posts: 223274
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| 223274 | 11440 | Molded, Reverse Engineered, Handshaped by One Only...WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU? | 70 | Bruce Fowler | Oct 13, 2021 | 2021-10-13T15:27:38-0400 | Artz said: Firewire wants to reverse engineer. Those kids boards. Click to expand... Firewire is using the same tech we developed w/sailboards. The materials they use are widely available for cheap in Asia. The EPS that makes for their cores are dirt cheap when bought in large quantity. Nobody knows what quality of EPS they are using because nobody ever sees it. The machined blanks and vac bagging eliminates a lot of hand labor. I have expressed to the cnc guys that an inflatable drum or similar to a soft pad, could be a auto change out during the CNC cutting process to all but eliminate the need for hand scrubbing aka finish shaping. Perhaps a little hand work @ nose & tailback, but no need to remove ridges from cnc cuts. My guess for the actual per unit cost of a Firewire is somewhere between $29 to $37. I'm probably pretty close to the truth, it might even be lower. The rest of what they charge per unit considered as cost goes into marketing & of course cost of their building, which they probably bought and own. Their ability to land boards all said and done for less than $150 stateside equates to an efficient operation with a healthy bottom line realizing a good profit while flooding the market throughout CA and elsewhere. I'm not saying his is right or wrong, I'm just calling a spade a spade. They painted a story that they wanted to use the very best materials & be sustainable and eco friendly and in doing so could not economically build inside the USA and have it be worth their while. All businesses are in business to make money and this is their reality. If you like their product buy it, if you don't like it, or anything I've said here & feel there is a degree of truth in what I say that you find objectionable, then don't. The same can be applied to me or anyone else making surfboards. Politics aside: The buck stops with you. |