SA
2060 posts
Good find DJ, very interesting.
VIC
8289 posts
Question ..... What's the difference between this board and my first surfboard (NSP 8/2 mini mal ) . Answer.....about 2000 dollars !!!!!!!.It's not that I'm old , bitter and twisted .But can anyone name one product that when mass produced out of a mould costs more to buy than a one off . doesn't everything come down in price once manufacturers mass produce .Don't get me wrong ,praise the Lord for those Chinese factories and their workers and Praise the Lord for those Hawaiian super Shapers ,cheerfully telling us about how great manufacturing is in China....... BUT......if companies like Global Surf Industries can land a board in Australia ,and sell it for 500 bucks ,then there is no way this board ,straight out of a two piece mold should cost more than a Hyundai XL .I don't blame the manufacturers they'll charge whatever they can get and if people continue to buy,then what the hell ,it's up to them I spose .me ,I'm looking forward to the day when I can walk down the Isle at Big W or K mart and buy a Chinese SUP like all the other mass produced products . Now a nice cup of milo and off to bed, Cheers Rupert.
VIC
17570 posts
These boards are molded to make them lighter and consistant..I think.. (they stay hollow).
C4 make two 14' Vortice's and the molded hollow board is lighter and more expensive.
I hope that Stuey might do a molded Pene one day.
You're right though.. IMO ..these boards should be cheaper.
I guess it depends on how many they do.
DJ
885 posts
Interesting how they insert the deck grip as part of the molding process. I suppose the fin box would be in there as well
VIC
1024 posts
I think that what you see is just a very small part of the process, they are basically hand laying up the resin carbon and glass into the mould then vacuum bagging to form the two halves - then joining the two halves in this last stage - I think!
What they have avoided is the foam shaping, but then they have to provide internal supports for the structure instead of the foam. And to get there they had to make pretty serious moulds and maintain them. I read somewhere that prior to committing to the F14 mould there were 26 prototypes tested and modified. These guys are still basically hand making but have committed the bucks to making a very consistent, strong and lightweight product through the use of moulds.
This video makes it look like a simple "pop out" but I suspect there is quite a bit to making a hollow 14 or 16 foot board to deal with serious downwind Hawaiian waves. It would be really interesting to see snapshots of the whole process.
