I realize I may sound like an idiot but what does the average shaping machine cost? And…if I decided to have a shape that I liked machined what would be involved and what is the average cost?
Astevens, you hit the nail on the head - consumers are at fault here.
They don’t appreciate the craft of hand shaping and really don’t know or care how boards are made. Whatever the marketing companies are pushing is what they “need” - and will pay big bucks for! But pay the same prices for a custom handshape? ha. Only a small percentage of (as Grubby put it) “sophisticated” surfers will consult with their local shaper for a board that performs they way they want.
The more popular surfing becomes, the more machines are the the go-to tool. That’s just how it is.
Handmade boards = SHAPED
Machined boards = SCRAPED
~Brian
Every time we surf we need to hype hand shaped boards and the craftsmen who create them. Talking to our brothers and sisters is the only way to preserve the way. I never hype my own work. I always hype the work of others and respect them by letting others know what the sufferance is and why. Maybe I’m nuts but telling people the truth will change perceptions. Not all of them but enough. You see, people are being overloaded with marketing hype and can’t see the Forrest for the trees. If you tell the masses a lie often enough and for a long enough period of time the lie becomes reality to them. It is up to all of us to battle this with truth. Tell your friends to do the same. I believe there will always be a market for hand crafted boards but what I dread is a time when it is super hard to find the real deal in a sea of shit. Think about furniture. When is the last time you purchased a custom piece? Where can you purchase a custom piece?
I will ask again.
1)How much does the average shaping machine cost?
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If i decided i wanted one of my shapes duplicated by a machine what would it cost me? I understand that the board has to be scanned or something like that? what would it cost me to get started and what would it cost to have one machined?
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Lets just assume it is an 8foot egg.
I have asked this before but nobody annswers…so i figure that…
1) Nobody really knows
2) It’s a secret.
3)Shaping Machines do not really exist and are just a fantasy.
I have this desire to scrape…it’s a burning desire. I may even want to take the grooves out with my grinder like the real shapers do.
Cleanlines.
Both of ourin house guy use different machines mainly due to proximity to their residence.
Theyboth pay under 30 for under 7ft and longboards run about 45.
I a currently looking at buying a machine and they range from around 20 to 45 for a single cut unit. Delivered and installed. If you can dedign the board in Cad yourself its free if it needs to be scanned its around 200 one time.
People will argue all day about soul and scrubbing. A scrubberto me is a guy in a toom rubbing out some one elses shapes. If you design, cut and finish the board yourself...shaper.
Its funny…its not a new thing…lets look at the history of it.
When I startedin this biz in 93 there were millers and finish shapers… guys who routed the outlines and the basic rocker. Then the finish shaper finished it…then Rusty or AL signed it.
Bring in profiler s… much faster and accurate rocker cuts.
Pantographs…remember those? Plug in 1 side blank in the other. The thought power at this point has bern removed. Now hire a Mexican for 5 an hour to cut boards all day. I dont mean that in a racist way…its just what happened.
Eventually jose even got outsourced to the machine.
Now you can buy a machine for 18 grandif you are doing any sort of volume you would be stupid not to get one.As long as you aren’t buying one to try to make money cutting other peoples shapes. That ship has sailed you need to be able to afford it on your own…Its gravy if you get anything else.
Lets look at the 18k machine…if you are doing 500 boards a year it pays for itself essentially in 2 years 18, 000 /30 per cutI
Clean, I’m surprised that you have not gotten a rely or at least a PM about a shaping machine.
I know there are a couple at last in Florida. Island Surfboards in Coco Beach has one. I might be wrong on this but I am pretty sure That Quiet Flight is also using a machine. I would also hazer a guess that Ricky Carroll has a machine in his shop.
It is interesting that in Florida most small custom board builders also do all their own glass work. The shapers in California on the other hand seem to rely on a larger glass shop to have the Glass work done.
The debate over a machined board vs a hand shaped board is nothing new. How many surfers bought a Board off the rack in a Surf shop and thought that Hobie shaped the Board or that The Phil Edward’s model was actually shaped by Phil Edwards?
Ghost shapers made the vast majority of the classic boards even the much venerated Donald Takimama had a ghost shapers doing boards for him.
Kids spend their time connected to electronic devices, and don't build models, kites, toy cars, etc, like previous generations. "Handcrafted" is becoming an archaic term, the craftsman is going the way of the dinosaur.
Hey Huck I dont think this is neccesarily true I know lots of young guys who are picking up the planer and going for it ! You have sites like korduroy tv who are inspiring a heap of groms to make stuff and I think its taking off. We (young guys) need more oppurtunities though to apprentice and learn the trade from industry figures. Without the knowledge getting passed down, handshaping will die. I’d love to make the switch from a backyarder to a factory but theres hardly any shops willing to hire. I know alot of shops in Australia who hire from Japan, Brazil etc because they cant find workers… go figure ? ? ?
Does anyone have a design I can send to the decal printer for a ‘Hand Shaped’ logo?? Maybe something with a picture of a planner on it? Maybe post on this thread if you’re willing to share or P.M me. Much appreciated.
I think the minds of the masses have changed since after the year 2000 when the internet and social media exploded. Marketing rammed in your face constantly, ego’s run high with everyone wanting a picture of them selves surfing, wearing the right branding, boards ect ect posting all over facebook pages.
But surfboard design is in a pretty good place, wouldn’t you say??
Hmmmm…i have never scraped a board.Might have to see if a bro will sell me a machined blank to mess around with. Any takers? i live right off I95 in savannah Ga. right on the way north and south. Stop by and hang out.
And…about that “Hand shaped logo” i write on the sanded hotcoat "Hand Shaped in the USA with the date shaped. i do it in india ink with a rapidograph pen. So the logo is hand shaped also. Matter of fact i may just sign the boards and forget about a friggin’ logo.
Handmade boards = SHAPED
Machined boards = SCRAPED
Not true.
Some shapers use the machined blank as a reference point then add lots of details that are way beyond smoothing out the ridges. Kind of like taking the old rocker/profile jigs that you have to push around by hand, then finishing it without them. It’s how so many of the early shapers and still some today were getting raw blanks ready for “finishing”.
I think the issue is more of something we saw in the 70’s. Big name guys were so popular that they couldn’t keep up with demand, so “ghost” shapers started doing a lot of the work. Basically they were taught how to make a board the way the “master” would have made it. Then the boards might be touched up by the master or maybe not, get signed by the master or maybe not, and sold as something the master made. Many of the top shapers today were once the master’s ghosts. Many of the guys finishing the machined boards of today’s big names will one day be the new masters.
The problem is really the magazines, TV, internet and all the other marketing avenues. The hype machine influences the masses to make decisions about what is cool, or hip or the must have. Get a top 5 pro to sell your product and you will be set for a while. Don’t matter who really made it, or how bad it is, just get that top 5 pro to say this is what I use and what I want.
Otherwise, you can try to work for one of the “names” starting at the bottom, and hopefully get up there to become someone, or at least enough money to live comfortably making boards.