Discussing Roy's surfboard designs.

The planshapes are sweet but the 3d reality is even more so:

http://www.roystuart.biz/2014/05/a-trio-of-singlefins.html

 

Flex will be on the stiff side, as I'll be using this stuff:

[video=youtube;FSAgsiFp_G4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSAgsiFp_G4[/video]

 

Beware the Demon Alcohol.

I'm entitled to do what I like with my own design files, obviously.

No doubt you feel the same way about items in your possession which you've worked for?

To print?

The boards can't be printed... are you referring to my fin design files? Good luck printing them, not many printers can do it successfully it requires a $100k printer and plenty of know how and testing to get right.

Besides, they are my intellectual property. If you want to copy get one and scan it, I won't try to stop you but I'm not handing the files over.


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Chuck Norris joke right?

 

If the fins are copied then so be it, I'm just pointing out a few of the difficulties.

For example ABS or PLA won't work they are not strong enough. We are using polycarbonate and not many printers or operators can use it successfully.... and it's not as simple as just scanning the shape and pressing print either... it's a structural part and requires careful tweaking of the drawings and printing process. I'm not saying that it can't be done, just that it's not a home printer possibility, yet.

Then there's laser sintered titanium, the TiFin project is coming along slowly but surely. The company we are working with is using our fins to advance the capabilities of their 2 million dollar machine.

 

That would depend upon the height and size of the fin and the thickness at the base.

PLA would be ok for small fins ( as long as they don't use fcs tabs) but for 9" singlefins it would be too weak.

Keep in mind that with 3d printing it isn't just a matter of the strength of the material but also of the bond strength between layers, which is typically weak with home printers. This can be overcome by printing the fin with the extrusion lines running vertically but that's not ideal for water flow.

It's all very well saying that doing it in PLA on a home printer can certainly be done right now, but you haven't proved that the result will be up to the job when riding waves.. We've spent the past six months proving that we can actually do it. There's a world of difference between our two positions. For example I know that ABS is not strong enough for the job on a 9 inch singlefin, because we have made ABS prototypes, and tested them to destruction in both static strength tests and in the water.

PLA lies between ABS and polycarbonate in strength, but I doubt that it would be successful for fins up to 9 inches or more when used in a home printer.

The key with bond strength is a heated chamber which most home printers do not have.

PLA is also extremely brittle, unlike polycarbonate.

Nylon is another interesting possibility and we have access to laser sintered nylon printing, but it's pretty risky and difficult to use for home printers partly because it creates highly toxic cyanide laden fumes when melted.

It's far easier and cheaper for anyone who wants to try one of our fin designs to just buy a fin from us.
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Also you'd need to be comfortable with the required drawing software, and go through the learning curve required not only to draw the BLEF fins but also to get them to print to the drawn shape. What's in the drawing doesn't necessarily correspond to the printed result for a host of reasons which I won't go into here.

 

Elongation at break 6% vs 20% for ABS, it's also weaker than ABS and ABS is already too weak, at least for larger fins.

http://www.makeitfrom.com/compare-m...Styrene-ABS&B=polylactic-acid-pla-polylactide

Regarding print orientation yes I remember you mentioning it, it was one of our first considerations. The bond strength with horizontal orientation which we have is virtually the same as the material itself so it's a very good bond. So we get the water flow advantage of horizontal orientation with no disadvantage.

Polycarbonate fins are stiff but will bend up to 45 degrees in static strength tests, this would never happen in the water as the loads are not as high and the load is spread out over the fin rather than being concentrated at the tip as in a static test. I have a video of the bending/strength test if you'd like to see it.

 

There's no reasonable basis for the notion that intellectual property only consists of hand made items... in fact the word 'intellectual' is a clue which strongly suggests that such property is in the realm of ideas rather than ownership of physical objects.

I have some sympathy with this statement, for example I think that patents are being grossly misused at present.

If you want to copy what I've done and can do so then so be it.

What is not a myth is the fact that there is no possibility that you or anyone else will be able to get hold of the files from which my fins and surfboards are generated... thus the philosophical and moral aspects of the issue are rather academic.

Besides, anyone with creative ability can simply use my ideas to influence their own designs if the want to, this sort of thing happens all the time. Such people don't need the computer files and most would probably prefer to make their own versions rather than just copy exactly.

 

If I draw a particular wheel then that drawing belongs to me.

Others may draw their own wheels.

It's not concepts which I claim ownership of but rather specific sets of drawings.

For example if you wish to draw and/or make a BLEF foiled Spitfire fin then you are free to do so and to own those drawings plus any physical versions of them which you make.

This is not the same as patenting an idea.

 

Wrong

Most of my posts are responses to people's replies, without the responses and my replies this thread would be only about one page long.