re: your shaping / board design progress[ion]......

General Discussion
1

just wondering , and interested to hear feedback …

How do you feel your shaping / design of boards has progressed

from board to board

over the years [for the professional and longtime ‘amateur’ shapers]

If you’ve made yourself a quiver , how much do all the

shapes ,

bottom ,

rocker ,

rails ,

dimensions differ between each board ?

In terms of board design and shaping , what do you feel you have improved [on] , over the years ?

Do you feel you have a good idea of what works in your waves , and why ?

Why do you shape and ride the particular style / shape / design of board you do ? In other words , how did you arrive at what works best for your style of surfing and the waves you surf on a regular basis ?

okay …thanks for your feedback , people !!

ben

p.s. - oh , and just one thing …

PLEASE can this thread stay on the design and shaping side of the question , and not degenerate into a debate about materials ? Thank you .

2

My progression has been 2 steps forward and one backward. I’m to the point where I can consistently make a board that I can ride and looks pretty good, too. Hold them up against a pro and they look amateurish. If you can find validation in what other people think, I would say they are getting better in that other people are asking me to build them boards. More than I have time for. I’m not a big measurement guy. I use the dimensions as close guidlines and try to get good clean lines. Every board I make I believe I can build even better and that is what drives me. In terms of quiver I own about 12 boards. Most are boards I never would have been able to afford and experiment with if I paid someone else to make them. The biggest reason I do it is because I get a huge stoke from riding a board that I made with my own hands. I havn’t ridden any boards made by pro’s in about 2 years. I know what works for me in the waves I surf. I also see many people who have a hard time being honest with themselves in terms of their current age/ability and quite frankly are riding boards that don’t work for them. Ego gets in the way.

Oh yah, poopee boards are superior in every way to stypox boards. Don’t get your leash all wrapped up in a kelp ball. I’m kidding. Mike

3

I go for good clean lines and a professional end product. I like to be able to see my boards up against the top brands .

The boards I ride are purely for me , round pins double concaves, I like short boards (7’0) from shoulder high up. I like mals on small perfect points.

I still get the odd board made by the top shapers , Next one is a Wayne Lynch. [I can take Ideas then without guilt] . My view only

I probably should ride a 7’4 minimal as a short board , but I’m only 37 and looking at going shorter.

4

thanks for replying , Mike !! a few questions …

"I’m not a big measurement guy…

do you find you DO need to pull in / out those MEASUREMENTS on your next board , though ?

"I know what works for me in the waves I surf.

so, how did you arrive at that , Mike ? ...how did you discover what design[s][strike][strike] work[strike] best for you in your waves ? [/strike][/strike]

[strike][strike][/strike][/strike]

[strike][strike][/strike][/strike]

[strike][strike][/strike][/strike]

[strike][strike]"I also see many people who have a hard time being honest with themselves in terms of their current age/ability and quite frankly are riding boards that don’t work for them. [/strike][/strike][/strike]

[strike][strike][strike][/strike][/strike][/strike]

[strike][strike][strike][/strike][/strike][/strike]

[strike][strike][strike] …me , too !! That’s why I have asked myself these kind of questions over the years … "what will work best for me in the waves I ride regularly ? "how does the design / fin[strike] need to change for different conditions and breaks ? " I think I definately need more than one board for that reson[strike] …but in the days when I just had one board , I HAD to adapt [to] it and to the conditions …

[/strike][/strike][/strike][/strike]

[/strike]

5

I always have a plan and a picture in my mind. Of course I make measurements. But, if my template curve misses my wide point by an eigth of an inch, big deal. I don’t force the curve to fit my number.That’s just my interpretation of Mr Thraikills advice a while back. If I’m thinking 1 and 3/4 for the nose, but I look at the foil and like it, why keep mowing? I’ve never made the same board with the same measurements twice. I’m always tinkering within certain perameters that I know work for me. The board has to be bouyant and easy to ride. It has to pass the belly button test.I’m not a kid anymore and time is a precious comodity. I don’t want to waist a good surf on a board that won’t get me in early so I can set up the wave. I can usually tell if its what I want after a few waves. If it’s not as good as what sitting in my truck waiting for me the board goes on the selling block and out comes the other board. I’ve challenged myself within the perameters and learned I can still have fun on boards I believed were too short(my fishes). Three years ago I was riding full railed seven footers because I thought I was too old to ride a six footer. They all have to get up and plane quickly to compensate for my age, slowing reflexes, and lack of ability. I arrived at this through experience, Chipper. Mike

6

thanks , Sedgwick [haha]

no , seriously … that’s the kind of stuff I want to hear .

…keep it coming , guys !!

  cheers ! 



     ben
7

Two questions from chip[Ben]fish.

First question: shaping progression

Second one: Boar design progression

Shaping progression:

So far I reached N°14.

The parts I’ve improved are certainely:

  • rails shaping and transition betwin full rais and square rails close to the tail. I’ve noticed that it made a big difference betwin a poor board and a nice stick.

  • Another point I’m working on is volume all along the board, I try and get the more and less foam as smooth as possible. I try to build nice decks in both directions: long and side to side.

  • next point I’m really carefull of is the nose design: I try to get them vanishing naturaly… most of amateur boards have a really thock nose that make boards look clumsy. (same job on the tails, depending on the “program”)

About technics: I feel each time easier with the planer, learnt to sharpen my tools, found the right moovements to get clean curves…

First board was a single fin, 6’3", just a slight “V” and it took me 6 to 7 hours to shape !!!

Last bonzer I shaped took 3 1/2 hours… Slightly faster.

In fact I don’t go that fast because I keep taking mesurements every time every where.

I guess I could shape a classic simple board in about two hours… but I wouldn’t feel happy to do so.

Board design:

Since N°1, I’ve been through singles, tri fins, thrusters, fishes, logs an bonzers. I shaped from 5’10" to 9’2", made round tails, diamond tails, swallow (with or without wings) tails, deep fish tails…

The fact is, the board I design look cleaner each time, purest lines and so on.

I’ve shaped boards from single templates and some others are mixed templates.

I take a lot of mesurements on my shapes.

I’ve come to draw the straight line at the “middle” of the stringer as they are really curvy if you look carefully.

I started with very simple boards and then came to shape more complex bottom contours (bonzer five once, bonzer three trhee times).

I add one point: glassing job…

The tuffest part to me.

I can now, after 17 laminations (trhee fo friends plus mine) glass a board without having many bubbles at the lap…

Doing a good glass job save me a lot of time when sanding time comes.

I really hate glassing.

8

thanks very much Alex !!

excellent reply … that was very informative and helpful to me !

( And yes, you’re right …it really is a two part question , I guess . )

The part that really interested me too was the time you take to make a board …something worth considering , for sure .

In “Glass Love” [d.v.d.] , it mentions Pat Curren took something like 7 hours to shape a foam thruster for his youngest son , Joe . [interesting eh … ]

Alex , how did you arrive at the measurements for each board ?

And how do you feel they perform in your waves ?

Which one do you surf the most / like the most , out of all the boards you have made yourself ?

thanks mate [merci, ‘pote!’]

ben

9
Quote:

thanks mate [merci, ‘pote!’]

ben

Merci, mon pote!

(You’ll have to copy that fifty times for tomorrow, Mr Chipfish…)

10

On the 14 borads I shaped, only the N°1 is mine, either I made them just for friends or I gave them !!!

All of my friends love the way the boards surf.

I must say, none of those boards are performance shortboards and all of them are “secondary” boards.

The one I was happy with was my N°5, single fin, swallow/wingers 6’3" x 18"3/4… the first board to ride as I wished.

N°7 is a lis/frye like fish, it became the everyday board of the friend I made it for.

Usualy, a board takes me:

3 1/2 hours to shape

Half a day to clean the shaproom and laminate

If I spray, 3 hours from start to end

2 hours sanding nicely

Some times filling holes on the lam

1 hour to gloss

2 hours to sand and polish…

That gives you a nice 16h ++

Far to long I guess…

If I could glass better and faster, I’d be happy. It’d mean less sanding and no more holes filling and evend at times no gloss and sanding again…

About mesurements, I achive boards with what I wanted each times because I’m really psychopathic on that point.

11

Ben,

Thanks for starting this thread. It’s nice to see a comparison of one’s schedule with others. In my case it looks like I’m dead on with Mike and LOB. I started making boards because I couldn’t afford to buy all of the shapes that I wanted to ride. The next logical step was to learn how to make them.

It takes me about 4 hours to shape a board under 8’ and that is mostly from taking constant measurements and stepping away for 15 mins or so to get a fresh perspective on the design. I usually take it slow and try to to do the best job that I can. It’s all an ongoing learning experience and hell, it’s fun! Why not take the time to enjoy it?

12

just surfing boards and getting an i dea of what works and what doesn’t gave me a huge jump forward in my designing. We will see if i ever finnish my boards and continue shaping what happens

13

If you’ve made yourself a quiver , how much do all the

shapes ,

bottom ,

rocker ,

rails ,

dimensions differ between each board ?

(Okay , thanks for the feedback so far , crew !!)

Anyone like to comment on the above ?

Mike [sedger] , I’m thinking your quiver is mostly ‘similar’ fishes , yes ?

So…

how do they vary , in terms of bottom contour[s], rails , rocker , and how they ride , please ? [if you don’t want to comment on the dimensions …but feel free to ‘talk’ more on those too if you want !]

Anyone else care to comment on what they do in terms of these variables ?

....cheers ! 





    ben