Rocker and Blank Question

[Smokin Rock]

the playboy bunny wafting on the toothbrush of life?

[T Hall]

Hi Headwax,
Just got done making a new round of boards for this winter and I may have some useful info. I don't use dion blanks myself I use clark foam 6'9"A blanks in green density. Part of the reason for the big blanks is my rockers and thicknesses don't fit in the kneeboard 6'2"C blanks. Yes I do adjust the board back or foreward to get the correct nose rockers. I used to order special blanks because of my preference for flat tail rocker but I get the same shapes for less out of the 6'9"As. The 6'9"A blanks have so much room that you can get a full range of shapes out of them. The smaller kneeboard blanks are so close in tollerance that you are really limited as to what you can shape out of them. As far as the lightweight blanks go the green blanks have only 4% more foam density than the next lighter weight foam which is the blue blanks. I don't go any lighter than the blue because kneeboarders tend to punish their decks a bit more than foot surfers do. I don't really notice much difference in the two because I prefer heavy glass on my boards and they are still fairly light weight. So there you go, good luck in your blank quest and let us know what you use and how it came out. Later, T Hall.

[T Hall]

Hi Andrew,
I think that the availability issue of the clark foam blanks is just a regional thing. It would be hard for me to get Dion blanks or othor aussie blanks here in California. As it would be difficult for you to get blanks made in the USA in Auatrailia. Although you could probbly order one, the shipping would just kill you. I am sure that you Aussies have a wide variety of kneeboard blanks to choose from. You mentioned that the rail volume wasn't quite enough on some of your boards. I have experienced the same thing on some of the blanks here in the USA that didn't have enough thickness for me. As a heavy rider,(220 pounds), I need the additional volume in the rails for the board to perform well, and with some of the smaller blanks you just couldn't get the necessary float out of them. With all of the innovation and with the level of kneeboarding going on in Oz I'm sure that someone has the blanks for you. Let me know which blanks you choose and, if possable the demensions of the blanks. It's always neat to see what kind of kneeboard innovations are going on in othor parts of the world. Thanks and I'll see you later, T Hall.

[T Hall]

Hey Haedwax,
I have been surfing so much that It's been 3 weeks since I've been on line. So how did your board come out? Last I heard you had the first lam on it. I kind of figuered that you've been riding it instead of yapping on line. I have four new ones this year. Three traditional quads and one tri fin with foreward mounted fins. I did alot of playing around with the fin sets this time around. I took a little of the base length out of the foreward fins and made the rear fins really skinny and a little bit narrower in the tips. Moved the fins up an inch on my 5'8", moved the fins up a 1/2" on the 5'7", and made a direct copy of my old trusty 5'6". The tri fin board I hav'nt ridden yet but it is the same board as the 5'8" but with 5.25" side fins mounted 16" up and the third fin is 3.75" and 7" up from the tail. All pintails with my own template, rockers, thicknesses, custom fins of my own design, and even custom pads( that were a real challenge to find the correct material) Can't wait to get the thruster in some hollow beachbreak. Anyway I think that I spent to much time on designing theese boards, glad they're done at last and it's time to surf. Let me know how you like your new board and I'll talk to you later. T Hall.

[K-man]

wax man,

yes...all this stuff is of interest-what else to do with our lives!
I'm interested in your last comment about fin angle[toe in] What did you start with?And why do you want to toe them in further?
Several of my boards have fin angle close on the nose,and I like the way turns can be snapped quicky-on the other hand my flashpoint fins are toed out 2''off the nose,and I feel that I need to draw out my turns more.Not a complaint,just different.And you?

K

[john -]

hny wax!

agree with the toe in re track affect however, once the path has been set and its time to change course i think one really needs to power through to overide the previous course and set the new one (it is this i feel that may be what turns people off quads with toe in) and then same again and so on - its like a pattern of smooth/rough smooth/rough - works best when smooth is off the botom and rough is banging off the top

your piviot ? from elsewhere - are you talking design theory or body position theory or both

in terms of my own piviot theory - which was in part an aspect of my standup riders do better in crumbling sections theory from a long ago post - cos their back foot allows a stronger piviot point - watching the sparrow on the vids and the fact on a number of sections he rides longer boards from the back which gives him seemingly more piviot from the back - like a standups back foot

im wondering if this adds the the asthetics of his surfing, particulaly from the vertical point of view - more board out in front works(???) and looks better - not sure if it feels better to the surfer - the Parkes is the most foward ive been on a board and when a good wall presents i love the up and down but i think it does not look as radical as the same move made on a board ridden further back due to the visual of seeing more board go vertical up and down


exscuse my rambling - not much surfin due to crap summer weather and nooooooswell for weeks but quite relaxed and have had to push myself to type - school teachers summer holiday life - swell in the morning they predict - im not holding my breath - but i will watch now and then before bed for inspiration to be up at 5.30 before the wind just in case

dorje

[K-man]

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:07 am


mornin,read through that post[which I had missed]And don't think I could or want to disagree with your choices.Our styles seem to be quite different,and no doubt the waves we surf are also quite different.
I surf more off the tail,and my noses are well pulled in,wide point back 1'' from center rail fins [tri]set out 2'' off the nose.
On the other hand,my little rockets,flat-1-1/4 tail rocker flat deck-2-5/8'' thick.Almost flat bottom,slight single to double.Fins are right on the tail[twinzer]and toed right to the nose,and the board goes like a bat out of hell-as long as it's under head high.After that it's outta control.
Anyways I see your point..You use more rail for your style,and use your body weight to make turns.Personally I don't have a preference-both boards are fun to surf,and are used for different scenarios.
Don't think toeing my fins out further would help with my style-besides,hart would no doubt get all sweaty if I even suggested it

cheers

[red]

Remember that when you are turning the board is at an angle to the water both front to back and rail to rail. The nose tends to come up a bit and the outside rail goes up. The fin foil then acts to pull the tail+rail of the board into the water (because the fin is at 45 degrees or so from vertical). This will be directly down in the case of fins that are not toed in and a combination of forward and down when fins are toed in (the outside fins are usually out of the water so have no effect). If the foil is good and the toe-in moderate then the result should enhance the turn.

By the way, fin camber probably expresses as a similar phenomenon. Fins that are highly cambered (like Baden's for instance) come more vertical during a turn so pull the tail in more and may make for a tighter turn.

Fin foil is an undervalued resource. Pity FCS produce so many fins with crap foil (the AM rear fin, for instance)

[K-man]

howdy red,
All very tidy and well said.AS to surfing the flashpoint that pretty much sums it up.
On the other hand,if surfing one of my fat little biscuits,fins on the tail-toed way in[ then the situation changes,When turning that critter it would start with leaning back,since I'm on the tail.
Now leaning back to me is not efficient,so what I do is to lean out over the board,and with the board level,weight forward,snap the board around in a level position and continue.I don't know that It would work with fins toed out.....Anybody?

K

[K-man]

waxie,

A brief explanation of center point 1'' back.
I surf more off the tail and a bit more upright [Without the butt wiggling ]So,when hart understood my style and what was needed,He widened out the tail [18-1/4 and increased the volume in that area,wide point back 1''[23-1/8]then pulled in the nose[16-1/4]Since I like to go vert,and since I'm more on the tail IM using way less rail,and don't want to catch rails.
Yes, the better,and bigger it gets the better I like the way it rides.bUT...it goes pretty good in junky conditions[up to a point]In that case nobody,is doing anything.
Fin toe......The smaller it gets the more the board feels tracky[to me]
At that point I realize that I prefer fins on the nose in small conditions.
At some point in the future,Whe this board is a bit worn,I'll have the rail plugs replaced and toed right in.We'll see.....

cheers