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Varial RIP

E

ericthe

Dec 5, 2010
38
8
8
Anybody know if they’re able to make boards that have already been ordered? I ordered a board about 3 weeks ago and haven’t heard back from them that it wasn’t gonna b made
 
ChaseTMP

ChaseTMP

Michael Peterson status
Apr 6, 2014
1,797
3,244
113
S. Redondo
Supposedly they're wrapping up with what's going through and trying to end on a good note with all accounts and orders. They'll be putting their CNC machine up for sale. I guess things were going well and they just got the rug pulled out from under them with their foam access being shut off.
 
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E

EastCoastBrah

Legend (inyourownmind)
Nov 16, 2020
506
466
63
ChaseTMP said:
Supposedly they're wrapping up with what's going through and trying to end on a good note with all accounts and orders. They'll be putting their CNC machine up for sale. I guess things were going well and they just got the rug pulled out from under them with their foam access being shut off.
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any idea why they got access cut off? company viewed it as small $ and not worth the risk or something?
 
Duffy LaCoronilla

Duffy LaCoronilla

Duke status
Apr 27, 2016
39,263
28,984
113
Sharky said:
Now on the first side cut, when the blank springs UP? Deck side UP? The machine doesn't know that this has happened. So think about how that affects the thickness of the nose and tail when you cut the other side. Your thickness flow is fucked up. Your nose in particular is going to be thick. But whatever. More fun for the finish shaper I suppose. Now let's think about the rocker. What are you winding up with for rocker? Is it what the design file says it is, or is it something else? Something else was frequently the answer.

I measured this all out before and after. I took video footage. The springing up on both sides thing was wild. I have no idea WTF was going on. Did magic boards get cut out of these blanks? Yes. But IMO it was kind of random re what rocker you wound up with.

So I tell the Varial guys this. I suggest blowing the stuff in molds as a possible. Too expensive, not possible. I suggest putting a thin PVC stringer down the middle to hold rocker shape. (I don't know if this would have worked but it was worth a shot) Too expensive, time etc. Then finally they came back and told me to place the board centrally in the blank deck to bottom. That way when it springs in one direction, when you flip it, it springs the same amount in the other direction? Allegedly. On a wing and a prayer. That seems more than a little imprecise.

Ordinarily when you mill a PU blank you put the design as close to deck side as possible. Just barely skin the deck. Shallow a cut as possible to leave a hard deck. So that approach had to be changed. So you ordered a blank that closely parallelled the rocker profile of the design, placed the design centrally in the blank and let it spring as it will. And that worked to some extent. I measured rockers a few times and they were closer to close enough if you got it right. It was better. The thickness nose and tail came out truer.

The blanks still stank, you had to use the Princess Cut (more cuts per side taking smaller bites) and slow the machine down here and there as you hogged out huge amounts of foam. Sometimes you even ran the entire first side cut multiple times at different depths to make it happen.

I'm over it at this point. I'm not refusing to cut it, but if you came in with one and you were always at the back of the line. Until I got slow and had extra time. Plus you owed me more money. More cuts per side, multiple passes, slowed machine etc.

Eventually Varial bought a very nice double cutter version of the machine I have. I was stoked to never have to cut another one. It was no longer my problem.

And the Sharky lived happily ever after, never cutting another Varial blank so long as he lived.

Yay.

It's cool foam. I could deal with the chemical stench. (although I worry about the health ramifications) I dislike putting a stringer on the blank as a matching pencil line on each side, but whatever. It made some magic boards. But could you get the same board twice? Did you get the rocker/thickness profile in the file or did you get something else? Seemed problematic. I wish they had tried the PVC stringer thing. They declined to try. I think it might have been enough to hold the rocker in the blank. Again, whatever. Not my problem.

I held my tongue all the way through this thing because I wanted them to make it. This is a tough business. They threw a lot of money at this project. I wished them all the best in spite of my personal reservations.

Last night I said something about buying their machine. My wife threw things at me.

I think I'm done.
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IMG_3573.gif
 
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sdsrfr

sdsrfr

Phil Edwards status
Jul 13, 2020
5,998
11,514
113
San Diego
My gut says this is Clark foam 2.0 with a smaller audience who cares.

would be cool if another one pops up but I’d bet this one goes the way of hydroflex in the near term, unfortunately.

too bad. fin boxes don’t blow out. anyone want to buy my Varial plasmic, bidding starts at $3k.
 
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ChaseTMP

ChaseTMP

Michael Peterson status
Apr 6, 2014
1,797
3,244
113
S. Redondo
EastCoastBrah said:
any idea why they got access cut off? company viewed it as small $ and not worth the risk or something?
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That's what I'd assume. I had a friend that worked in the Satellite Department at Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo back in the early nineties. I remember him mentioning that the foam used in the solar panel arrays looked like surfboard foam and he would see if he could get a big enough piece that I could try hacking a board out of it. He wasn't able to take anything out of Hughes.

Probably someone in the higher-ups just didn't see that sourcing it to Varial was worth depleting their stock and/or the added paperwork.
 
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ChaseTMP

ChaseTMP

Michael Peterson status
Apr 6, 2014
1,797
3,244
113
S. Redondo
sdsrfr said:
My gut says this is Clark foam 2.0 with a smaller audience who cares.

would be cool if another one pops up but I’d bet this one goes the way of hydroflex in the near term, unfortunately.

too bad. fin boxes don’t blow out. anyone want to buy my Varial plasmic, bidding starts at $3k.
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Wasn't Hydroflex just proprietary glassing? I think it was very similar to Varial's Infused process where there was an adhesive applied to the blanks before vacuum-bagging.
 
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lofatkilla

Legend (inyourownmind)
Apr 13, 2004
410
722
93
VENTURA, CA
Just went to Varial with a friend who Yolo'd a Sunstone while I felt up a 6'6 Tur Twin. Sander came out and was covered in dust so definitely finishing boards. I asked when new foam was coming and he said they are trying hard to get it. Nice people, great boards...fuck NASA!
 
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ReForest

ReForest

Michael Peterson status
Oct 7, 2020
3,307
4,835
113
lofatkilla said:
Just went to Varial with a friend who Yolo'd a Sunstone while I felt up a 6'6 Tur Twin. Sander came out and was covered in dust so definitely finishing boards. I asked when new foam was coming and he said they are trying hard to get it. Nice people, great boards...fuck NASA!
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I second that - fuck NASA!!!
I hope Varial has a fire sale. There is a bort there I want.
 
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Retropete

Retropete

Phil Edwards status
Jan 20, 2006
6,040
4,578
113
Sunny Coast Qld Australia
lofatkilla said:
Just went to Varial with a friend who Yolo'd a Sunstone while I felt up a 6'6 Tur Twin. Sander came out and was covered in dust so definitely finishing boards. I asked when new foam was coming and he said they are trying hard to get it. Nice people, great boards...fuck NASA!
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Where's our resident flatearther?...(@distant shores) to tell us it's all just C...G...I.
 
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