hey guys, i live in BC, Canada and im looking for surfboard shaping apprenticeships near my area even all the way down to california but in canada would be much better.does anyone have any thoughts on where i could go for an apprenticeship? thanks.
listen carefully i am giving you pearls
do not bother with shaping as a apprenticeship
get a plumber. sparky, engineer etc. do your time , learn to shape at home.
start up on you own , fleece people blind ( like they do)
and enjoy your weekday uncrowded surfs for the rest of your life
Hey man, I live in victoria (that avatar pic is Waterfalls) and I’m working on my second board at the moment. I just picked up a load of stuff from down in washington, it’s too bad you didn’t post earlier 'cause I could have picked up a blank or two for you. Let me know if you’re stumped on anything, I’m super inexperienced but I’ve figured out a couple things with tons of help from the boys on sways!
Silly is on the money.
Get yourself a real job that pays properly. Make surfboards a hobby and when you cant do both pick the one you love the most and will pay you a wage.
The weekly wage for a fully qualified tradesman in the plastics industry working on surfboards is $540AU/week!
Try raising a family and living a good lifestyle on that.
That is why people go out on their own and try and make more.
I dont know of anyone who has taken on an apprentice in this industry in this part of Oz for a very long time.
The pay is shit and the work is itchy and dangerous to your health. But it is very satifying and fun to build surfboards.
You dont want to be apprenticed to a possibly dying industry.
Keep it as a hobby and keep it fun.
Unless you want to be a supercool surfboard shaping dude whinging about how you used to shape surfboards until the nasty yellow man took all your work away. And thinking you a more than the product itself which is just a bloody toy anyway.
Keep it fun mate.
Daren
Unless you want to be a supercool surfboard shaping dude whinging about how you used to shape surfboards until the nasty yellow man took all your work away. And thinking you a more than the product itself which is just a bloody toy anyway.
LOL
540 a week… i get more then that on the dole ( yellow bloke took my job)
so a shapers/glassers value to society, is worth less then the benefit
where so i sign up
Ha ha ha! Classic! Nothing more to say! Nice web page by the way entity!
MW
[quote="$1"]
Ha ha ha! Classic! Nothing more to say! Nice web page by the way entity!
MW
[/quote]
Thanks M woo. Bloke from Wales of all places found my old site and built me the new one.
[quote="$1"]
Unless you want to be a supercool surfboard shaping dude whinging about how you used to shape surfboards until the nasty yellow man took all your work away. And thinking you a more than the product itself which is just a bloody toy anyway.
LOL
540 a week... i get more then that on the dole ( yellow bloke took my job)
so a shapers/glassers value to society, is worth less then the benefit
where so i sign up
[/quote]
Yeah Silly minimum wage. And maybe, dare I say, with good reason? Its hardly Integral to society.
Making toys for rich white people.
When the glassres and sanders etc. get good enough they go out on their own anyway.
"Yellow bloke took my job" . Now thats funny.
Cheers
Daren
its true
i had to threat legal my boss for a pissy 3 grand redundancy. and he slagged me off round the trade. so i cant get another job locally. a loatian got my job and his skills are like a first year apprentice with no flair. they like them for they are cheaper and take shit and do what told.
most of the stock in shops now is chinese and a lot is piss poor qaulity.
when the economy went arse over. the manufacturing dried up and all i could get was repairing chinese stuff under warranty LOL
best to walk away. one thing i learned about jewellery retailers is they are all lying thieveing barstards. i have no desire to deal with any of them. i have an add in the yellow pages and getting the odd bit of work . 2 or 3 boards a month and the benefit. i declare my earnings to the benefit, it reduces as i earn. but we dont make enough to live. they governemnt tries to push you into jobs with employment contractors that recruit through WINZ 12$ph working on a cold wet orchard. in the old days we could work for the farmer and earn some money. but now its big contractors paying shit and recruiting through the goverment so people have no choice. they are forced to take the job.
anyway my point is the only people i know that get to surf and make lots of money are in the services trades. all the vans at the beach are plumbers , sparkys, fridge mechanics, chippies, engineers, tilers , painters
I’m a plumber/steamfitter from Ontario ,Canada… I earn far more a year at my unionized trade position…than I could board building…
I’d much rather be a : " respected", go-to, board builder, , as my heart lies 'here".!!. BUT…
I’m dumb, but not stupid, and know full well that you : "don’t give up your “real” job to build boards… Not unless you win that lottery., or, are, the best thing out there since sliced bread…lol…
Kiterider…")
I wish my boards were the best thing out there since sliced bread… lol! Where do you live now Kiterider? I’m in victoria.
ok thanks guys for the words and all of you are probally right i should stick to my real job and do it on the side.
I kite surf the windy Great Lakes of Ontario, Canada…
Some of the best wind driven wave’s on earth, no ground swell, all wind generated, what a great place for kite boarding!!
My home beach is on the Eastern shores of Lake Erie, we kite-surf on the windward side of a shallow limestone island that changes in depth from 20’ to 2’ in a very short distance… This causes the waves to jack up to 4 to 6’ faces, and are quite hollow for a wind generated Lake swell…
I’ve ridden Maui, Hatteras, and Florida waves, the Great Lake waves are no worse, when the winds crank…Shorter periods, but heights are similar…
Cheers Kiterider…")