A "Thumb" for behind the boat

[Surfdad]

Exactly Timmy! Nickypoo was on it, the shaping process using AKU Shaper is very visual. That blue line with the measurements at the top is just where the cursor was when Mike took the screen shot. You can run the cursor along the length of the outline in that screen and it will tell you the width at whatever the offset is. There are also a few other marks.

In AKU Shaper there are what are referred to as "slices". There is a separate part of the program that will show you the board as if you cut it horizontially at those marks. Those slices are used to determine the thickness of the board, the concave, rail shape etc.

The program then blends all of those attributes between the slices. So that wide slice sort of in front of center most likely is where the single concave is developed and Mike is probably doing work on the rails. The vertical mark not ALL the way back, but about a foot or so off the tail, is probably where the double concave starts or is fully developed.

What's cool, is that the shaper puts in those design elements and the program blends the change from the single to the double concaves or a soft rail to a sharp rail for him or her.

One word of caution is that CNC do NOT like too many fixed points, the less the better it is for the tool path, otherwise you get what I like to call the "jitters", the machine code becomes too abrupt and the output is not a nice smooth tool path.

[NICKYPOO]

Surfdad, what is the reason for the placement of the dimension line at the tail and what does it signify? Are those rocker points or perhaps tunnel points?

[NICKYPOO]

Lookin good! Looks like he widened the nose and tapered the tail on the second iteration? Am I reading that right?

Yup. Funny, before I read surfdad's explanation, that's exactly what I was looking at thinking, "Yep, little more nose, little narrower in the tail..."

[Timmy!]

Lookin good! Looks like he widened the nose and tapered the tail on the second iteration? Am I reading that right?

[Surfdad]

It's a little hard to describe if you've never worked with a shaping program. The light grey lines were the first iteration that Mike sent and then after some discussion, the more solid lines are the NEXT iteration. It's taking shape!

[Surfdad]

Speaking of this thumb, I got an update from Mike on the outline.

[Surfdad]

Tommy Czeschin, too!

I rode that once, NOT a noserider like I want. Fun'ish board though.

[Timmy!]

It looks like Liquid Force has a "nose rider":
http://www.liquidforce.com/wakesurfers-noserider.html

I just read on WW that Chase Hazen and Doum Legace are riding for them now??? Anyone ridden this?

Featuring a true longboard shape & style, the Nose-rider is ultra smooth… Whether you enjoy hanging ten or getting a bit more aggressive with your turns, this board will not disappoint. Show off in front of your friends and rip like a pro on the Nose-rider this summer.

Light Weight Hand-Finished Stringer Core
Faithfully re-creating Jimmy’s original master…Light and just right.

Full Nose Outline with Concave
Nose ride with control, lift and glide!

[jbort]

welll......I look fwd to "good" Jesus pic.

[NICKYPOO]

Nickypoo: pics looks pretty good to me.

That is a horrible Jesus pic. Feet aren't together, eyes are open, just about to fall backwards. Not a bad 5 pic. Back foot is a little too far back to actually look cool. You can actually feel the breeze through your toes if you can get them out over the front of the board.

[jbort]

Nickypoo: pics looks pretty good to me.

[Timmy!]

Wow, what a difference in water color between those 2 pictures! I will take the water in the second photo!

[NICKYPOO]

As I suspected, one crappy photo of the Jesus. Of the thousands of pictures I have, it is literally the only one. Also, one of only two pics of a 5 that are also crappy. Its my own fault. I got tired of have a couple hundred pictures of the same thing after each day. None of my friends really do much more than stay in the wave so, we just kinda stopped shooting. I'm gonna get some good ones this summer. I promise. Get me a nose rider and I will hang 10.

[NICKYPOO]

Oh, its gorgeous. No doubt about it. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, kneeboarding the summer days away. Those particular grandparents eventually sold that boat and I stopped going there until we were old enough to take my buddy's dad's jetboat out. We would go up there to look cool and pick up chicks with our hot boat and waterskiing prowess. Needless to say, we did a lot more skiing than making out. One good waterskiing story though...

4th of July weekend. Campbell's Chunky Extreme water conditions. We had no business being out in a 19' jetboat but, we were fresh outta high school and there was nothing we couldn't do. One of my buddys (now a Tige owner) decides he wants to ski. So, we're bashing through 1'- 2' slop chop with this crazy bastard bashing through this crap like a madman when this rouge wave forms right in front of us. I'm certain we are going to snap this jetboat in half. Somehow it flattens out right underneath us and the boat glides right on through. We look at each other just like that scene in the Blues Brothers when they jump the cop car. "Uhh, OK." We then all look behind us and its jacking up again. Oh chit. My buddy completely and, when I say completely, I mean completely disappears behind it and all we can see is the rope going straight into the face of the wave. Epic crash in three, two, one...boom! He comes blasting through the face of the wave, rope in hand, ski on feet, ready for the next one. It was at that moment that I realized, he was a waterski god.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

[Surfdad]

@ jbort that's a really smart idea. I once shipped a board, I think it was to the Wakeoutlaw folks before they were Wakeoutlaws, via greayhound bus. I was skeptical, but they had done it before and insisted it would be fine. I slapped a fragile sticker on it and the address label and it made it fine!

@ Nickypoo that's too bad about Donner, it looks gorgeous from 8,200 feet