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Wow, now that i think about it my first board really wasnt that bad hahahaha !!! Well as long as he had fun its all cool, but i have to say it looks interesting i would surf it just for the heck of it haha :P !
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You're a better man than me. I wouldn't be able to carry it to the water - I think I would just dig a hole in my backyard and give it its last rites, LOL.
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[quote="$1"] Money comes and money goes. If the person pissing away money making shitty boards is having fun building them and riding their creations nothing else matters. [/quote]
http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2278764&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1
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I read the link.....Sad....But it's a reminder of why I haven't been on Suffer Mag.com for over 2 years. And a reminder of why I won't pay for their mag....I get it for free because I registered at the Surf Expo...I look at the photos and into the recycle bin....... ..........I wonder how many people made lame comments that have never built a surfboard? and how many lurkers got a laugh that have never made a surfboard. Some nice people told the guy to go to Swaylocks.....
New boards in a shop here usualy start at $800 longboards around $1200 theres often something on sale for a little less but at that price its not hard to make your own for cheaper, better is a another thing.
I have only shaped two boards and nether are close to a pro board a little wobble here stuff up in the glassing there but they both taught me things about shaping, surfing and how boards work . plus I had fun shaping them.
First was a pu/pe longboard cost 300nz inc fin etc. I have had a blast on that board loosely templated off a Dennis Murphy board which was great but had had a very hard life before I got hold of it.
Second a pu epoxy 6’7 twinzer with a 17in tail cost 150nz all up not the sort of thing thats often for sale second hand or in the shops around here not really a performace board but i’m not likely to ever be doing airs etc.
Possibly a fish next have a blank but not sure. A few fins to finnish first and an old trigger bros that needs a new fin box.
Regularly surf boards made by real shapers to remind my self what they should go like. Current go to is a 80s 5’10 channeled saltwater thruster.
As a hobbie its far cheaper than rideing dirt bikes or probably even fishing.
[quote="$1"] I read the link.....Sad....But it's a reminder of why I haven't been on Suffer Mag.com for over 2 years. And a reminder of why I won't pay for their mag....I get it for free because I registered at the Surf Expo...I look at the photos and into the recycle bin....... ..........I wonder how many people made lame comments that have never built a surfboard? and how many lurkers got a laugh that have never made a surfboard. Some nice people told the guy to go to Swaylocks..... [/quote]
Hey Ray, yeah, they did have a few laughs at the expense of the 'makeman', but humor is rather their forte over there. I confess to a good chuckle myself over some of the comments. Overall, I thought they were much nicer than the few but vocal ill-mannered children that play in this sandbox, LOL.
They did send him to blendingcurves.com, and swaylocks too, even thoughtfully adding the caveat: "most of those guys over there are not 16yr old kids and don't give a sht about his opinions on what is and isn't great surfing." Someone even graced the page with some girlie pics, but those were taken down probably as being inappropriate for family viewing.
I generally feel like a fish out of water over there, but appreciate the general levity of the place.
The a-holes on Suffer mag have nothing to offer......a funny photo, a joke.......
The A-HOLES on Sway's have helped me get to the level I'm at. And that's that.
Ray.
the first few boards work out kinda expensive, but now i’m at about 25 boards and am comfortable selling them. my costs are around $200 board and i sell for $350. so every couple of boards i sell i can make one for myself for free.my quiver is getting to be quite impressive! ha.
i did my first 5 boards for myself, then did about 5 for cost, then about 5 for cost plus 100, the last 10 have been cost plus 150. I think i’ll bump it up when i get to about 40 or 50 boards.
My blank supplier also holds aside some second blanks for me, so i get them even cheaper for my own boards.
My stoke has gone through the roof riding my own boards, and my surfing has definately gotten better.
Who cares what the cost is really if you’re having fun. You know how much money I spend chasing a little white ball around a golf course??? About two Indo trips a year worth.
In all fairness that kid has been a real troll over there, being a big fan of the Surftech’s and completely dismissing any design that isn’t 6-2 x 18.5 x 2.25. He’s also pretty contemptuous of anyone who isn’t breathlessly following the Tour or trying to surf like a pro. All from the surf mecca of Norway. So he fully deserves the heat he’s been getting. They’re not otherwise that rough on first timers.
I got into it just to learn how to make boards and hopefully save money. it wirked out well for me because i pieced together a workable shaping set-up and made some tools. i decided to have my first board glassed professionally at a local shop with a full setup for board building and the guys were really cool to let me see it done.
Coincidentally, the owner needed some sign work and knew i worked at a local sign company. Long story short, i ended up trading sign work for materials that led to use of the shop for paint and glassing that led to making extra money doing ding repair. Now i can shape at home or at the shop. My shaping “shed” can only accomodate up to a 7’ +/- board (for now). I glass them at the shop for the regular glass prices minus the labor because i do it myself. PLUS… I get to learn from professionals… =) They have also started to take on the occasional custom sign job that i get to take part in. If i could make the switch from my main job to surfboard building i would do it in a heartbeat, but, monetarily… its just not realistic at the moment. I will continue to spend as much of my spare (non-working & family) time learning as much as i can.
As Huckleberry mentioned… the process is one part i love about it and i can only really enjoy that when i’m working at home. When i’m at the shop it’s all about the best and most efficient way of doing things. At home, i take my time, dream and explore. I go to the shop for the efficient pro way of doing things and then i come home and go to Sway’s for the creative and inspired way of doing things.
I have Sways to thank for most of any knowledge and understanding i had going into working at the shop.
I don’t save any money making my own. Quite the contrary. I make 10 or so a year and average about 200.00/board. I can usually resell them for the cost of materials, but often give them away because I don’t want it to appear I am trying to undercut the few professional board builders in any way. Plus, the stuff I make for myself isn’t what most people are interested in surfing. I do it for the pure stoke of surfing something I built with my own hands. Some of my ugliest pieces of shit have actually surfed pretty good. Others, I thought were quite good, turned out to be dogs. Go figure… Mike
I agree with that. I can see the physical mistakes on a board, but when you control every aspect of a board, i think your much more likely to be happy with how it rides. Every once and a while I jump on one of my old production boards, and the appearence of physical perfection does not translate to perfection in the water. I never cared about saving money, i’d be happy with only one or two boards as long as they were amazing (I ended up with a lot more) I just wanted designs to go straight from in my head to under my feet without being filtered by a shaper’s own routines, beliefs, and habits.
when you just add up the mateirials its way cheaper to make your own board
but,,
when you add in the labor hrs it gets close to the same as a board at the shop
I dont work for free, so I try to get top dollar for my boards, time is money,, period.
even when I make a board for a friend, I show them the reciepts for the supplies for a longboard (about $450), and then I ask them if they think I deserve a little something for my time,,, they look at their custom bitchen looking 10 or 11 ft tinted, pinlined, venered and polished gem and say ,,Dude this board would cost $1200 bucks if I ordered it from a shop and they wouldnt do the veneer work,
and I say ,,, so $1000 is a fare price to ask?
they say,,,Hell ya!
and cause their my bro's I say just give me 9 bills or double the mateirial costs
then the next week they tell me how they droped it , and can I fix it ,,,, go figure
cheaper, hell yes, as good, hell no, not yet. But I dont get the satisfaction of just buying a board or ordering a board as i do making em. I dont get to relax after work, do some plane work, a bit of sanding, then go spend time with the kids. I dont worry about the time it takes me like ken as that is the part I enjoy, the longer sometimes the better, its something I look forward to every spare time I have. Personally I wouldnt have it any other way.
cheaper, hell yes, as good, hell no, not yet. But I dont get the satisfaction of just buying a board or ordering a board as i do making em. I dont get to relax after work, do some plane work, a bit of sanding, then go spend time with the kids. I dont worry about the time it takes me like ken as that is the part I enjoy, the longer sometimes the better, its something I look forward to every spare time I have. Personally I wouldnt have it any other way.