Yesterday...

Had a go at the Spot That Eats Fins, nothing special happening but compared to other local spots, its was the only thing that looked 'fun'.
And it was alright, tight drops over submerged rocks leading to some fun down the line waves.
Going back this morning as the swell has come up a bit so there may be more to be had there.

Sways...
As a 'new' shaper, my first web page every morning is of course sways...
Because sometimes a shaper got drunk the night before and spilled every little secret on a thread...well, maybe.
But as a resource for any one wanting to shape or even a surfer trying to find a design that works for them, sways cannot be beat.
There is a thread on the Simmons trend going that has my eyes popping and my pencil flying across the paper.

I have been up since dark thirty, staring at foam, staring at the planers, tools.
Counting yards of glass and checking out my growing fin collection...
4 Gheppie keels, not to mount but to copy.
1 G and S True-Ames Retro, again to copy though it will go into my 10'0" when I snap the glass on out someday.
Harbour HP 10", one of my favorite fins on retro single fins.
Lok Box Twinzer and Quad set up...ebay score for 20.00, all 8...
My old David fin from 1967...belonged to my Father, I have copied in this fin 4 times now, different foils, woods and once in glass.
Joel Tudor Flex series in a 9.5"
True Ames L Flex at 9"
Two Wingnut fins from Rainbow or whoever, ok as sold but with added foiling, much faster. Seems they come with a bit of a flat spot in the foil.
Set of fins from my old fish, a 1975 Clyde Beatty Rocket Fish. At 5'6", it was the shortest board I ever surfed back in the day.
Might be a few others I am missing...
Fins have gotten so pricey that I treat each of these like gold.
With production moving to China and me not wanting to use anything not made here in my boards, they are like gold to my sensibilities.


Which leads to my gagging this morning when I checked Portlands cl...
"Rebel, shaped in Eugene, Oregon..."
Yeah.
There are 16 boards for sale up there and 9 are from China.



Russo recently swapped over to all epoxy.
Bates at 7 is doing epoxy now too, though I think its epoxy over poly but I could be wrong. I sure like some of his color work.

I think epoxy has its place, not under my feet yet but thats because its a pain in the butt to work with and doesn't fit into my plans. You can't be a backyard retro hack shaper and be as clean and neat as epoxy requires you to be.
I also have come to believe that a properly glassed and cured polyester resin board is just as tough as epoxy without the expense.
Epoxy doubles my glassing costs per board.
Doubles.
And EPS blanks....they suck. They tear out, they have voids and pukas and anything that requires me to put on drywall compound before I glass it...yuck.
They are getting better, Marko and Segway are putting out new stuff all the time, having shaped both, the Marko wasn't bad but compared to the feel of old school poly...nah.
Now, if epoxy was as tough as they wish it was, I would use it on my own personal boards. I am tough as hell on my shit, I mean I dont even own a board bag.
I respect my boards but I don't et them get all prima donna on me.
Why spoil the bastards?
But what epoxy does offer is flex before it breaks open or dings.
A slow cured poly board offers the same flex and stretch in the glass before cracking.
Slow cure.
Production shops kick everything pretty fast, they have to.
I don't.
And looking at the deck of my 10'0"-which does not have a deck patch, slow cure and a proper glass schedule is as good as epoxy with half the cost.
And I don't have to give money to any one in Florida.

Eventually I may do a few but for now, what has worked for almost 60 years is just fine by me.

Now, where is my Bamboo cloth and Hemp blank at?

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