Page 56 - Decadence

We are collected in the morning a little later than planned, but not because of the wine consumption, not at all, Nuno had been in his of ce working on a sky bar project for a hotel since 8am. Today we are going to visit one of his manufacturers in a small village about 30km north of Porto. As we arrive we drive through narrow residential streets barely wide enough for the car and then there it is. A large roller door of the wood working factory. It’s fascinating to see the laminated designer chairs being curved and cut, but we are here to discuss how they can replicate the “W” concave on Jenny’s racing longboard deck. Nuno wants to produce a race deck with the same beautiful nish as his cruisers, but we all start to realise this is a greater challenge than rst anticipated.
Portuguese craftsmen rub their chins and scratch their heads whilst Nuno and Joao gesticulate and talk fast and animated about what they need. Jenny explains the curves and the sizes, but it’s not really until she takes the board off the bench, places it on the oor and demonstrates how these moulded shapes are used to control the board by a foot movement or a change of weight distribution that it all become clear - well to me anyway.
The laminating process be it a chair or a deck needs a mould, the way they are suggesting is the usual way; a plaster mould, from this they create the laminating mould, scan it, program it and a robot milling machine takes over, precision cutting and shaping the wood. We watch as chairs go through this process. The enthusiasm to create a bespoke racing longboard is contagious and Nuno’s idea has now infected the owner of the machine shop and all of his staff. Jenny is a little overwhelmed with the attention, but now I can see the opportunity. I now understand what she is saying about the shape, weight, stiffness and material of the deck, it is now sounding like getting the chassis and suspension of a race car set up to the track and the driver - now it makes sense.
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