TBTB (Too Busy To Blog).........again!

 Here we go again.  These are projects I have been busy doing for the last 6-8 weeks. I find it impossible sometimes to get to the computer to blog on a daily or weekly basis. Here are 20 or so projects that I have been busy with since then.....and a few other interesting things my friends have had going on.

9.75 box fin fo Kevin Ho, Hawaii.  Cheater-coated, teady to laminate.  for Kevin Ho

Finnish birch quads, 1 of 2 sets for the T. Martin 7'5" and 7'11" quads shown below.

for Steve Schirmacher

9.5 glass-on for Dick Brewer Balsa longboard.  Owner: Brian Fortuna.  Curly redwood and flame maple 

Above;  10.0 pivit fin fin.  Imbuya (brazilian walnut)

Below 9.5 raker.  Old-growth redwood with maple and peruvian walnut curved t-band pinline

For Mike LaVecchia, Grain Surfboards.   www.grainsurfboards.com

Quad set for 9-0 Pavel WhaleFish.  Finnish ply with bigured bubinga veneer.  80/20 trailers.

For Cary Kinkead

 Double-foil Simmons Keels for Marc Andreini Simmons Board.  Fiberglass Hawaii red tint

 Owner:  Daniel Stupar

 http://www.andreinisurfboards.com/

                                                                  Random shop photo

7.5 marine ply center box fin, 9.0 marine ply Greenough 4-A flex fin and Marine ply thruster set.

These fins are for (3) Larry Mabile boards for Scott Hulet, editor The Surfer's Joutnal

Scott's new road-kit quiver

9.5 x 8.5 raker.  Finnish ply, Fiberglass Hawaii red tint.  This one is for sale at Mitch's North, Solana Beach
www.mitchssurfshop.com

9-5 raker for 11' Hobie, T. Martin Legacy model.  Lacewood.  Owner: Chris Tomlin
10.0 pivot fin for Pavel noserider.  Flame maple.  Owner: Steve Schirmacher

Box floor stand for 8'-10" Dick Brewer, koa alaia.  Figured teak, inlaid redwood burl and flame maple.

Owner:  Luke Brown

Christopher Tomlin with his matching, 10'5" and 10'7" Christenson noseriders
(can you say...."board envy"?)

Quad set for T. Martin fish.   Finnish ply with figured koa veneer.  Owner:  Cooper Colins

10.5  noserider fin for Tyler Surfboards (Tyler's template).  Imbuya.  Owner:  Harry Daglas

Tri-fin set.  laminated, ready to glass.  Koa with spalted sapwood koa center ray. 
Ebony and maple pinlines
For Eddie Rice from wife, Jessica.  Eddie is shaping a 5'8" biscuit for these.

Designed and shaped by Michael Allen West.  80's Phil Edwards-esque.....with a moon tail!
9-0 Finnish ply flex fin, Fiberglass Hawaii red tint.  VERY COOL Michael!

Marc Andreini at Sacred Craft 2011, Santa Cruz.  Balsa gun, tapered redwood stringer with noseblock.       J. Cherry,  60's gun template fin (Marc's template).     Curly redwood-heavy bead. 

Ultra-light balsa blank by J. Cherry for a Jeff McCallum 8'0" Simmons.  For a Japan client.

T-band stringer 1/16" cedar-1/16" Peruvian walnut-1/16"cedar

NO.........I won't build you a balsa blank........sorry.

That's it for now folks.  Thanks for waiting and for keeping up with my blog.  I'm still swamped in the shop, but I'll do my best to keep up with the posts.

Aloha to all my friends,   JC 

Art About Art

Steve Schirmacher recently aquired this cool, 6-9, Skip Frye fish with Thomas Campbell artwork.

He asked me to build a vertical stand for it so it could be enjoyed in his home.

This is what I designed and built for him.

Woods: African Mahogany  and Parota (the base).



Primary Colors

I got a visit from Dave Siteman (L.A.) and Michael West (O.C.), both aspiring shapers, and some orders for rudders for their new boards.  Both wanted some classic marine ply.........with some color.  Here's what we did.

 Baltic Birch, tri-fin set tinted coke-bottle aqua and Finnish birch, Simm-21 set tinted yellow for Dave.  

 And this Killer 9.5" flex out of Finnish birch, tinted with Fiberglass Hawaii red for Mike.

FUN STUFF GUYS!    aloha,        JC                                       

Lotta Fins Goin' Off = Too Busy To Blog

Business in February has been keeping my head down, bustin' out fins (a good thing).

 Terry Martin shapes X2 for Big Steve.  One-fin-Pin (L) and a classic noserider (R)

10" Cherry flex template for the OFP and a 10" pivot for the noserider.

 JC quads for the 7'5" and 7'11" T. Martin round-pins below.

T. Martin quads for Big Steve, sitting at Moonlight, waiting for cloth, fins, and color.

 Reverse D template.  Figured crotch Jatoba. Laminated ready to glass on.

                   9.5" lacewood fin.  This one is going on a T. Martin 10' balsawood Legacy Model.

 Center Box Fins!  Check it out.  These (3) are For sale;  Tattoo $265, Reverse D, $245, Bonzer $175
(plus Ca. state tax)  No Charge for local shipping.

 9.5" flame Maple.     Tatoo designs are woodburning and watercolor on a fine-sanded wood surface.

 Reverse D, full template.   Woods:  Imbuya (Brazilian walnut) and inlaid diamond of basketweave pattern, end-grain doug fir, with purpleheart border.

 All are custom fit bay hand.......Straight..........Snug.

6.5" Bonzer   woods:  Narrah and maple pinlines.

DT 7.5's For Takayama and Larry fuller

Donald Takayama and Larry Fuller brought to me one of Donald's 7.5" Fiberglass Fin Co, glass, box fins (lower right) and asked me to do (5) glass-on wood fins from the same template for some wooden boards he and Larry are doing.  I did (3) in figured zebrawood and (2) in redwood burl.  Donald asked me to do a 1/2" bead on top of the 7.5 template for the zebrawoods, slightly less on the redwoods.  Here they are.  These are laminated, ready to glass-on.  Finished height; 8.0"

 Redwood burl

 Figured zebrawood

Like all of Donald's stuff, and previous boards I have done with Larry, I'm sure these will turn out insane looking.    Stay tuned.

Italy~ Secret Point~ Francesco Di Tommaso on his "Tube Machine"

January, 2011, Francesco Di Tommaso

Northern Mediterranean, Southern Italy

When Storms in the Mediterranean kick up a long enough fetch for swells to hit Italy.....This happens.

Frigid winter air and Santa Cruz winter water temp's Don't keep Francesco out of the water.

Back in 2007, Francesco told me, "I'd like you to shape me a gun.....disguised as a longboard".

This is what I shaped for him.   This 9-0, pulled-in double ender, with low relaxed rocker, subtle single-into-double bottom contour and a set of reverse-D-template quads that I designed for it....... is deceivingly fast.  This is what he is riding in these photos.

Dimensions:

Francesco and his wife Manuela both have an impressive command of the English language, but I still find myself doing this sometimes......trying to interpret his exact meaning.

in Italian this means, "I'm cool with it".

After riding it, he has named it,  "Tube Machine" or T.M. for short.

Thanks for the photos.  Aloha Bro.

JC