This is more for the guys that don’t make boards to sell, but just from themselves. I wanted to know if you like riding the boards you make as much or more than the boards you buy.
I ask because we’ve been having an epic summer and I’ve been able to ride an assortment of boards in seriously overhead surf. I really enjoyed riding a funky looking board I made earlier this year more than the boards I have that I’ve bought. This Includes my beloved BK big wave board.
Swaylocks got me back into making boards after more than 25 years, and I think I have been able to dial in on what I like. It’s also great when someone asks where you got the board from, and you can say that you shaped and glassed it yourself. All from my brother finding this place and my frustration with getting a truely “custom” design from a local shaper.
I’m just hoping that the board I’m waiting to finish works the way I designed it to. If that happens, the BK can be retired.
i’ve only had my board for one day but i think the fact that you shaped and glassed the board yourself gives you that extra stoke since you put the time and effort into it. i guess the same could be said if you saved up for a while to purchase a custom board but there’s something about making something yourself.
never in my wildest dreams could I think that I as a weekend hack could produce a better designed and finished board than, Griffin, BK, Brewer or anyone else I’d order a custom from.
Maybe if you quit dropping your boards in the dirt under your house while you’re glassing them would help
never realized the importance of proper lighting, facilities and correct tools in getting something close to a finished “pro” board.
I’ve learned that its less about materials and technology than it is about the basics of pure design and technique.
I think the ability to know and have the confidence that you can make your own halfway decent surfboard from just about anything you can get at the local hardware store is the best thing I’ve gotten our of this whole crazy adventure.
never in my wildest dreams could I think that I as a weekend hack could produce a better designed and finished board than, Griffin, BK, Brewer or anyone else I'd order a custom from.
Maybe if you quit dropping your boards in the dirt under your house while you're glassing them would help
never realized the importance of proper lighting, facilities and correct tools in getting something close to a finished "pro" board.
I've learned that its less about materials and technology than it is about the basics of pure design and technique.
I think the ability to know and have the confidence that you can make your own halfway decent surfboard from just about anything you can get at the local hardware store is the best thing I've gotten our of this whole crazy adventure.
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Agreed. Pro builders do thousands of things consciously and unconsciously that have developed from the experience and repetition over time.
Right now my two favorite boards are not my creations. My C.C. Rider longboard, which was the first surfboard I ever bought for myself. Gosh, $500 at 14, it took forever to pay off! Right now it has a busted fin box that I need to fix, but I’ve been riding it regularly for the past 7 months. It had sat unused in my house for a couple years while I rode one of my own longboards. I loved that board, but it’s such a heavy old school log, and I like the performance and lightness of my C.C. Rider.
The other favorite of mine is a 70’s Natural Art 6’4" singlefin I got off Craigslist for $50. Originally I saw the listing and jumped for it because, well it was a surfboard in good shape for $50. It had a few dings that didn’t show in the pictures, but they were fixed easily. The first day I rode it was in choppy awful storm surf. And it was just so much fun I can’t put it down! I’m a convert and a believer now.
Right now I’m happier watching my friends ride the boards I’ve shaped for them. Watching them get a good wave on a board I made and seeing how stoked they are is what does it for me. I’ll be shaping myself a new longboard soon and I’m excited to get back to riding boards I shaped.
I am with Harry on this one… I ride my own boards 99.5% of the time. I have Brewers, Rustys, Hamiltons, Rawsons in the rafters, but they don’t see the light of day except when I loan them out.
Bernie old pal - maybe if you stuck with one set of materials & build technique and tried to get the shapes and designs dialed in, you might dig your own boards more…it’s fun to experiment but I think mebbe you have too many variables going?
PS a little dirt in the glass isn’t going to ruin a board, ha ha - doesn’t have to be a “pro” board to have fun with it…
When I find a board that was made by a professional that surfs the way I like I duplicate it but also make modifications to fit my needs,so(in my mind)my boards ride just a little bit better than the pros!
"I'm just hoping that the board I'm waiting to finish works the way I designed it to. If that happens, the BK can be retired"
think about this...
I gave you that handpicked non-custom BK mini-gun to your for your birthday 15-20 years ago..
And it still reigns king when the going gets tough what does that tell you about BK.
That's the difference in my opinion..
But the best thing any surfer can achieve is learning how to make their own equipment.
I think that's the pinnacle of what the surfing experience can eventually teach you.
Once you get to that stage in your surfing evolution you don't really need anything else other than perhaps finding the inspiration to pass on your knowledge to another going through a similar evolution.
That's what its all about
And that's why Swaylocks is needed so much as a place to go and share such things.
Just gotta say thats it is super satisfiying riding the boards I make, from conception of the idea, to the design on the computer(my planer skills suck) ,
to glassing, and sanding, and finally surfing them.
None of my boards are magic.....YET!. I view the process a journey, and the knowledge I gain, the destination.
I still have go-to boards(Minamis and Ferreiras) when it gets sizable, just because of the confidence factor that knowledgeable shapers provide.
But for small fun days, I ride my boards alot, not always though.
I think that for all of us that are still surfing at our age, and have the resources to experiment, its kinda completes the circle.(remember the 1st board you made?)
It puts the "fun" back into surfing, I may not be punting airs, but I do have a big smile on my face, Isn't that what its all about?
Definately. My twin keel was my fave for 2 years. I have a 7'10'' ( bought ) that is now just a little bit in front as my fave , but i still love my twin keel. And after some fin changes, im really liking my little ugly looking twinny i made. Something about it when you're surfing your own.
I haven't bought a shop board in the past decade and have passed on all the ones I've owned. So I guess that's going to be a yes. For the past few years I've been passing on my own shapes and it's good to see people out there having fun on them.
A pro shaper friend of mine said to me a while back "you know I've been making my own boards for the past 35 years" not to mention multiple thousands he's done for other people. In his 50's now he's usually still the best guy out on most days. There's a guy who has it dialed in what works for him.
I think that different boards work better in different types of waves in different winds conditions. I probably would be very happy riding my griffin 5 fins or the BK in big Tennis Courts with the clean offshore conditions. I’ve been riding a spot that gets more side shore winds and is a bit more bumpy with sections.
I’ll never make boards consistantly as good as an established shaper/glasser, but I’m having a lot of fun incorporating all the design elements I like into a board that is taylored for my size, style and the waves I ride. I figure that’s what it’s all about.
People want to try my boards when I'm out surfing so I get to try a LOT of different boards.
First - I doubt that a shaper would make me a board like I have now, Ha! It's just too different. 9'2"x23" x 3.5" thick, concave deck with steps on the nose and tail and 'Harbor' nose rails! Oh ya... five fin. But the fin combo that I like the best on it... little upright fins in the back and 4.5" tall carbon/balsa curved fins I made!!!
What do you think Harry?
Second - IT's been a long (not that long, ha! 6years) process to get where I am now. Certinly not the years that a lot of the people on here that have helped me to get to this level (advanced (?) garage board designer?). But it's been 25 boards and not all in the same line. I like long boards but I've experimented with short boards, SUPs, Alaias, stub noses, too much rocker, 11'6" surf/paddle board, fish!
The main thing is that each board, even though I didn't like the way it surfed or looked, taught me a bit more about what I did like AND how to make them better. So I'm now down to three, no four, boards (of mine) that I use on a regular basis, 9'2" quad (Bill T. inspired), 10' stub noserider, 10'6" SUP and I'm ocasionally using my alaia inspired 8' Flaming Finless.
Of all the boards I've had, I can honestly say that one or two I've shaped can hold their own against some the better ones I've bought. The main reason I did get into shaping my own boards was that many of the custom and off the rack boards I had been getting were'nt riding as good as I would have liked them too. Luckily the first board I did shape (after enduring everything that could go wrong when making it) rode pretty good, making me want to continue. I was really stoked when I did a board for a friend and he told me it was one of the better boards he ever had.
Of course, I’ve only ever had a couple of customs. The first one was terrible. It was from a local “pro” shaper who got nothing right except the color scheme. I asked for a high-volume, full-nose, modern “fish” shape in the vein of the rusty piranha or the lost round nose fish. What I got was a low-volume thruster with a swallowtail.
The other one was made by a westcoast guru shaper, and while it was mostly what I asked for, it still didn’t ever fit me right.
I started shaping not long after I started surfing, so my surfing skills have developed along with my shaping skills. Through trial and error, I have pinned down the shape characteristics which fit my style… Or maybe I have developed my style to fit the shape characteristics which I put into my boards. At any rate, while what I shape may not be everyone’s cup of tea, my boards are defintely a good fit for my surfing, and I derive endless enjoyment from riding them.
I enjoy riding anything, but I get satisfaction out of riding my own.
And I believe shaping my own has improved my surfing.
No way am I claiming to be better than my local shaper, but simply that I can’t afford to experiment through purchasing custom made boards.
Or second hand boards for that matter!
Now I shape myself 8 - 10 personal boards a year, and sell them off for cost or a bit more when i’ve fully evaluated their performance.
Some I keep, and build up the quiver.
No way could I do this if I was buying boards.
As a result i’m riding completelely different equipment now.
If I could get a pro to come to the beach and watch me surf, (and promise not to laugh), then sit down with him for an hour to discuss my needs, then I’m sure he would be able to shape a better board than I can, and I would buy one!
