Quick update: I’ve taken the board out four times and it’s a blast to ride. You definitely have to plan ahead for turns and it takes a little more effort but it’s really fun. It paddles really well (the weight/momentum seem to help here), it’s super stable (easy to cross step on) and it turns pretty well for it’s size. Hard to believe a 50 year old board could be so much fun.
I recently picked up an old longboard (9’8", single fin, pig shape, weighs a ton) that is in decent shape. It needs some minor repairs but for the most part it looks like it will be a fun step back in time. The only ID on the board is a lam under the glass with the O’Neill logo and Santa Cruz address on 41st St. Does anyone know if there is a way to get an approximate age and find out who shaped the board? I know it’s probably a longshot but I thought I’d give it a try.
Thanks for any help.
I wasn’t sure of the pig designation. I thought it had hips and the wide point was well past the middle but I guess it’s closer to the middle. I measured the board at 16" x 21 1/2" x 14 1/2".
Pictures go a long way in determining a board’s vintage and other attributes. A vague description with few, if any, details really doesn’t narrow things down much. O’Neill longboards could be from the 60s, 70s, or 80s. If you are going to post pics of the board, good, clear shots of the top, bottom, logo, fin, etc are your best option.
Certainly looks like a 60s board to me. The deck looks pretty good, but oh that fin! What a mess! I would be very surprised if there’s no stringer rot. Still, looks like a fun beater board for small, goof-around days.
My first board was an O’Neill in '62 also. The board pictured above is from a couple of years later. The outline is pretty refined (I wouldn’t call it a pig template). Along with the T-band stringer, fin style and the wood+glass tailblock, I would guess '65-'66.
That makes sense, as Tom was still in So Cal and a member of the Weber team in the mid 60s. Odd that stoked-n-board lists him as an O’neill shaper during that period of time
no, very much a highly refined ‘standard’ LB. In 2001 SFO airport did a ‘history of the surfboard’ on display in their new international terminal, and Dick Keating loaned them some boards from his personal collection to add to the mix, from 40’s woodies all the way through to a DK Delight and a transitional 8’0 ‘mini’gun’. Had a chance to study the display while waiting to board a flight to Berlin, it was done quite well.
DK did several models for O’Neil, shaped the originals, then handed them over to O’Neil for their in-house shapers to replicate. He still shapes the occasional classic to this day from the Pedro Point shed he has worked out of for almost 60 years.
