Has anyone ever duplicated the dimensions of a board/shape that you were partial to? Just curious to find out if it rode similar. Any experiences?
i've done this a couple times w/ mixed results. one i had a shaper recreate a board i'd gotten from him about a decade prior. that went well & i rode the new board for quite a while. another i had brian wynn create a bonzer version of my beloved ci fort knox. this also turned out well, although the rails of the wynn are a bit more pinched than those of the ci (i don't mind, though, as both board ride great & i love my bonzer). then i had another ci "cloned" & it did not turn out well at all...more rocker than i wanted (esp. in the nose), way thinned out rails...just not what i was looking for. i blame myself for this, as i don't think i provided sufficient information about the board i wanted cloned for it to be a success. the main thing i suggest if you're going to do this would be to take the board you want recreated w/ you to see the shaper. that way they can really get a good look at it...the rails, the rocker, bottom contours, etc... the 2 successes i've had doing this, that's what i did. you can guess what happened the third time. that's right-i didn't.
Do you want a reproduction, or do you just want the same dimensions? Numbers are one thing, but curves are another. If you only give the shaper numbers, you'll likely not get a reproduction. The shaper will use those numbers to create a board he knows will work well, but it might not even be close to what you had originally. Making an exact replica is one of the hardest things to do as a shaper... but a good one will be able to pull it off. These days you can have a board scanned and milled by machine, and you'll get out exactly what was put in. But if you go to a local shaper, do bring the board. That's the only way he'll be able to get even close.
I know you would factor in the concave/rails/rocker etc. I would even think about experimenting with the thickness as I like everything about this board exept for it's ability to get me into a wave a little earlier. Bottom line is I bought this board used in Carlsbad over 3 years ago and it's getting worked and I don't have the dough to keep going thru boards that just dont work for me. Recently purchased a quad fish and it's actually less responsive than the 6'2 thruster. I could just about ride anything in decent surf and not have as much of an issue. But when it's chest high walled or sectioned beach-break certain boards just don't work for me.
My dream board was stolen and ended up in an art display. My shaper is one of the best in town and has made thousands of boards, for his own company and plus one. He made this board custom for me. He recorded every dimension etc and made it a "team rider model". He made himself the EXACT board, cause when we went out and tested it, he loved it too. Long story short, when mine got stolen, I had him re-create it. He knew every aspect of it intimately... But in the end, the board just wasn't the same... The concave etc was slightly off. It looked right, but you could feel it. The rails were shaved down and slightly rounded more which affected it, and the slightest bit of nose volume was missing.... BAbBY TALK 2 is a sick board, but its just no BABY TALK.... so if the guy i trust more than anything with shaping cant do it, I dont have faith that many can dial it in perfectly... Go to a machine shaper... Firewire and Merricks system will bust out the exact same board 1000x over with no mistakes... Human Error is a bi***! Thats why computer have been taking over for human thought for decades... Shaping is heading down that road as well.... Even the best local shapers could do the best deisgn work, but when it comes to productions, machines dont fail. They dont make mistakes.
I went through this last year. Invested in a quad thruster. Ive done tons of riding in all conditions now... I am a 100% thurster/shortboard guy. Period. So the one bit of advice from a thurster guy is that my quaad fish actually surfs better when its decent.... In the small stuff its good at holding the line, floating and keeping your speed up, but otherwise, it will feel very unresponsive... But on a nice HH+ day on a mushy reef break or something, the thing rocks... Or a high tide beach break day with some size.... As long as things aren't too hollow, you will get much more response out of your fish. Im still working on it, and yes, if it looks rippable at all, I still never take out the fish =) I still take out the 6' or th 6'1 if I think there is one decent wave out there.
I thought the same thing. I ended up surfing my quad fish(what I had in my car when I pulled up and looked at it after working all night) on a hh+ day that was super clean and was more fun. I normally would reserve that type of wave for a box tail thuster. The fish had more speed down the line (meatier front) and I could tell fin placement was giving it more drive). The exact opposite conditions of what I thought those types of boards worked well in. If I'm surfing my fish in worse conditions I tell myself to ride it like a longboard and it doesn't dissapoint.
Even the machine boards aren't the same, there's always something a little different. Rode a friend's Firewire and loved it so much, I got the 'same' board. Even the serials were close. But they didn't feel the same. I didn't like the one I bought as much as my friend's board. Surfing together and swapping out, they were not the same. The rail was sharper at the fins on his, if felt much stronger coming off a big bottom turn and even though the outlines looked identical to me, the subtle lines and edges made a big difference. However my friend told me he couldn't tell the difference and swapped with me - nice friend
I've had two failed copy attempts. Stewart Egg, Patagonia Rocket Sled. 10+ years ago so probably neither machined. I loved the way both boards rode, but both started delaminating big time long before they should have, like 1-2 years in. Contacted the shaper. Both said they would copy the bad board for no charge. Patagonia paid to ship the messed up board back, Bill Stewart didnt want it. Neither "copy" rode the same and i ended up selling both "copies".
the only thing that would affect the duplication of a board is the speed at which the machine is working. Higher speeds = less accurate, lower speeds = more accurate. as sad a situation it might be, machining board will only become more popular going foward for big name board producers. My Rusty, which is machined, is the best board I've ever ridden...
elaborate on your Rusty. How long have you surfed and in what conditions is it designed for? How does it ride. Surfed for 15 years and never had a really nice board but have thought about an R.
Well... okay. Lets see, I've been surfing since I was 14 or so... I surf out on Long Island and I'm bigger then your average surfer. At 38, Im 6'2" and my wieght fluxes between 195lbs (summer) and 210lbs (post thanksgiving lol, winter). So... I currently use larger boards. My Rusty which I was talking about above is the Desert Island model. Its 8ft, 3.25 inches thick cause I need the paddle power. The desert Island is basically a short board design, thruster/squash tail, blown up for bigger guys. When I contacted them I told them about my surfing issues... which was my weight, were I surfed and the trouble I have paddling shorter boards. At the expense of duck diving into a broken wave, this desert island surfs like every short board Ive used and better. The base board design is for waves anywhere from 2ft to 10ft. Out on Long Island.... we get more 2ft then 10ft but it is really my all conditions board. The squash tail provides great drive off the wave, and with my back foot positioned above the fins I can really dig into some great cuts and come out with good speed.... the board is custom, based off the desert island template. they usually produce them between 7ft and 10ft and everything inbetween. I wish I had this board a few years ago... Also, I would def. recommend contacting them about a new board. see what they have to say after you tell them your situation. the shipped it to me for 90 bucks I think... I just had to go to the airport and pick it up.
Sounds like you did some homework. Buying a board that's brand new and custom is almost worse than standing in the cereal aisle at the grocery store. I've surfed used boards for about 6yrs now. I came from Hawaii where a new board/stickers on your car would segregate you in the lineup unless you were a pro or a local. Where I surf now there's no worries. I might make a call and put my request in just in time for Santa to bring the goods down the chimney.
