Aloha! “Toys for tots!” I think that’s the theme anyway. In surfing, we’re all kids. Young, old, boy, girl, any kine, we’re all kids playing with toy surfboards. There’s nothing like surfing and surfboards to bring out the kid in all of us that are into it. I was talking to my friend the other day about ‘where are all the shop rats?’, the ones who always are there to take out the trash, sweep the floor, take the abuse, and learn about board making and the whole world of surfing. Rare to find one that’s even interested. Seems to me that the majority of young kids are all at the beach, looking like junior surf-stars with their hands out,“sponsor me! sponsor me!” I kind of doubt that these kids even do chores for their parents at home. So, good for you that you’re motivated enough to even get into it. It won’t be long til you’ve got all the jr. superstars lined up at your door, “sponsor me!” From an economic perspective, at $270, around here, the blank man gives no deals to anyone, the avg. price of glass jobs is ‘so much’, which means that you’re selling shapes for about $10. At that rate, soon you’ll have more friends than you’d ever imagine, all going “sponsor me!” So, beware of that trap, before long you’ll be slaving away for cheap, and you’ll find it pretty hard to raise your price enough to make it worth your while, much less pay your share of your parents electric bill. As a new kid from Encinitas, you’re going to have to pay a lot of dues anyway, so watch out, and don’t get in the habit of giving it all away. I’m stoked that you’ve got the ambition, and the kid market is huge. If you hang in there with some humility and an open mind, willing to learn, you’ll probably do okay. My problem though is- " new kid from Ca., killer boards, cheap, cheap, cheap!!!" that irritates the shit out of me. Good luck kid, and I’ll see you around- we’ll talk story, Aloha… RH
Jon- There is a 16 year kid we see at the contests who shapes beautiful boards. I think he lurks here too sometimes. Chris are you out there? Some people have gifts some people don’t. If you are a sculptor of foam- it will show in your work. Experienced surfers know what they are seeing/feeling. I would trust Carl to shape for me and I’m old enough to be his dad. Here in Santa Cruz there lots of young shapers- most of them really good. Learn to listen well, take some business classes, woodshop, and go to college if you can. Don’t try to make a big business out of it yet- shape for your friends and make a few extras to consign to local shops. Be careful- when you make something you love your business it can change to something you resent. Make sure they are glassed well- nothing will ruin a reputation faster than junky construction. Good luck and remember to have fun and be nice. Steiny
Since your question was in two places so is your answer.
what’s to trust
15year olds?
guys who take deposits and materials
and dont produce the goods can be fifty,19,27,65.
what not to trust is some one with a reputation for short
changing the people who trust them.
You ARE NEW
people like columbus will trust you
adventurous,far seeing,trusting ,and people who just like you for no particular reason.
care for your customers wants and needs and become more and more worthy of this trust.
- dont get burned
a.charge enough to pay for growth
no team
sell your old ones
reshape?time consuming and bad rocker
work with an oldie,good shops and an occasional tip
dont sell your self cheap!
if you are’nt making $ 6.00 an hr wash dishes at a resturant you get food
surfboard making is a hobby…great plan
making money making surfboards is fraught with disillusionment infighting and Industrial Espionage
the threatened establishment is teetering on bankrupcy at all times.
charge more than they do and you are no threat.
cheap boards are no good to any body but cheapskates
who dont respect the skills of the builder
Kid boards…
Ado boards…
great market…
charge em cuz
…ambrose…
lemme see a good board
I’ll tell you what …
*!!! the barter guys get into your pocket and you are cash poor and working for nothing for a life time
those guys that wanna get you stoned and take your money are not your friends
even if they are pretending to be…
dont let nobody turn you round.
take the money when you are done
not before
Mahalo for the heads up Amby! that’s a lesson that I’m still learning, and still need to hear, even after all these years! Thanks for all of your help and directional/emotional stability that you’ve ‘sponsored’ me! Plenty lessons to work on yet, must work harder! Aloha…RH
Howzit Rick, Just figured out that I did some lamiate work for Jon a little while back that Rick Massey brought me.Aloha,Kokua
I’m 15 and no one trusts me either to make a board. They can see some stuff I’ve done, say “hey nice glass job” or “I like the template on that board” and then I ask if they want to buy one because that’s why I showed them in the first place, and then they make up some sort of excuse like I’m joking like “wellll… not this time I’m gunna leave it to someone good”…
and if they’ve ridden them too they still don’t trust me…
unless they’re my age.
that’s been my solution so far.
make lots of boards for yourself!
sell em sfter you’ve ridden em enough
they might be sarcastic and envious of your initiative.
show them to us here and somebody will constructively critique em for you.
or find some one in your neighborhood to do the same.
…ambrose…
15 is kinda like a virus
before you know it you’ll be 30
and wonder what that 15 was all about
did you read Catcher in the Rye?
author J.D. Salinger
[and you will eventually be handsome too ]
{and chicks wont leave you alone}
oh yeah make boards for chicks
what an angle to meet chicks!!!
that will make those sarcastic joiks squirm!
hey your from oz land yeah? well if you are im going to visit the gold coast next summer i think but the guy im thinkin of who mentioned you is from west oz and i wont be heading that way until i moved out, i here theres great lefts in west oz to so i might be there sooner than i expect, aloha jon
Jon,
Austin started out when is was about 16. Its been a long hard journey but if you have patience and learn all you can it works out in the long run. Austin, at age 22, is now one of the most respected shapers and glassers on the East coast. In this business you don’t get respect until it is earned. We have shaped hundreds of boards and with each one we learn something new. Keep plugging at it and let your product sell itself!
Sincerely,
Troy
[15 is kinda like a virus
before you know it you’ll be 30 …
[and you will eventually be handsome too ]
{and chicks wont leave you alone}
damn , THAT part never happened for me , Amby …what’s your secret mate ?
maybe I’m just a “late bloomer” … like maybe at 50 , all the 25-30yo girls will be after me ?
Batu in Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia means stone/rock . The Hawaiian boyz r rich , a penny weight of A+ grade batu cos bout us$150.00 .
Go big n get stoked better than get high … …
Go big n get stoked better than get high … …
AnDi , that’s good [obvious too] …
"get STOKED , not stoned "
Clyde Beatty surfboards used to be in Culver City ,CA. in the late 70’s.
His shop or location was taken over and it became Ohana Surfboards and they were
making the same rocket fishes.
I put down my deposit, then was taken to the back room and shown a 15 or 16 year old shaper
and a Caliper held together with an wingnut. The Caliper was for drawing fish templates.
A Wishbone type of thing, it was placed at the nose, the wingnut loosened and you spread it to your desired width
and drew the entire outline of the board from it except the inner fish cutaway.
I came back a few days later and got my money back.
As to 15 year old shapers with 1 year experience , cant be any worse than a 22 year old with
one year exp.
However, at some point I look for someone who knows how to adjust the variables by knowing
the theory and hacking at alot of boards with changed variables and being succesful at making
them work … 15 years old dont cut it!
But in 5 years?
I’m 16 and i just started shaping boards a couple months ago, right now im finishing up board number 6. I’ve sold all but my first one and the one im working on right now.I shaped some boards for my friends and they swear they will never buy anything else. I sell them between 200 and 250 bucks and if i screw up a little i just knock a couple bucks off. I guess it would be different if they werent my friends , but for 200 bucks who can complain about a little dirt in the glass or a little bump here or there. Just stick with it and keep getting better the board i just did is pretty good and i would certainly pay a lot more than 200 bucks for it. Don’t worry about being young , you’re just going to be laughing at the other shapers when you are 25 and already have 10 years experience and you’re the one with all the customers.
yeah I’ve read catcher in the rye a few times, I never really understood it fully but I think you threw a new angle at it and I might go read it again now.
but I get what you guys are saying about having swaylocks critique everything, I haven’t glassed many surfboards(I just keep making them from eps and don’t have enough money to get epoxy) yet but have done multipule foam skimboards becuase of money and parents.
This isn’t the best picture, but it’s my work in progress. It has a 6’2 bonzer, a 4’3 wakesurfer, my #1 6’2 twin fin (shaped with a belt sander) and some other stuff.
and the second is my skimboard quiver
well as a 16 year old shaper yes, but only after seeing your shapes in person would i consider it. possibly only after riding them. Your being a swaylocker makes you a bit more trust worthy in my opinion.
This thread is quite interesting, and informative. Lots of good advice here. One question…
Are there any other variables other than age and experience, and maybe a general knowledge of tools, and good eyes and hands??
I personally am 21, and have a lot yet to learn…but at the same time, after about 35 boards in 2 or so years, I feel like I have a decent understanding of what works and what doesn’t, design wise, and I feel like I am capable of producing a board that is of equivilent quality of something off the rack at your local surf shop. I am close to finishing engineering school, so concepts such as fluid dynamics are familiar and I can apply my schooling to my surfboards. I realize that there is no true substitute for experience, but going to engineering school can’t hurt, can it??
I guess my point is, for those of you that are weary of trusting a 15 year old shaper, is don’t judge the book by its cover. While I myself would not necessarily jump to place an order with a 15 year old, or even a 20 something like myself, there are always exceptions, and there are for sure 15 year olds that can and will outshape 50 year olds. Not saying that it is common, but it is possible, right?? And I am also not saying that I am an exception either, because as I have stated before, I have tons left to learn. Well that is my bit…
Here’s a bit of home truth. After making my first board at the age of 16 (turned out like a pile of elephant snot) I knew I could shape boards (remember 16 yo’s know everything).
I went down and saw a local unnamed shaping identity and told him I could shape. He said that’s great, here go out the back and shape a board and he’ll see about some extra work.
So I went out the back and he put a blank on the racks and gave me the planer and said “off you go, I’ll come back soon to have a look”.
When he got back he had a good long look at what I’d done (I thought it was pretty good) and he just about had a stroke, eyes bulging, veins popping, screaming that I’d wasted a blank and that I was nothing but a bu11sh1tt3r, f*** off and never come back again.
That’s one person who’ll never look at a young shaper…especially one who had never used a electric planer before in his life…
thanks Grant , that’s exactly the point I was making in my opening response about "not talking it up " . A trained eye and a tuned spirit will see through a fake in seconds .
Good boards are good boards , well shaped and glassed by whatever AGE person . It frustrates me that I know what I want to shape , but lack the whatever it is that translates my ideas into a well finished and functional representation of my idea[strike] …call it fine motor skills / perception / craftsmanship , a good feel / eye / intuition / discipline …whatever you like …I know I don’t have it , when it comes to shaping , and I admire the people who DO !![/strike]
[strike][/strike]
[strike][/strike]
[strike] That’s what makes this a good forum , because I have noticed people who can’t surf , yet have VERY god carpentry / technical / craftsmanship skills can still turn out a VERY nice looking board which perhaps rides really well too? …
…I find that interesting , isn’t it ??
ben
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If you love it you’ll do it and no one or nothing can stop you.
Be bold!
And let the devil take the hindmost.