I have noticed the majority of threads for some time have been about lamination and resin. In just four days of Mr. Tate bringing in Graphite Masters’ Mr. Russell and it has grown to more than four pages and still coming. To me, this confirms what I have believed for years that Laminators are the real artists in the process. There is so much more to it and a variety of materials to use. I very much respect a good shaper and what it takes, but to be truly proficient in using fiberglass and resin it requires much more effort and talent. These guys are the workhorses of the industry and the real producers. Shapers get the glory but laminators are the spine of the industry. I realize that it begs the statement that if it weren’t for shapers then… What say you? My hat is off to them and if you have a good reliable one, marry him. Don’t let him get away.
Funny thing about some glassers is the attitude. First board I shaped (many years ago) was a windsurfer(wave board) and my buddy and I took our shapes up to Stretch in Santa Cruz to glass(epoxy) after talking to him on the phone. My shape was a copy of an old Fowler wave board I owned and broke.
Personally, I thought the shape was pretty good considering the lack of experience. The first thing Stretch says as we pull the blanks out of the van is that" they look like shit and I don’t want to glass them" Not even a “Hi Guys - How was the drive up?”. After a little discussion he agreed to glass them, but did not want to put his"glassed by stretch" logo on them. I was ok with that. While I was “pissed” at the time, in hindsight, I’m glad he was so brutal. My buddy and I decided to teach ourselves to glass our own boards after that and haven’t looked back.
That board turned out to be a very good board. I enjoyed riding it for a few years until I made my next (which was a (EPS/divinicell compsand).
When I reffered to laminating, sanding is a part of that process. I know it isn’t how it is done in production but it is part of the “post shaping” phase. Sanding is the last process with polish ( more sanding really) and where the rubber meats the road. Guys like Skip are real pros and add to the shape. Charlie Walker is most adept at this that I have ever witnessed. Talk about saving boards! A dog Sh$% shape is not a finished shape same as a bad lam is not a finished lam. They get passed on as one often times but not the real deal. Like a re-paint on a car. It can be a very nice color but if there is orange peel then it is a dog sh%^ paint job. Of course, the reverse is true, a bad lam and sand job can ruin the board. It seems to me there is more effort and talent in the end process than simply planeing and sanding foam. Some folks are show ponies…some are work horses. The all in one craftsman like Matt says is my hero.
Rarely can one man do it all expertly. Roger Hinds is an Expert in every skill needed to produce a surfboard. But for most of the rest of us it is better to concentrate on one part of the process. When I got back into it in the 90’s I could glass pretty decent. I got so busy glassing and doing ding repair on Maui that I rarely had time to shape. I folded my little Factory at the Baseyard and rented a shaping bay at the Pauwela Cannery. Walked my shaped blanks down the hall to my glasser. Concentrating on the shaping process allowed me the time and space to really think each shape thru. The end result was dramatic improvement. Lowel
The hardest thing to find these days is a top shelf sander…that said , only an experienced crew of tradesman , from shape to final polish will produce a first class surfboard…there can be no weak link.
I used to do it all made my own fins everything. Learned it all by trial and error lots of error. There was nothing like a Swaylocks or anything else to get info. I learned how important each step is. I got offered an opportunity to shape everyday. There is no way I could keep up with the numbers shaping and then glassing em. For me I liked being able to concentrate on my end of the job and lettting guys who took great pride in their end, Painters laminaters sanders polishers etc all had a hand in producing a quality end product. Now I am back in a shed in the yard, full circle BUT the world around me has changed and my new style neighbors are not going to live with resin fumes, poly is still my customers main choice, like in the past. I have been using the same glasser for a long time. He knows what I want I know how to shape to give him what he needs to make it all work. My order cards make little sense to anyone else but us.
Shapers definately get the glory, but I just wanted to balance my experience with stretch with partheno’s. Stretch glassed my first shape. Took my order, sat me down and discussed fins options(talked me out of fcs for futures), told me he couldn’t talk anymore because he had a lot of work to do and invited me to come and watch if I wanted. He was sanding a kite board. A cool guy.
Glassing is an art that enhances a beautiful shape. Mike
