My name is Rebecca Barron, I live in the mountains of California. I am a mountain kid but love the ocean. I always go to Santa Cruz and want to learn to surf soooo bad. I want to make a surfboard for my senior project or I mean shape one. I think it owuld be the coolest experience and I wanted to find someone that would be willing to take the time and help me do this I would like to find someone who would be cool enough to be my mentor and take time out of their busy life to help me out. I would learn how to use and make it a family heirloom. I t would be really great if you or someone could get back to me. If you know anyone who might be willing let me know. Rebecca Barron.
With all the talent out there - I’m too far away - I sure hope someone steps up to help Rebecca out. In '68 I built a board, with no knowledge whatsoever, in a highschool art class. No clue… Neat part was when I glassed it in the art room and the fumes got sucked into the central air system and they evacuated the school while the fire department came. They had no clue either. Rebecca - Let us know how you make out.
rebecca- i/m willin to help you out- only prob. may be that i am in san diego and you are in santa cruz mnts. if you would like to take me up on the offer, my email is
If you have access to a pc, you could try DAT 98 - see the thread going on about it right now. The guys talking about it know where to get copies. Design the board on the computer using a package designed for making boards. You’ll learn the basics about board geometry as well as if you hacked at a blank with a planar and shure form - maybe even more so as you can spend your time thinking about geometry instead of worrying about not taking a chunk out of the blank (or you for that matter) with a planar. The computer won’t gaurantee that it’s a good board, the board is only as good as the geometry. That’s why it’s still a good idea to get dialogue going with a shaper (or cruise the archives here - it’s a gold mine of knowledge) and spend some time on different boards so that you start connecting design parameters with what they mean for surfing and paddling. If you are in the Santa Cruz area, I’ll convert one model for you for free and you can get it pre-shaped on the machine at Cyber Shapes. At least you’ll start out with practically perfect cutout, foil, etc… and you can finish sand and glass it yourself. I’m not trying to complicate things for you; just want you to be aware of another approach to the shaping process. At any rate, try to get out on the water. Don’t wait to make a board to start surfing, bodyboarding, whatever if you can work it out. Good Luck!