8.75" tall ~ 9" base. Purpleheart, Phillipine Mahogany, Maple, Peruvian walnut.
Almost all of my work goes to clients. Once and a while I build something for myself.
This reverse -"D" template box fin is for my 9'-6", Donald Takayama Model-T . It will be glassed with 3 layers of 6oz each side and have a 1/2" clear bead. The base will be laid up by hand using alternating layers of heavy skate deck cloth and 8oz volan, then hand fitted to the box.
Personally, I much prefer this fin over a pivot fin. Although it is slightly less in height than the 9-5 pivot fin, the leading edge has approximately the same degree of rake and the depth is plenty to anchor the tail while nose-riding and bottom turning. The trade-off advantage is that the soft radius of the trailing edge is incredibly smooth and loose to turn and can be turned form a more forward position on the board. For me, it provides better all-around performance from an already incredible board.
I almost always have ridden boards that I shaped for myself. In the 70's I always had a Takayama LB in my quiver. I had been reminiscing and eying the Model-T's for quite a while recently. Today's Model-T is not much different than what Donald was already shaping in the 70's. When I saw one at Mitch's North that I liked, I bought it.
After the first wave I took off on I remembered exactly why I loved them so much.
I think I will hang on to this one!
Fins: Imbuya (Brazilian walnut) and figuered white ash.
Each Simm-21 gets a hand-drawn Simm-21 logo on the bottom.
Aloha Cary.
Almost all of my work goes to clients. Once and a while I build something for myself.
I know.........you are all wondering why there are no similar photos of me on this blog.
One of my favorite surf Bro's at home in Bari Itay with agave he harversted there, after being infected by the Agave bug here in SC during the summer.
Milling Jig.
After cutting the agave to length, I clamp it into a simple jig and follow the top of the jig with a chain saw to cut level both sides. The deck and bottom sides are against the jig. A new, sharp chain makes a HUGE difference.
After the agave is milled to this state, I band saw off the bark on the deck and bottom sides. I then run the blank sections through a thickness planer to obtain smooth, even-width sections for glue-up.
Out of 13 trunks, only one had to be wasted because of pithy wood. The stack next to the balsa contains mostly 4" + wide sections, ranging from 7'-9'. The stack next to the wall averages 3" wide and 7' long. The entire batch yielded, firm, light, colorful wood. STOKED!
This agave was collected over the past year from several sources and locations around San Diego County. It grows on public and private property. It is not hard to find (not always so easy to harvest) if you know where to look and if you have sources that locate it for you or turn you on to it. Special thanks to Surfer Brett Wellington and Jerry McCann for some of the best stuff this year.
Last year's 6'3" fish. This years Monster Agave.
These Agave stalks range from 9' to 11'. The bases range from 10" to 14".
Terry Martin's new SUP. 8'2" x 30" x 4-7/8". L-R; Chuck Bassett, Terry Martin, Mickey Munoz, John Cherry.
We installed a LokBox quad set-up plus a center fin box in order to ride the board with different fin configurations.
The Board has a "Simmons"esque template, an S deck and an 18" tailblock. It still maintains a beautiful curved rail line.
I designed a new set of fin templates for Terry's board. I then made base molds so my fins could be used in the LokBox bases. Lead s/f fins are canted 5 degrees. Trailing d/f fins are canted 2-1/2 degrees. Woods; Purpleheart and Brazilian walnut.
Chuck and Mickey wasted no time getting the board to Dogpatch for a test drive. Terry will have plenty of test pilots besides Chuck and Mickey for his new design to help work out the bugs on the next one, including Tyler Warren, Chuck Patterson, Sparky (owner of Rainbow Sandals) and a few other South Orange County SUP experts.
