“Do you think your board can handl my cutback? I cutback Hard!”
Too funny. I know a guy that could spin out any board, even a 9" pintail I let him try. He was the spin out king.
Of course it was every shapers’ fault! LOL.
I have a friend that I decided never to shape a custom for again. Told him “it’s no fun”.
A self professed expert from ‘studying the magazines’ and Surfline.
Instead of dealing with his neurosis, I told him "I make rides, lots of different rides to appeal to all different types of people and their needs. Try a demo, if you like it, buy it, if you don’t, try something else.
He has a demo I loaned him and when I delivered it to him he started in on his preconceived ideas of what everyone else rides and how it looks under his arm. I told him “just go surf the board”
He reports that he’s loving the board and has a bunch of positive feedback for me from the boys at the Con.
Thanks, great, bitchen, now let me get back to work.
Ha ha…I think I met that guy. Some folks live outside their bodies as if a movie camera is following them around wherever they go and everyone in the line up saw every mistake they made or cared if they did see it.
Hey Deadshaper, I had to laugh my a&& off reading your rants because they remind me of myself. I’m in the middle of my third decade building/woodworking and for a lot of the same reasons I’m pretty burned out on the business (clients). Try dealing with a husband AND wife and trying to satisfy. But it was the following post that made me reply. The statement about stagnation told me everything. The DESIRE is still there and it’s the continual learning that keeps the fire alive. Thank God for that! You still Dig It! So do I, so it’s not just the business that drives, it’s the want to know. That is what got me shaping to begin with. I knew what I wanted and had to figure out how to make it so. IT’S THE QUEST IS IT NOT??? My hat is off to all those who do it for a living.
I had close friend of my son come into my bay and order a 6’0" x 18 3/4" x 2 1/4"
Similar to what my son who is a fit Pro however his dims are 6’0" x 18 3/8" x 2 5/16" Rails are foiled like a 2 3/16" rail with hidden volume.
I seen that the friend gained about 20 pounds and was starting to get a double chin.
My son is 5’10 and 165 pounds and no body fat. This guy is 5’11 and 185 with a belt line and double chin starting. He has a full time career so his water time is reduced. My son surfs everyday several times per day even if it’s blown out and freezing cold. The friend is down to week-END warrior status.
So I make him the same model my son rides however I make it 2 3/8" Thick and give him a 2 1/4" rail. Both my sons say the board is perfect volume and thickness for were their friend is in life. However the friend went into a deep depression over the board and was so bummed when I gave it to him. My oldest son told me never shape what you believe is right for someone. Always shape them what they want not what they need. So to save my image I made the friend the exact board he wanted which is my fault for making what I felt he needed. So he got the 2 1/4" board with the 2 1/4" rail. (I have a rail formula sorry). We have another friend who is 5’11 185 with a belt line and a double chin starting that ordered a board and said, “just shape me what you think I need?” Well that was easy. I gave him the the 2 3/8" board I made for the first friend and he was stoked out of his mind and was a wave magnet out in the water. The first friend with his 2 1/4" board was happy has can be and his wave count was still low. I know in my heart I made him the right board. He’s happier now and my image is saved however my heart is puzzled? I wish he would of just rode the board. As these kids get older they need to adjust to their ever changing life styles.
In the meantime just making what is ordered and biting my lip and controlling my hands.
I make rail jigs for various rail sizes. The cool thing that works for my boards is I shape for example a 2 3/8" thick board with a 2 5/16 rail profile. This allows for a more senitive board that you can put on rail or hold the pocket tighter than say you had a full 2 3/8" rail. It's a way to put some magic in a board and still mainain float and paddle power.
The apex may be in the same place however the top of the rail may be profiled away and thinned starting less than 3" from the rail towards the center of the board. You do this very transitional and make it not look obvious.
Thanks for the explanation S’Ding, what you said is what I’ve been doing all along and didn’t know it. I try to template everything but ( and this may be wrong) end up relying a lot on the eye. If it doesn’t look right…it usually isn’t. Still, templates are a must for me,you guys have better overall vision probably.(Definitely)
A side note: for copying a certain rail shape the cheapie plastic contour gauges are much better than the wire ones. Harbor Freight sells them. Thanks Again.
Just back from Mex and reading your comment and formula.
YUP!
Of course when guys start telling you that the deck contour has gotta be flat, less dome, more this than that, AND WANT A LOOK that doesn’t fit how the board they are asking for actually works.
I pass on deals where I know the board is not going to work for the surfer. Most end up blaming the board anyway. I would rather get them back on the rebound than sell them something that’s going to give them bad memories.
I love it! I’ve heard all of this crap before. Most of my customers are cool. But there are those barneys that think they’re doing you a big favor by ordering a board from you. They talk and talk about it but never actually do it. They are the customers you don’t want because they’ll find something to complain about. And remember bad feedback travels twice as fast with these dikwads.
Thanks. Puerto Vallarta was a bust. Went up to Punta de Mita but it was about 10". Good marg. on the beach though. Back to work. Cabo forevermore. Now back to the show.
P.S. SD…disregard the SVM file scan I mentioned, the board is whack and I’ll do a new one for scans.
Ha ha!! doesn't it all sound so familiar? I don't shape but have spent far too long hanging in shaping bays and the shop. The worst ones are the guys that come in and say the board you made for their buddy is unreal and they want one just the same... except could they have an extra 1/8" thickness and possibly pull the tail in by 1/2", oh and those quad fin angles..could they be changed etc etc.... and you see em later floundering around in mushy 2ft beachbreak slop! priceless..
Whenever I ordered a new custom shape from good old Paul Blacker I always used to take a bottle of his favourite rum up to the factory. This served 2 purposes... I could be as picky about details as I liked, and I nearly always ended up changing my mind about something a day or two later and would have to phone him up!! poor guy..
He was real happy when I started riding composites!! only kidding.
Mind you... have you ever noticed how you get what the shaper wanted to you to have rather than what you wanted?
I remember Paul Gross putting forward a really good argument along those lines for buying off the rack.
Whatever happened to that guy? his page in the original LongBoard Quaterly used to have me in stitches..so funny..
think he made his own line of boards too. Would love to know if anyone has any info on the guy.
"Whatever happened to that guy? his page in the original LongBoard Quaterly used to have me in stitches..so funny.."
Hi andyl1 -
I too used to crack up over his stuff. The new blog (surfmatters) has some funny writing as well.
Paul Gross is still around making surfmats independently and designing boards in collaboration with Spencer Kellogg in Ventura and Tim Mason in UK. He also has some nice fin designs.
Punch 'hullabaloo' or 'Paul Gross' in Swaylocks search. I think there are quite a few of his boards in the archives. Here are a few links to his stuff.