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my DIY swallow tail burton supermodel 172

77K views 193 replies 29 participants last post by  ridethecliche 
#1 ·
Here are some pics of my DIY swallowtail job on my 172 supermodel.
Basically I cut it with a jig saw, cut the wood core back about 5mm between the top and bottom layers and filled the gap with flexible urethane.
It has turned my old board into an insane pow stick for under $50, cant wait to test it out in japan!







 
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#115 ·
In the interest of keeping this going; Just received my new to me NS Premier T5 168 in the mail. I dont even think I will ride it before giving it the swallow chop. I would love to take it for a spin before that but I am not waiting till next season for that. Within the next week or so I will be adding pics of the mod.
 
#118 · (Edited)
Ok...Starting the drawing and measuring now. First, a couple shots of the canvas (I didnt bother to light these any better than the ambient crap inside my house, so take reflections and color representation with a grain of salt). As you can see she is in need of some love. Im thinking a good stripping of the topsheet and a bothersome plain matte black finish will accurately describe this bitch's temperament! All in all $65 shipped to the door I aint complainin.



Kind of what Im envisioning here. You can see the carbon stringers under the topsheet here. Avoiding those as Im sure a cut into them would really affect the ride.



another of the carbon section...




Now here is what I have drawn up. yup, its a file folder. I was originally going to freehand it on the board, hence the lines of tape going everywhere. Then I realized if i just found center line, the natural fold of the folder could follow center and I could freehand that, making mistakes easily correctable.

My question for you ETM, or anyone else for that matter, In the first pic I am leaving about 4 inches from the last binding insert for the cut. The second shot below shows 5 inches. What would you recommend? Im kind of fond of the 4 inch mark but wonder if I should leave additional length on the tail of the board. In either case I am beyond the contact point of the tail. In fact the tail begins to rise at the upper horizontal piece of tape. I have a good 15 inches to work with from the last binding insert to the tip of the tail. Any input you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.



 
#121 ·
Settled on a cut. only concern I have is how close the top of the cut is to the carbon stringers. Under 1/2" away. Wanted to leave as much tail as possible to maintain solid groomer riding so the cut is a little narrow but taking 15" in length should still allow it to sink well. I'll update more when I chop. Probably this week sometime.
 

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#124 ·
the lines are much smoother, the tail is a little shorter, and most of all it looks like it cuts off the most of the tail kick out of the 3 - no reason for tail kick on a swallow - you want that bitch to sink in the back. fuck groomers. you won't be riding this kind of board on a groomer day. (what the fuck is a 'groomer day'? :blink:)
 
#127 ·
just to fuck with your head a little bit :D.... peep game:

no pointy tips.

This was actually the inspiration for my latest mockup. Of course I would be rounding out the tips after the initial cut. If this is what you were referring to then i think I will stick with the current mock. I havent drawn in the tip rounding yet. This is what I came up with on the computer based on my template as a final product. Thoughts?
 

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#128 ·
yea, visually the pointy tips were fucking with my ocd. :laugh: i think that'll be good - but keep in mind that all the production swallowtails are made to be swallowtails... if they have any tail kick at all its very minimal, nothing like a freeride board with a full kick tail. i'd be wanting to make the cut so as to have a flat or almost completely flat tail.
 
#136 ·
Next up...sand down the epoxy. I got a plastic bond epoxy that will flex and is good down to -20 degrees or something like that. I can tell already that it will need some touch up, but so far pretty easy to work with. Cant report on durability until this coming winter.

Then...the topsheet will be going away in place of something...probably matte black. Just something simple, well done, and deadly looking. Will definitely be the only one on the hill.
 
#138 ·
Thanks! Im rather partial to it. She still needs a lot of work. Downside to an old used board. Still lots of camber left in it. But...the base needs some work. Theres a bolthole that was pushed through by use of too long a bolt. Need to grind that down. Also a small blown edge near the nose that I will have to repair.

Upside...I can cut it with little guilt and wont care how big a rock I encounter with it!

Its an old Never Summer. Its built like a fuckin tank. Wont take much to fix and anticipate it will still jam pow and groomers alike with aggression.
 
#139 ·
legit! you've inspired me to do this... great way to breath new life into an old board i think.

the piece you cut out looks like it would make a sick chopper seat. you should throw it on craigslist as a chopper seat cut from a snowboard for like 40-50 bucks.. i bet you'd sell it

edit: you're in socal fuck it charge 150 i'm sure you could sell that thing down there..
 
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