I don’t mean that to sound like I don’t like or respect backyarders. Far from it. Some of my best friends are backyarders
No, really, I sort of started in the yard, like many many people before me - as in pretty much all the pioneers. I think it is an amazing part of our heritage, and unique in that we can build our own equipment unlike many other “sports.” Not to be discounted in terms of overall validity.
If you look at my older posts, I used to bag on guys that used the machine 100% - maybe even in the past 2 years. In some ways, I still do harbor some resentment to guys that haven’t spent time learning to use the other “tools” of the trade. It makes no sense to me that someone who can’t give you the same board with the planer, can get the same credit as someone that spent years learning to design by hand. Maybe in the future, the “designers” will rule the world. But, I’d like to think that may not happen.
That sounds hypocritical, I know. But like I said before, I believe you need to understand how to build a board from scratch before you can deisgn a good cut file. How many boards or years does it take? Probably different for everyone, especially with all the info available today. But you can’t run before you walk…
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"computer shapes are just like cheating"
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hahaha, cheeky little upstart!
I'm just a backyard foam scraper, but I am a craftsman in my day job, and I really relate to the frustration of being denigrated in a society that doesn't understand or value hand craftsmanship. While some ridicule the "boutique" market for hand shaped boards, I think its a valid niche for hand-made boards: works of art!
Take hobbyists like kensurf or johnmellor, who have taken their craft to a higher level - not "pro's" by definition, then what are they? I say, artists!
We'll never beat the machine for speed or accuracy, but we can definitely win on creativity, eh?
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I don't mean that to sound like I don't like or respect backyarders. Far from it. Some of my best friends are backyarders ;)
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No, I didn't get that impression at all. Only that you felt the thread topic excluded them, when I feel it very much includes them (us).
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I think it is an amazing part of our heritage, and unique in that we can build our own equipment unlike many other "sports." Not to be discounted in terms of overall validity.
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Never thought about that before, now I'm trying to think of another sport where guys can design and build their own equipment!
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It makes no sense to me that someone who can't give you the same board with the planer, can get the same credit as someone that spent years learning to design by hand. Maybe in the future, the "designers" will rule the world. But, I'd like to think that may not happen.
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Its here. I suspect a good percentage of the new guard of pro shapers work with a mouse, probably have never (or very little) used a planer. Its not required. Any validity the years of handshaping adds to a "designer's" resume is lost on the new generation.
In a sense I think handshaping is becoming like surfing - if you do it, you don't need an explanation why someone does it, if you don't do it, no explanation will ever fully explain it. And like surfing, a lot of people who do it will continue to do it until they put 'em in the ground!
society, and surfing in our field of reference, really doesn’t appreciate the value of trained hands. We’re too focused on the next big thing all the time, instead of focusing on the now… our own worst enemies
I mean rascal, as in I think even though its old, it will always be open to debate and be able to draw new opinions, yea off course its dying, who cares? If anyone does, there’s 1000’s more who dont, and no one will dig em out, survival of the fittest, mmmmmmm,
i have an opinion. ok there is something kinda spiritual about being a good tradesman. but thats about it. surfboard shaping is not art and in fact the trade is only about 60 years old so there no 4000 year precedent like a lot of other trades. So there are some good tradesman out there and thats cool but to attach some sort of guru master artist status to a guy thats been mowing foam for 20 years is a bit silly really. it doesnt take that long to learn and you dont need anyone to teach you. you either got it or dont got it. those who have it. have it in every aspect of their hand to eye skils. no one ever showed me how to handle a planer or a hammer or a saw for that matter. ive never seen anyone shape and i dont need to. i can knock out exactly what it want in a couple of hours to a few millimeters tolerences. sure i got showed a few things as a jeweller and a floor layer. YEAH i got showed how NOT to do it. man thats because i found my own way in the things i do . im fast and neat when i want to be and loose and cruisey when i want to be… so its not a dying art. anyone with skills,determination and a good book, can teach themselves a trade with a few tips and hints. So i been around the traps and seen guys that have been doing various trades for years and plenty of these guys are rough shit tradesman even after 20 or 30 years they can be still farkin rough and sh!t on the tools. ive seen first year apprentices do better work. . so machine shapes . hand shapes . blown molds. who cares makes no difference . its like saying you got your frames on your house prefab . whoopy doooooo! the blanks are so bloody close to what you want anyway a complete gumby should be able to make somethig half decent
in saying that tho i really like being on the tools and would rather hand shape a board . but if i had a market i would have most of them done on a machine and use the time saved to doing something else on the tools
well said Paul? you are an online friend, but get real mate, you have never made your living from hand shaping and had it ripped away by shaping machines. It used to be shaper/surfer or visa versa, either way you had to climb above everyone at your beach, school, wherever else, to actually do it, let alone for 40 years,
and tradesman build stuff, surfers ride waves, start new lifestyles, do stuff that has never been done and they are still doing it, did you give up being a good jeweler for an average board maker? the people here who get a buzz from making boards, that is a good thing, but go and watch big wednesday to get an idea how we had to fight to do our thing, because hhahahahaha
Love to shape. Three Skils (all done beautifully by Petec), three or four Hitachis, Milwaukees, all the hand tools and knowledge that goes with it. But would I hand shape an order for ten 10'6 SUPs all of the same shape and dimensions? NO!
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well said Paul? you are an online friend, but get real mate, you have never made your living from hand shaping and had it ripped away by shaping machines.
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Years ago I used to build houses (framing), and my specialty was complex roofs. Today, the industry has been dumbed down, roofs are all prefabbed in a factory by computers and unskilled labor, very few jobs for a real roof-cutter. There are those who argue its progress and economic necessity, but I don't agree. Or at any rate, I would say sometimes the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater LOL!
Try and get a newbee to figure out how to cut hip and gable rafters, let alone read the square to set up stairs, my great grand father who passed away in 1936, used to frame a house a day with his crew, all with hand saws
I like hand made stuff. Lots of people don't really care that hand made stuff, made by the few who have the skills to do it properly is being replaced by plastic machines. Yuck. Im not against machines, but shit, i can appreciate the skill and work that goes into finely crafted stuff. Im not just talking surfboards either. My wife likes antique shops ( only to look though haha ), and when you come across a 300 year old dining room set, made by hand, with carvings etc, its just fucking cool, or a grandfather clock etc. Im not particularly interested in dining tables or grandfather clocks, but when you see how well made they are, i can't help but appreciate it.
What most are missing , or maybe only the ones who want to, is that without the machines there wouldnt be 1000’s more board labels out there, devalueing boards.It’s been all said 1000’s of times before here, they are here to stay love them or not, so that’s what I meant by Huck being rascally, because he knew it’s a contentious issue, all from me,
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...they are here to stay love them or not, so that's what I meant by Huck being rascally, because he knew it's a contentious issue, all from me, H.
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I've been called worse, for sure. Thanks for watering the compliment down in case any women or children are perusing the forum LOL.
I think the twelve year old got it right when he said ''Its like cheating.'' Not exactly like cheating the customer, but cheating yourself, for sure. Taking the crust off of a close tolorance blank, and sanding it, does not make you a shaper. Nor does sanding down the cutting head ridges of a machine cut blank.
Developing the skill to liberate from a rough blank, or glued up balsa timber, the surfboard in your mind, is a rewarding experience. When you have drawn out and cut a template by hand, then transfered it to a blank and shaped it, you'll be on the road to truly being a surfboard shaper.
In the process of learning those skills, you'll also learn a lot about yourself. If you're paying attention.
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