Saturday, July 31, 2010

4689



A couple shots of Miguel's spoon from my trip to Portugal, 
thing one came together cleeeeeeeeeean!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Follow The Light

My fantastically talented pal Morg Maassen is a finalist for the Follow The Light Foundation's grant this year; he's up against some fine photographers but I don't think it's been much of a contest since Morgan put in his submission:


Morgan Maasen FTLF from J P on Vimeo.


Good luck at the finals and congrats Morgan, you're the man!

707



Have you cleaned your feet today?


Thursday, July 29, 2010

Unidirectional Fin

Here's the fin build and final product...bear with me and the explanations:


Layed up god knows how many strands of 24oz roving lengthwise up the fin, horizontal ones are added in the base for strength and tab protection...


Wetted out both sides and then put together under about 50 lbs of weight to squeeze out the excess resin (did not use the vac bag this time, I didn't know how much resin would flow out of the mold in the process and didn't want to risk it yet).


Two hours later I pulled the fin from the mold and this is what where that leaves us before the finish work; its 90% there though...rad!


The fin with the excess cut off and some bubbles filled with resin and sanded flat.


Then the fin got some bondo to fill the rest of the PITA little holes, and some spray paint to cure boredom...yes, the fin is not perfect cosmetically, but I will claim that the flex feels absolutely amazing in hand.  

I will take a short video tomorrow of this fin vs. a volan fin and they way the they flex; in so many words I would describe it as twisty...around :34 and then some in this little clip shows the type of flex I'm going for...the muscles of a tuna fin run lengthwise up and down the fin vertically, so it only makes sense to copy it with fiberglass for a more similar flex pattern:



I'd say this fin flexes with a much more similar shape as compared to a volan or other flat weave fin in the way the the tip bends under and waves like a paddle...very excite!
This whole project was spurred by a mention of Greenough's fin building process with plywood molds; i decided to use fiberglass ones but it's the same idea, and he's a genius. 

Much more experimenting to do, but I'm really pleased with the first version :)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Best Friend


Good Wednesday Evening to you too, good sir!

Molding Again

I'm working today and tomorrow on a new set of molds so I can mold glasson and box fins out of unidirectional carbon fiber, kevlar, fiberglass, whatever i want really...and with whatever resin I want also (poly, epoxy, resin-x?)...pretty stoked!  


The template I've chosen to make the mold off of will allow me to make anything from spoon fins to hull fins anywhere between 7.5" and 10".


The molds are light; made from two layers of 6oz E glass and then three layers of 3/4oz mat for some girth; I should be pulling the first fin out of it in another day or so!

I've been wanting to do this for a year or so now and found the time to start yesterday between a few customs...As of now the molds are ready to use but I may do a little tweaking to make them a bit cleaner and less prone to damage when in the vacuum bag.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Cosmic or ?

I received two disturbingly similar, and totally random text messages...They were too good not to share...

First from Connor as I was running errands in ventura, he was watching over Ben M's new Gull...


And second, Beamer spotted the spoon that I sent down to Mollusk Venice and sent his approval!


I wonder what tomorrow has in store........

Monday, July 26, 2010

The Big One

Finning from Ryan Lovelace on Vimeo.

Some hobo foiling out a set of keels for Connor's wee (5') fish/hull/snowshoe in the PC dungeon...Dangerous.


Sunday, July 25, 2010

Coopering

All-around super nice guy and incredible surfboard worker Gene Cooper just threw this little gem up on his youtube and I thought I would share it in case some of you guys aren't hep to his blog @ cooperfishcalendar.com


Saturday, July 24, 2010

Trippin'

Couple shots of Portugal stuff for saturday...here's a 5'8 OG that had me wishing I could make myself a new one to add to the quiver...


and a Portuguese panoramic... 


need to go back soon....

Friday, July 23, 2010

More Balsa


Young grasshopper is learning well these days! 

As I make a shift in my life I've brought Connor into the glass shop nearly every day for the past 2 1/2 months to slowly soak in whatever knowledge oddities I can share, so that in turn he can be glassin' up a storm while I shape all day...There just isn't enough time in the day anymore for me to take on both but I CAN spend the time right now and still have the glassing taken care of in the same shop it's always been in.  

The only consistency is constant change, since day 1, and I like it that way.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Surfing Win!

If there is no name given, and nobody says anything about the location then its all good, but the people who are most upset about it are the ones who named it...shoot yourself in the foot much?

I do understand that it's a sensitive subject, but its not like this same spot isn't named specifically in Surf and Art books that are in circulation by the hundreds of thousands all over the world, as well as in publications like the Surfer's Journal and Surfer Magazine at least a couple times a year with MORE information on access than was given here.  

sorry if I offended anyone, it's MY blog about MY life and i had a blast.  I get the point so I took the photos down and apologize, but next time a less emotional and possibly more mature response or request for the photos' removal would be the way to go.  

Now everyone knows how good Ledbetter can get..........



Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Automated Message #65299

I am going to a far off and magical place today to do something very cool.



SURF.

...you know i'm not getting out of the shop enough when i have to announce it :)
Been waiting 6 years for this little day...a small victory but one I am sure will seed itself into my memory and create something new and profound.

or silly.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Menage-Blogged

three very random images that caught my eye as i was thumbing through my hard drive searching for material to quench my blogging thirst... 



Monday, July 19, 2010

Slowly But Surely



pullung a spoon out of the mold is quite fun for me; this one's about half way finished as of yesterday :)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

FIngers



Friday, July 16, 2010

Your Mom

Remember when your mom used to tell you when you got frustrated with a project or homework to set it aside and come back to it with a clear head in a bit?

ya.......i do......




and it's time once again to examine something that has been a deep quest for full hull heads for more than 40 years... 
I'm not afraid to say that try #1 was a failure surf-wise, even though i don't TRULY think it was, because i learned more than i possibly could have imagined with that board's build and composite structure.

....starting 3 new versions now.
WOOHOO!



edit***this isn't a post about my first board ever (that thing was siiiiiiiiick...6'4 x 24" x 3 1/2"...f*ck yeah!), this is a series of experimental composite hulls that i've been working on for a year or so...searching for flex much like a flex spoon but with a totally different build.
well that sounds impossible when I say it like that...shit.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Oh Hai!

Lots of times I'll lend out my 6'9 hull/fish to chaps who don't know what to order...they describe themselves as flow oriented, all around surfers who drive off their front foot but can't really lay down a full railed 7' hull cutback and want lots of the same feelings and drive with a bit more ability to get tubed and make more critical drops.

...Enter the hull/fish thing (it's been unnamed for 3 years now...deal with it!) is my oldest board and it goes mental...I've loved it and trusted it in any waves since the day we met (When I was still shaping/glassing/sanding/pinlining/glossing  in the boatyard alone...fathom that one!).



Aaaaanyways, that board has introduced a lot of people to hulls and the derived designs that I do which share the same concepts.  i'd venture to say around 20 individuals have sprung hull addictions off that board (incidentally it was the linking board between the OG design and Pinky).  






So this is a custom from one of those happy intoducee's...6'4" x 20" x 2 7/8" low rocker, thin rails, hulled out bottom with my favorite double to single concave breaking up the flow...my favorite and most involved bottom shape that works like kittens.


Wednesday, July 14, 2010

MSel.


Marvin's new 7'4, delivered a could weeks ago just prior to that fatty south swell we had...


Hey Ryan,

Holy shit, man! That board is sick! And, you were right! It is like surfing on a bar of soap! I took your advice and went straight then did a bottom turn and felt the fin flex then shoot me down the line. I couldn't stop thinking about the board!

Thanks so much! I love this board!

-Marvin



there is officially only one period in the whole email, which to me is the measure of success when it comes to customer email reviews!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Machine





Tezro's photos of his 9'1 in progress :)

Monday, July 12, 2010

Transitionhull




Today's special is something I've been interested in doing and I guess have been doing a lot of in the past little while...I really like transition era boards, or maybe I should say I really like what they were getting at.
The curves looked so right most of the time, and the ideas were all over the place and accentuated to the highest degree sometimes so I've always wanted to make something reeeeeally similar but add on some of the more modern knowledge and style thats in play in today's boards.

This one is an 8'6 derived from about 12 different templates of mine, with a low and pretty flat rocker and a pulled back wide-point compared to my other boards.  Bellied out but not outrageously so, and an overall thinner foil than most trans-style boards (you know what I'm talking about...).  What came out is really cool to me, a pretty solid vee off the tail, and it took all of my not to foil that sucker out, but I didn't!

If you want some boards to reference, take a look at the first half of the Innermost Limits of Pure Fun for my inspiration, those guys are enjoying themselves too much.............

Friday, July 9, 2010

New Site Is UP!

HEY EVERYONE!

I'm about to poop my pants because the new website is up and running!!!!!!!

go take a look, 


its stuffed full of sugar, spice, and a new online store with shirts and boards for sale...you can get at the store either through the website or this button right here!

My good buddy and web-whiz Jonny has been doing my site for the past year + and I highly recommend him for general conversation or web-related jobs!



Mo'Glass




hulling on a weekday afternoon...aw shoots!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

BalsaSalsa

I previously mentioned a 9'6 chambered balsa wood d.Bowls...


here it is :)


9'6" x 23 x 3 1/8" and weighs in around 35 lbs...outrageous glide potential is held within.



Unchambered (I do the chambering after it's rough shaped) balsa blanks resemble...well...a big block of wood, about 1/4" of rocker nose and tail, and a dead flat deck.  Meaning that fully hand-shaped balsa boards from unchambered blanks are truly special and to me, works of art.  I'm proud to have finished my first...


it IS up for grabs, if you were wondering.



and it got the same stamp that I always put in my boards, but this time hammered in, instead of pushed by thumb.......ha!