Thank You Bill, That’s the quote that needs to be said here.
When I was a production shaper, (five a day, five days a week) we heard of this machine. The KK-Hell. My good friend Shros (a terrific shaper in his own right whom I have a great amount of respect for) said “this is it, the end of the world”. If anybody else knows him, they know how he is very animated. This was the days of pretty crude CNC cuts too. I was told that I would be paid less money per board , but could now produce even more boards.Yea! Fast forward 20+ years. Now we have all these guys calling themselves “Surfboard Shapers”. Not really. I call them Groove-Smoothers or surfboard finishers. They sometimes come into my shop and catch me with my 100 in hands, and have a puzzled look on their face. You know those guys. They are the ones with all the stickers, hats and t-shirts advertising their “Surfboard Company” long before you ever see their product. Some have no idea how to even shape a board. Yes I have done many CNC shapes for other companies, not the same, not even close. I have said it before, " a lobotimized circus monkey can sand out a CNC’ed blank". Meaning, anybody can do it! Even the Chinese, ( the ones whom have mastered the art of imitation) use machines.
I believe, Machines have turned shapers lazy.
Dust off your planer, it’s a machine too!
To me, a well designed surfboard starts in the water. Then back to my shaping room. Dust off that template, you know the one with that magic curve. Traced onto a US made blank. Foiled by hand. Then put into the water. Remember R&D?
Imputing a bunch of numbers just isn’t the same.
Dying art? No. Not as long as my friends out there on this website continue to carry the torch!
Years ago I used to build houses (framing), and my specialty was complex roofs...
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Hey where are the nail guns?!!! I was never a framer but I'm pretty sure people don't understand how hard that is to hand nail. Let alone figure out the cuts.
Is it ok to detour my own thread into a small diversion? Jeez I miss framing, it was kick-ass hard work but extremely rewarding. The handcut roofs we built were called "cut and stack", and stack day was the big day.
It was a creative adrenalin rush to be a part of, in some ways a highlight of my career. If there is a spiritual aspect of building a house, that was it for me. Now, they build trusses by factory assembly line. Semi-skilled workers carry them and set them up like giant cards of a card house. Smart guys with computers came up with this.
Maybe "soul" isn't the best word to describe what they destroyed of the process, but it seems to me as good as any other. We built a house with pride and joy, today they're just assembling parts to create a commodity. Its different, maybe in ways I'm not effectively communicating.
I am partial to hands-on, hand made creativity, that I feel is connected to the heart and soul of the one who made it, in ways a machine made object wouldn't be.
for my personal view, the hand shape is my vehicle, the time it takes to “play” with 3D or AKU, I can draw a template I am satisfied with, saw it out, have it cleaned up and be off to the races. Getting in line with the rest of the clones for the machine cut adds days and weeks to my time line, plus I don’t wind up in a dead end when the rocker is off a fraction and the blank is set aside because it may not cut correctly.
Back from Hawaii for one day and I have 8’2", 8’4" pigs and an 11’0" Trestle Special rendition underway, they’d be sitting in line otherwise, viva el shapeador de mano
for my personal view, the hand shape is my vehicle, the time it takes to "play" with 3D or AKU, I can draw a template I am satisfied with, saw it out, have it cleaned up and be off to the races. Getting in line with the rest of the clones for the machine cut adds days and weeks to my time line, plus I don't wind up in a dead end when the rocker is off a fraction and the blank is set aside because it may not cut correctly.
Back from Hawaii for one day and I have 8'2", 8'4" pigs and an 11'0" Trestle Special rendition underway, they'd be sitting in line otherwise, viva el shapeador de mano
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Hello
What is the Trestle special rendition like?
After seeing all the hp surfing there on short board, i would love to know what this eleven foot planker is all about!
on your website i have seen the most amazing boards, just stunning. 12 foot epoxy board with blue and a deep polish, what is that one all about? you never combine poly and poxy do you?
I can’t tell you how much it sucks to be marginalized by those that don’t have the skills, and rely on preshapes, marketing and business savvy to enrich their egos, and their wallets. Huck, I totally respect your framing skills, but that doesn’t make you a master surfboard shaper, neither does moderating, so keep it on point. Some days I question my skills, because I hear the voices in my head of all great shapers I have labored for, and under to achieve my skill level; the funny thing is when I bring up their names I get accused of being a name-dropper. I read these “shaper’s” bios on line and they talk of other shapers as influences, and I talk about them as people who signed their name to my work, trying to get me to see it through their eyes. Still it would be nice to hear Velzy’s scratchy voice calling me a “gremmy” again, or Russell’s mantra to me: “Who the fuck cares what anybody else is doing,” or “is that some of your best work, you’ve been talking about?” Right now I think I would even like to hear Merrick telling me: “You gotta look at the big picture,” or Brewer lecturing me on what it takes to do it his way.
Still its been a honor and a privilege, just to know these guys, even when they were sometimes telling me stuff I didn’t want to hear.
The “Trestle Special” is one of Rich Harbours designs, so my version is only similar, I DON"T pirate others shapes, it has a 17"nose, 24-1/2"wide ( the guy is really big, but a good surfer) 15" tail, round pin with a hard to tuck rail for about 30 ", the softens up to a traditional bottom.It is a 5 stringer on a classis US Blank, I think it gets FCS and a long box, pics tomorrow.
The 12 footer was laminated by myself, double sealer coated top and bottom, block sanded and DA sanded, instead of doing a cut lap, I didn’t want to break the sealed skin, I laid down 3 layers of masking tape right on top of each other, laminated, then ran # 60 grit on a stiff soft pad until I hit tape, then it was lift out the tape and masking paper, I had a feathered lap and no break in the skin.
yes it was glossed with polyester, if you hit it hard it will chip, but does feather back without continuing to chip off, I leave it at # 60 grit to get a better mechanical bond and it was a hand shape also
Hey Jim, you always have been so clever. I may have to try that! Knowing you and guys like you have inspired me since my first wiff of resin! I think I may have turned into one of you guys. Proudly! Your friend, Barry Snyder
John, I sealed the blank with my mixture of baking soda and Epoxy resin, block sanded the first coat and used my DA ( dual action) air sander on the top coat, it came out so clean that the ultra light sage green lamination looked like it was on a well sanded polyurethane blank
Hi john . its not about the shaping or glassing etc etc. its about who has the skills or DESIRE to run a competitive business. machines dont put you out of an income . lack or business skills put you out of an income. i say this as a MANUFACTURING jeweller of 25 years . they got machines that made my hand making obsolete. such is life… moving right a long. i could learn cad, open a retaiil shop get a business degree and make some money like my parents were able to( also manufacturing jewellers). but nup cant be arsed with that. not interested. more interested in surfing and snowboarding and making money in more efficient ways that give me freedom.
do i consider jewellery art .NOT EVEN . (maybe faberge and few of the greats)
is it dying, IMPOSSIBLE its 6000 year old trade as old as whoring. if this generation forgets 1000 years from now someone will figure it out
can a machine do it china HECK YEAH
do i care HELL NO
you old blokes have got your houses and rental properties and investment portfolios. that imposible for most young people these days. but hey at least we get cheap IPODS from asia.
at the end of the day all the shit we own was once someones TRADE in our respective countries… such is life. enjoy what you got and money shouldnt motivate you to do your craftwork anyway , it should be for pleasure and meditation.
so yeah i still got my tools and i still knock out the odd piece of shit . takes me 10 minutes to make a wedding ring out of square stock guage to polish . but no ones gunna buy one out of me garage. and to be honest i dont want them in my friggin shed anyway. ITS MY SHED. my temple. my holy place . money changers are not welcome
Jim Phillips just gave up two great tricks that not many people know about. The three layer tape trick is da dog for doing opaque cut laps. I use a die grinder with 60 grit four inch disc to cut through the glass and expose the tape. I only use poly so the baking soda trick is out of my sphere.
Hear this while back from the guy who drives the delivery truck for ProCam. He’d just picked up some blanks from Hobie that TM had roughed out but never finished before his death. Apparently the guy who they had there now didn’t know how to complete them. So they where sending the blanks to ProCam to get CNC’ed so he could finish them… Really??
