Business skills are business skills. Period. They can NEVER overcome the best, most brilliant creativity!
I heard you can get a job in china as a shaper. but in the USA your dreamn . and what a silly dream that is.
#1 Stop and dream for a moment. Imagine yourself as a respected 40-year-old shaper with 24 years’ experience. How cool would that be?
(Not very cool at all. Seeing all the other “experienced” shapers getting thier logo’s on the asian imports, mass produced machined “designed” blanks by the guru’s just to make it. Most of the famous names don’t even shape they “design” and let others do the work.)
#2 I say this as someone who took the path of least resistence, and wound up at age 37 with a job that at the end of the day I can take or leave. Pays the bills, supports the family, but doesn’t inspire me very often. Can’t surf as much as I’d like to, either.
(I would rather hang out and surf with YOU as described above. Wow, finally someone who is man enough to provide and care for his family like a MAN should. Yeah it is not a dream job but being content is hard for even the most famous shaper.)
Shaping surfbaords these days is like making buggy whips at the turn of the 1900’s. Only surftech, Burton and Firewire are the auto makers and dedtoit is now located in china.
Learn glassing, sanding and shaping. Go to college and own the surf board factory and not just work there.
Just remember though. YOU are the only one incontrol of you destiny and if YOU CAN acheive a dream shaping job. despite what others say…
Very interesting, you get the advice from the young men 18-35. Then you get the advice from the older men 36-50.
Dreams vs Reality. Very interesting.
The truth is that “shaping” takes place
in the design of many (most) consumer
products. At least the cooler looking ones.
The only difference is that the stylish
surfaces that you see on today’s autos, boats
toasters, washing machines, and cell phones
were not created with a planer. CAD software
with top level 3D surface modeling tools
and CNC machines are the tools of choice.
So if you want to be a shaper, study
to be an engineer and learn to master
high end CAE software. That’s a skill
that can provide a pretty good income
and universal enough to allow you to
live somewhere fun.
Once you’ve done a few hundred 3D
CAD models and are starting to get a grasp
on how to make styled surfaces with CAD
software, then you should be able to shape
a surfboard.
Hein
I’ve chased “the surf/shaper life” since high school, still no real satisfaction w/it being a legit business, lots of frustration. I DO love to shape boards, BUT it’s never really been able to pay the bills or get me ahead of your average low-salaried employee, especially in the area where I currently live.
Best thing I can say is that I really do like having the ability to make a board for a friend or customer and have them stoked about it. I’ve been a full time surf shop owner/shaper/ding guy for about 3 years now and I think $25-30k a year is as good as it’s gotten. When I was a full time graphic designer & part time shaper, I made at least 2x that AND I was still able to shape here and there on weekends. I did also have some $ in pocket to go surf. I think the closer I (or other folks chasing the surf passion) get to “what I love”, i.e. doing ALL I can in the surf world, the more I seem to miss physically surfing good waves when it’s on. Maybe those of us pursuing the dream subconciously sacrifice the end result (us surfing more was the dream at one point, no?) to be the the long-suffering slave to the dream, dusty, tired and working when we should be on a plane to hit a swell.
There’s too much “big business” in our sport, even moreso now with the mass production issue so a shaper really needs to be different (or independently wealthy, or know the next Rob Machado). The hordes who keep coming to surfing really did not suffer as an outcast or oddball as those who found the fun in the water even 10-15 years ago. It’s been handed to them via Advertising/TV/etc as “cool” so they buy it up…
It’s fall now so, I’ll soon go back to being a part time shaper/ding guy and probably have to do some design work (also sometimes creatively satisfying).
If you’re ok w/being on the fringes of financial stability, missing surf, having some beginner kook tell you the color blue on their custom board is wrong and they don’t want it, step up…OR you’ll also make some folks happy being able to talk to an actual person and “get what they want”, locally for local conditions, etc. then GET SHAPING!
We’ve gotta build intrigue and excitement around “local, sustainable, small batch boards” with the customer base or they’ll just go get a pop-out somewhere and continue the cycle of marginalizing the Sport of Kings…any ideas out there?
I hope you aren’t disappointed when life and the responsibilities of life get in the way of your destiny. Work on being content in all situations and then the possibilities are endless.
The funny thing is the job of “shaper” is on a pedistal here as something of great importance. There are real nice, friendly, arsehole, drunken, junky, schizphrenic and did I mention arsehole shapers all around. All very good shapers, none that I see surifing very much or driving the mercedes around either. The job doesn’t make the person.
Have you read the posts from the full time shapers here??? That’s reality.
But when you are young and single might as well go for it. Worst case senario you can run the CNC machine and make a living that way(need to know math and how to read though). I would still finish school and go to college if the opportunity was there and shoot for owning the surf board factory.
Read “The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of American’s Wealthy” by By THOMAS J. STANLEY
Who is the prototypical American millionaire? What would he tell you about himself?(*)
-
I am a fifty-seven-year-old male, married with three children. About 70 percent of us earn 80 percent or more of our household’s income.
-
About one in five of us is retired. About two-thirds of us who are working are self-employed. Interestingly, self-employed people make up less than 20 percent of the workers in America but account for two-thirds of the millionaires. Also, three out of four of us who are self-employed consider ourselves to be entrepreneurs. Most of the others are self-employed professionals, such as doctors and accountants.
-
Many of the types of businesses we are in could be classified as dullnormal. We are welding contractors, auctioneers, rice farmers, owners of mobile-home parks, pest controllers, coin and stamp dealers, and paving contractors.
-
About half of our wives do not work outside the home. The number-one occupation for those wives who do work is teacher.
-
Our household’s total annual realized (taxable) income is $131,000 (median, or 50th percentile), while our average income is $247,000. Note that those of us who have incomes in the $500,000 to $999,999 category (8 percent) and the $1 million or more category (5 percent) skew the average upward.
-
We have an average household net worth of $3.7 million. Of course, some of our cohorts have accumulated much more. Nearly 6 percent have a net worth of over $10 million. Again, these people skew our average upward. The typical (median, or 50th percentile) millionaire household has a net worth of $1.6 million.
-
On average, our total annual realized income is less than 7 percent of our wealth. In other words, we live on less than 7 percent of our wealth.
-
Most of us (97 percent) are homeowners. We live in homes currently valued at an average of $320,000. About half of us have occupied the same home for more than twenty years. Thus, we have enjoyed significant increases in the value of our homes.
-
Most of us have never felt at a disadvantage because we did not receive any inheritance. About 80 percent of us are first-generation affluent.
-
We live well below our means. We wear inexpensive suits and drive American-made cars. Only a minority of us drive the current-model-year automobile. Only a minority ever lease our motor vehicles.
-
Most of our wives are planners and meticulous budgeters. In fact, only 18 percent of us disagreed with the statement “Charity begins at home.” Most of us will tell you that our wives are a lot more conservative with money than we are.
-
We have a “go-to-hell fund.” In other words, we have accumulated enough wealth to live without working for ten or more years. Thus, those of us with a net worth of $1.6 million could live comfortably for more than twelve years. Actually, we could live longer than that, since we save at least 15 percent of our earned income.
-
We have more than six and one-half times the level of wealth of our nonmillionaire neighbors, but, in our neighborhood, these nonmillionaires outnumber us better than three to one. Could it be that they have chosen to trade wealth for acquiring high-status material possessions?
-
As a group, we are fairly well educated. Only about one in five are not college graduates. Many of us hold advanced degrees. Eighteen percent have master’s degrees, 8 percent law degrees, 6 percent medical degrees, and 6 percent Ph.D.s.
-
Only 17 percent of us or our spouses ever attended a private elementary or private high school. But 55 percent of our children are currently attending or have attended private schools.
-
As a group, we believe that education is extremely important for ourselves, our children, and our grand- children. We spend heavily for the educations of our offspring.
-
About two-thirds of us work between forty-five and fifty-five hours per week.
-
We are fastidious investors. On average, we invest nearly 20 percent of our household realized income each year. Most of us invest at least 15 percent. Seventy-nine percent of us have at least one account with a brokerage company. But we make our own investment decisions.
-
We hold nearly 20 percent of our household’s wealth in transaction securities such as publicly traded stocks and mutual funds. But we rarely sell our equity investments. We hold even more in our pension plans. On average, 21 percent of our household’s wealth is in our private businesses.
-
As a group, we feel that our daughters are financially handicapped in comparison to our sons. Men seem to make much more money even within the same occupational categories. That is why most of us would not hesitate to share some of our wealth with our daughters. Our sons, and men in general, have the deck of economic cards stacked in their favor. They should not need subsidies from their parents.
-
What would be the ideal occupations for our sons and daughters? There are about 3.5 millionaire households like ours. Our numbers are growing much faster than the general population. Our kids should consider providing affluent people with some valuable service. Overall, our most trusted financial advisors are our accountants. Our attorneys are also very important. So we recommend accounting and law to our children. Tax advisors and estate-planning experts will be in big demand over the next fifteen years.
-
I am a tightwad. That’s one of the main reasons I completed a long questionnaire for a crispy $1 bill. Why else would I spend two or three hours being personally interviewed by these authors? They paid me $100, $200, or $250. Oh, they made me another offer–to donate in my name the money I earned for my interview to my favorite charity. But I told them, “I am my favorite charity.”
Most people who become millionaires have confidence in their own abilities. They do not spend time worrying about whether or not their parents were wealthy. They do not believe that one must be born wealthy. Conversely, people of modest backgrounds who believe that only the wealthy produce millionaires are predetermined to remain non-affluent. Have you always thought that most millionaires are born with silver spoons in their mouths? If so, consider the following facts that our research uncovered about American millionaires:
-
Only 19 percent receive any income or wealth of any kind from a trust fund or an estate.
-
Fewer than 20 percent inherited 10 percent or more of their wealth.
-
More than half never received as much as $1 in inheritance.
-
Fewer than 25 percent ever received “an act of kindness” of $10,000 or more from their parents, grandparents, or other relatives.
-
Ninety-one percent never received, as a gift, as much as $1 of the ownership of a family business.
-
Nearly half never received any college tuition from their parents or other relatives.
-
Fewer than 10 percent believe they will ever receive an inheritance in the future.
I have to say something here. I have a feeling that I enjoy life more than most. My wife and I live on her income as a teacher. Me, I’m unemployed. You could call me a shaper/glasser/sander now, because I do sell boards. But the fact is that I just make enough to keep myself supplied with boards to ride. I couldn’t imagine trying to pay the bills shaping. Everyone trys to talk you down on your prices.
We don’t waste our money and live a simple life. We built our own ferrocement home here in Hawaii. I have been an entreprenuer all my life, but haven’t hit it big. Not yet anyway. But I don’t have that drive to be rich, drive expensive cars, and wear lots of jewlery. I like stress free living. Surf almost every day. Take care of my wife and dog. Keep the cars running. And make boards.
I just don’t want you to think that all of Americans are a bunch of rich people. It’s all about your priorities. My in-laws work multiple jobs, never see their kids, and buy more name brand crap than you could imagine. Huge tv’s, every electronic device on the planet, new cars. I don’t think they enjoy life at all. They just try to “keep up with the neighbors”.
They call us “country bumkins”. But we live in a house that’s way cooler than most. Our cars, old as they are, get us around in style. And we have very little debt, which equates to stress free living. And lots of surf. Just try to figure out what you want in life and go out and get it. But, the more you want, the more you got to pay. It’s your choice. But you don’t have to be rich to enjoy life. Just do something you enjoy doing and don’t throw your money away.
Aloha
Sweet ute ( truck ) mate, sweet house too!
Mahalo! Was a hell of a lot of work but it was worth it.
Puna, you’ve got it goin’ on. That’s the American Dream, as I’ve ever understood it.
And good on your wife to keep her eye on the generation who’ll fix your teeth and your roof in your retirement.
Who’s signature is it that says ‘the richest aren’t those with the most, but those who need the least.’? It’s a damn good line.
Reverb has it right. Most get into the board making end of the industry thinking they will surf more. It ends up they surf a whole lot less. A lot less, and it is sick to see people borrow your board bag to go somewhere exotic while you choke on dust and rush to sand out their boards.
Shaun. Dude, I am a young gun my self, but I am more than willing to learn from those who pass ahead. I know where you sit right now, and I made the same sort of choices that you are faced with right now. When I was 16, my Dad told me that I had to get a job for the summer. A real job, something that I could support myself with if needed. If I didn’t get a job, he’d start charging room and board. Which would be a real bumer with no job. I chose the electrical. Mostly because it’s a job that keeps you active and learning. You got a lot of physical and mental work that you do, and little to no customer hassles if you’re an apprentice.
Trades are hot. The demand is growing exponentially. As $/hr goes up, more guys can afford to retire early, and that leaves an even greater shortage. I get calls all the time from companies wanting me to come and work for them. A few actually from west Oz. They are desperate for trained and qualified guys, and will pay your way over, immigration fees and ARTC fees. Not all electricians are in supreme demand, but if you can excel at a niche market, you are needed. I work in dairy and poultry farms doing enviroment and equipment controls. People are going to need food for the rest of their lives, and so farming, espescially high-intensity/small-area farm controls, is going to be a viable trade for the rest of your life.
Get into it young. I started at 16, arrived on time, paid my dues(the hassling and grunt work that every apprentice puts up with) got my training done early, and completed high school. I'm 21 now. I have my Journeyman ticket, and it can never be taken away from me(unless I start wiring grow-ops and get busted for it, but that's the dumbest thing you could ever do. You get paid great for the first one, but get blackmailed, threatened and underpaid to do them for the rest of your life. One of the guys I went to school with started that route. He's hooked on meth now(one of the side 'benefits'), and lives in fear of getting caught by the police or getting worse from his 'employers' if he tries to get out of it.)... where was I? oh ya, I can quit, go travel, try other careers for a bit, or work in the oil patch all winter and travel the tropics all summer. And then I can get right back into it when I want, as I am a qualified trades man.
So suck it up, get a qualified trades certificate, and then if you don’t like it, you cna do other stuff. you won’t have lost time or money on getting a ticket. I reccomend trades to anyone. Plus you get fat and half blind if all you do is type in front of a desk all your life.
Keep the boards as a hobby. to much of a good thing and you might hate it. And too much exposure to fibreglass and esin has lasting effects too. Minimize that, and get a trade that keeps you active and fit. You might like it better than you think. It happened to me.
well said, I agree on all counts red thorn!
As someone who has just finished year 12 in NSW, Australia- i can say it was hard but it was worth it. Ive have alot more oppurtunities open to me now, then what i did have in year 10. I am more mature and have more money in the bank from working part time for 4 years. Plus i became school captain which has strengthened my resume for life.
Trades are flourishing at the moment in Sydney and noone wants to be one! I know in the Panel Beating industry they are literally hunting for apprentices. Plumbers and electricians are also in high demand- not so much carpenters at the present time. My advice if you are a hands on person, is to go for an apprentership.
BUT! Do it during school through TAFE. You can do it as a subject while still at school, depending on where you are located (country or city) You come out of year 12 with 2 years under your belt in an apprentership. Great initiative by the NSW government i reckon.
Any other questions pm me
Quote:
“Someday you will probably meet some hot chick and you two will make babies and all that shit”
and / or , keeping that ugly part of it out of the equation ,
you can be a surf bum . And never get nagged by some b**** that doesn’t understand why you enjoy surfing more than being hen pecked and verbally assaulted by her every day…
The choice is yours.
No “hot chick” in Australia wants you if you don’t have money , so if you are a surf bum , no women hassles .
cheers
Your wife must love you.
Quote:
My advice if you are a hands on person, is to go for an apprentership.
BUT! Do it during school through TAFE. You can do it as a subject while still at school, depending on where you are located (country or city) You come out of year 12 with 2 years under your belt in an apprentership. Great initiative by the NSW government i reckon.
Any other questions pm me
great advice mate, it’s been 11 years since I left school so I wasn’t aware of that program, what a great way to do it.
I am 25 and have had a few odd jobs over the past few years - valet, waiter, office work and I have built boards on the side. Last year I moved out to Hawaii and worked as a production sander - it was a great time - surfing the North Shore and making surfboards everyday. I loved it! But it does get monotonous and the creativity of it that you love so much does get pushed aside somewhat when you have to start concentrating on the numbers to get paid. I moved back to the east coast this year and am trying my hand at using my college degree - mechanical engineering. So far it is pretty boring and I miss my life in Hawaii, but I want to start a family soon and it would be a very hard time trying to support a family from building surfboards. I dont have much experience in anything yet - but it seems to me to be true what the other guys are saying - its all what you want. Building boards is fun and it is a lot more fun without the pressure of having to make a living of it, but office work sucks too. You can make either work for you though. Follow your heart - you will find your path.