Pickle Nose ???

[quadfin]

Quadfin, Bud

with a tri I think you'd have some strange effects happening around the centre fin - eg what I think is "cavitation".

As far as needing more horse power? Every time I see a body board riding hooting along I realise how little planing area we need. On the opposite spectrum, who would have thought a barefoot skier could, well... barefoot ski?

Then there's modern windsurfers. The more planing area they have the slower they go.

Just an observer of the art of board building but do know something about cavitation and venturis. On cavitation...don't know if you could create a bottom design that would create the pressure to compress the air bubbles enough to create true cavitation. The entrained air coming into the slot is going to escape in the direction of least (negative) pressure, which will be in the direction of the water flow off the bottom and not into a compressed pocket (positive) on top of the slot. Air venturis or vents on top of the slot is interesting but will require an air entrance entering perpindicular to the fluid entrance/exit into the venturi. Venturis are touchy animals though and require a constant fluid flow in most cases to keep the vacuum through the air side. With the constant shifting of the board's bottom don't know if you could keep this vacuum. With air "vents" without venturis on top of the slot I would assume that you could relieve the postive pressure on top of the slot and create a negative pressure at times. Don't know what type of effect you are trying to achieve but think this would cause the board to sit down or get sticky.

In industry, specifically water treatment, we use Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) to create a blanket of very fine bubbles to create what is basically a flotation blanket. The fine bubbles create a surface tension (drag) because of the increased surface area of the fine bubbles. I have a unit that uses a venturi to create these bubbles and it requires at least 25 PSI of incoming pressure to create enough pressure drop to pull a vacuum through the air side of the venturi. Would think the creation of large bubbles would be more beneficial and achievable in a surfboard bottom, but not sure how to create or control those proper size air bubbles. Will cease rambling and get back to work.

[toofast]

First off , I have to say, THANKS for all of the imputs, comments, complaments, and openness. At the gathering ,I did see some nicly shaped boards.
I`m glad to see that my boards make people think. Thats partly I why I do something different. Another part is, I want to ride something different (outside the box). Another part is I think my boards fit my style. Aggressive. I have been called nuts, crazy, stupid before when i`ve been out in the water because of waves i`ve dropped in on.

Headwax.... When I was shaping the board (single stringer), I found out that I did have to be careful with the nose. Very flexible. When I get it in the water and if I break a tip off, the next one will have at least 2 stringers.

hart.....I tried to post a couple of pics of my boards here and it didn`t work. it said that either the pics were to big or they were corrupt. I don`t which is right. So i`m working on solving the problem..... As for the black boards... the black is done with pigment. When I had my first board shaped back in the late 70s,I was told that it would be best to have the black in the pigment because it wouldn`t show the pressure dings as bad. It costs me a little extra, but oh well. With the black, I do have to keep them covered or the wax melts off. I like wax only on my boards.

Darcy....The board I rode most of the time at the gathering was my 5'er. The other board I brought was my 4'9". The 5 footer is looser then the 4-9. I also have a 5-3 that I do ride every so often. Again, all black.I have riden other members boards and they seemed to un-responsive.I know ther aren`t . I know its due to me being used to my boards. I will keep trying different boards to see the differences and maybe ,I will find one that will change me. But on the other hand, who will step up and try one of my boards ??

beeline....I`d like to get together and catch some waves. Maybe you could try a small board. Do I here CONVERSTION ??

[Beeline2.0]

..

[hart]

toofast..

black pigment is good..so much better than black paint..just harder to do.

I can't do this either but the pics have to be made smaller in size.

you can always send them do the Don and beg him to do it for ya..I have before..

I'm stoked that your stoked.

hart

PS

Quadfin, it was all good..I want to hear some more

[toofast]

beeline...you`er on !!! Just to let you know, when i`m just out screwing around, I have stood on my head on MY board before. Not for long though. I`m teaching myself how to surf backwards.I don`t mean being on my board facing the tail,but, doing a 180 and going tail first. I can do it now but not consistently and for long as I want. Curtis and yogisurf have seen me do it
I`m glad to hear that you're open to trying one of my boards. You`ll have a few choices..4-9, 4-10, 5-0, 5-3. I`ll gladly ride your board. All we need is some waves...

[toofast]

I have question for you headwax.. is your boards concaved on the deck or on the bottom ??.. One of my boards has a little concave on the bottom and I feel that it helps it stick to the wave. is this what you are talking about..... and Yes I could use hand with the pics.. I have found that if the bottom is flat, the board tends to be looser. All my boards have a step at the tail with a slant heading to the rails. Like you, I don`t know if it helps ,but I like what I have ridden

[toofast]

Hart.. I have never been a guy that buys a board off the rack. I don`t think I ever will be. I`m no shaper my any means. I do it for the fun of it. Every board that I have shaped has been an experiment. Some successful and some not.
A swell has hit so cal and I don`t have "THE" board yet !! I hope its done soon.

[hart]

Mate, from the pics you sent me, I will tell you that you can shape.

You gotta post them here..send them to headwax and he can do it for ya.

The steps, the outlines and the vees are all unreal.

What does "THE" board consist of, by chance?

hart

talking about racks? ive never been a bloke that puts a board in one

[toofast]

It`s 4'10". The "forks" are about 5" long with a channel leading into the main part of the board. The bottom is flat. 18" at the widest part, stinger with a stepdeck on the bottom that starts at the stingers are goes to the tail , single fin box that half the box is out of the step, 12 1/2" at the tail, modafied pintail, kinda of like the one I ride. The tail is sloped down from the stringer to the rails, a little more then a 1/8". 2 3/8" thick. When I was drawing on the blank the first time, being normal KB with, the forks looked blunt. Then I started getting narrower and narrower until I got the look I wanted. It has the look of the Miss Budwiser hydroplane boat. When I get it, pics will be taken and if Headwax would do me the favor of posting the shots.

headwax... At the Newport gathering that just happenned, I slid off my board and did a face plant on the board.Once the bleeding stopped,on my nose and out of my nose, I saw a new pressure dig. Any ideas on how it got there ??

[willli]

I'm confused; not unusual given my relative isolation from all this happen'n stuff save this place, but surfboards rarely have all of their hull sealed to the water, so to speak, and hydros are designed to run flat, their symmetry necessary to balance the boat. Turns are always an adventure and look like a series of slide-recover moves that can end up with spectacular flips and crashes when the boat gets "out of balance". They are dealing with speeds where air exerts significant pressure and racers hitting crosswinds can be doomed.
Getting back to surfboards, the "footprint" of the board on a nice fast wall will be assymetric, often the entire outer rail of the board save a few inches in the tail will be free of water, so that the board undergoes a natural friction reduction. add in rail to rail type surfing and the board undergoes huge shifts in wetted surface and the riders ability to effectively use the "g's" he's pulling will determine whether he thinks the board a "pig" or "magic".
I always thought the next "big" advance would be assymetic boards, tailored to wave and rider tendencies, so you would have a board for lefts and a board for rights that somehow adjusted to your tendencies. For example a "fish" right side and a shorter railed squash the other side, right down to different rail shapes and outline shapes on either side of the stringer, blended together across the bottom and deck shape, so the board would have different performance depending upon which rail you were on. Many on this forum have expressed "weakness" in one direction or another. Perhaps its the very symmetry of the board that creates it.

[toofast]

This is what I mean by me not being a shaper, I don`t understand all of the science stuff. I don`t believe that it`s the boards fault it doesn`t handle the same way if it goes right or left. For me at least, I have a strong side and a weak side and a different style for each way. I know its my fault ,not the boards.
I used to fish in bass compatistions. what I learned there was that some baits where made to catch the "fisherman" and not the fish. That maybe true in surfing also.The shape and the bottom designs on my boards are what I feel work for me. Maybe they do and maybe they don`t. Maybe it`s all in my head..Who knows ??

headwax... Thanks a million for posting those pics for me...

[willli]

I have a strong side and a weak side and a different style for each way. I know its my fault ,not the boards.

but what if a board were shaped that could help erase your "weakness". In my case I surf with more finesse going right but use more powerful moves going left even though I ride Knee parallel. I can rarely boost above the lip going right, prefering a floater, but don't seem to have the fine control to do the same move going left. I'm probably not making sense. Cause going left i'll bash the lip, gather speed, do a big 180, smash up on top of the foam, 180, repeat; going right I'll play with the hook constantly, stalling, accelerating, going for coverups. So what if just the rails were shaped differently on the same board to enhance my strengths. Would that consequently erase my weaknesses?
Your shapes are striking! How do they ride? Thats the real proof.
that and the satisfaction of visualizing something and then transferring it to foam.