of the way. 

Here's a vid of the shaping process and some of the first test rides.

Stay stoked!!!

James 

Shortbus 2.0 - Part 3

Just picked up the tasty Shortbus 2.0 from the Maya Shop a couple weeks ago. Jamie Tuttle did a sick job with the resin work, pretty much got the colors and swirl exactly right. He put a 6oz layer on the bottom, 2 layers of 6oz on the top and a 4oz deck patch on the top as well. It came out weighing 10 pounds, which is 2.6 pounds lighter than the first Shortbus I made a couple years ago. There's roughly 3.5 inches of rocker in the nose and 1.25 in the tail, slightly more than the Uber Plank by Lost. Super stoked on the final product!

First test ride was an early dawn patrol sesh, and it was a magical experience...

Second test ride was during Hurricane Joaquin. It was super fun and performed great even in the big stuff...

First few sessions I've had it setup as a quad with the nubster in the back middle. Seems to work great. Next I'll try it as a twin fin with nubster. 

Here is a video following the Shortbus 2.0 from the shaping bay to the sea. Enjoy!

 

Stay Stoked!

-James

Shortbus 2.0 - Part 2

The Shortbus 2.0 is done! Ended up at 5' 11" x 22" x 2 7/8" Just dropped it off at the Maya shop yesterday for glass! He said it should be ready in a couple weeks.

Picking up where the last post left off after mapping out the rail bands I got to work mowing foam in my new sideyard LaBoardatory. I found a lot of helpful info, drawings and diagrams on http://greenlightsurfsupply.com/pages/greenlight-surfboard-building-guide-a-z 

I used their boxy rail band instructions as a guide as well as some advice from Malcolm Knight of LongToe Surfboards based out of Charleston, SC. I found him on the Instagram a while back and really enjoy seeing the shapes he creates. He recommended drawing rail bands on the deck at 2 and 4 inches in from the rail. Really stoked on how the rails turned out. Here's a few shots of the process...

Slight hull on the underside...

Rails all done...

Had a little fun with the tail. My version of the "Arc Swallow Tail" that Manuel Caro puts on a lot of his Mandala shapes. Check out his website: http://mandalacustomshapes.com

Mapping out the fins and concaves...

Lots of sanding...

Finished product:

Deck is flat and rails turn down at 4 inches from each rail.

Rocker...Tail thins down quite a bit.

Bottom...subtle double concaves. 

Hull entry...

Outline...

Can't wait to see how the glass job turns out. He's going to have some fun with these colors...

Until next time.

Stay stoked!

-James

Shortbus 2.0 - Part 1

A lot has happened since the last post on here. Moved to a new bigger house (which came with a reeeeally nice big shed)...

2 weeks after moving in our little man Asher Kelly Samaha decided he would come a few weeks early...

So needless to say life's been crazy busy... We love this little guy soooo much! 

After painting about every wall in the new house, updating the kitchen and countless hours of unpacking and organizing I finally got around to setting up the lights in the back of the shed so I can shape again. 

Picked up a stringerless EPS blank from a local shaper and starting mowing foam the other night. Making another Shortbus for meself but this one will have a different thinner tail, a split arc tail to be exact, hoping to add some more maneuverability and hold, the tail and rails on the old one were too fat and sometimes it would slide out the back of the wave. Here's what I've done so far...

The blank...Nice and thick!!!

Outline...

Cut out...

Thinned down the tail...

Rail bands mapped out...

Rocker shot.

That's all for now.

Stay stoked!

-James

Almost Finless "Slipstick" is finished!!!

This was a fun build, learned a lot, made plenty of mistakes but it's watertight and super fun!!!! Glassed it with Aero Marine epoxy resin, and it turned out super light. Not sure I'll use Aero Marine epoxy again. Just found out that Solarez fixed the viscosity problem with their Zerovoc so now it should spread easier. I'll prolly use that next time. I got a new high powdered sander and found out the hard way that when you leave it in one spot for too long you get a little delam bubble... Hoping next board I can apply all I've learned from my trial and error and come out with a solid product. I tinted the hotcoat white to give it a distressed raw look. Came out looking pretty rad if I do say so myself.lol Here are some photos and a vid of the day after Hurricane Arthur, toward the end of the vid are some clips of me testing out the "Slipstick."

http://youtu.be/gUcTQvG8VV8

 

Almost finless "Slipstick" takes shape

Started working on this board a couple months ago, I set out to make an almost finless foam Alaia type board kinda like the Wegener Bluegill or the Anderson Slide and Glide...

I used insulation foam again and came up with this outline... 

After glueing 4 layers together I came up with a nice fat blank and started shaping...

Once I got it the way I wanted it I started throwing some art on it...

Decided to do something fun with the tail...

Updated my logo...

Started foiling some fins from an old broken skateboard deck...

In the process of glassing it now, should be done soon!!!

Stay stoked!!

James