Just a little video i wanted to share. Often times it seems no one gives a shaper his due until its too late. A local journalist doing an piece on surfing in Sonoma county came by and put together this video to go with the article.
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great video, thanks for sharing!
and his barn shop is super rad.
Loved the video. Hope the health scare has gone away.
"75,000 shaped blanks? 45 years of shaping an average of 1666 a year comes to around 33.3 logs a week for 50 weeks a year, 6.6 a day working 5 days a week. The man was a machine. Wonder if he documented and kept a log or just banged 'em out not looking back then estimated how many completed shapes? His work was mighty clean. Who has handshaped more? Phil Becker? Tony Channin? Ben Aipa?
… YEP , that is an ÏNTERESTING comment !
quantity AND quality , evidently
love his accent , too !
The art of shaping is not lost!! You can find it more now than you could 30 years ago. There are sooo many guys making high quality boards - if you look for them!
You just can’t be looking in you typical ‘surfshop’ or you will find the typical crap.
Love the vid. Love what the guy portrayed. It is still alive and well.
thanks for the comments guys,
-the shop is rad
-thanks sharkcountry, Ed is doing well now, but skin issues are always persistant, and need to be monitored closely.
-the art of shaping is not lost, the video was titled by the editor, but handshapers are decreasing as their margins decrease. Definetly harder to make a living at it now more than ever. As I said before very few get their due notice in their time, too often we see the rip section in surf mag mentioning the passing of a shaper, giving him kudos and a small blurp, but the magazine wouldn’t have ever done a piece on the guy while he was alive, and it could have really helped his business. we are the only full service surfshop with a glasser and a true full time shaper { 40 + years shaping } from santa cruz to ? not sure where the Nolls are. or who is still in Oregon. You have communities where they can thrive and are abundant, but not wide spread. imo.
Nice video. Too short . That barn looks similar to my set up. Gonna look you guys up at Northern Light sometime when I’m coming thru-- to or from Oregon. Lowel
Ralph Parker. Also a shaper for Hobie. Word is that he has shaped well over 100,000 surfboards. (that was a mid '90’s estimate)
Terry Martin, was and is still the man. Really a nice guy who always took the time to talk especially when it was about JESUS or surfboards.
I’m with Ghetto. Terry was** **one of only two shapers that would ever let me watch them shape my boards or stand around when he made others (Lance was the other). As a high schooler there was no better fun than going to Whitegon and watching Terry shape and answer all of my surfboard questions no matter how dumb they were. Here is a pic of the first Stussy Terry made me in '86. He would make me many more as Shawn was starting to focus on his clothing and only made boards for JB and other pros and close friends. Terry was RAD!
The only bummer was getting that dumb “surfman” lam on that board. I hated it. For those who give a crap, that board was the first Stussy to feature a “Chongo” graphic. It was handpainted by Shawn at that! The Chongo lam in the picture was on another board that came soon after.
One of the main reasons shaping is a dying art is because unless you have been in a production shaping situation, 3-4 and more per day of the same board over and over where your technique becomes automatic and frees your mind to produces ART you will never get it. The machine produces a product people produce art. These opportunities do not exist anymore to SHAPE on a daily basis, cleaning machine ridges is not “shaping” it is boring and non creative. What I and other shapers learned in the production inviroment IS GOING TO DIE. There thats what I think.
Ace, you make some good points. I admit you can design a surfboard by sitting at a computer and tweaking a file, and the machine can mill it, thereby reducing the act of surfboard “shaping” to a cubicle activity.
I understand the rationale of the machine, but man was made to use his body and mind and passion to create, not to sit in a cubicle in front of a computer screen all day. People marvel at how many boards some shapers have produced in a lifetime of shaping. Do you think the next generation will marvel at how many surfboard files someone produced on a computer? Or how many surfboards a ridge scrubber sanded? Does anyone even keep track?
Terry Martin used to say he would shape all day, then go home and shape in his garage. There was a passion for shaping that drove him, and people loved to go in and watch him shape their board. I can’t see people getting the same experience from watching a keyboard jockey tweak a file, and a CNC machine cut it out.
The machine seems like a useful tool for an established shaper with a quota of certain models to produce, but if it takes over the shaping world completely, which as you point out, seems likely, much of the passion and art will be drained from the craft of shaping. Not laying blame, just stating what seems obvious.
Huck is right. me knows what Ace is sayin’ it “usta be” a model or board with spec (production) it didn’t take long to be come robotic and let your mind loose and roll with it.
Now “a days” da CNC machine cranks the production stuff and that is what will kill “production” shaping. Really how much skill is required to ull out a shape from a CNC machine?
I’m lucky the future of my work will be handed down, boy is in training now.
The point the OPS would like to make is; WHO is programming the CNC machine? Can he surf well or does he just pull up the parameters of dat model? Does anyone a the “factory” know how to surf ?
Surfers wanting the task of making a custom, one off or testing out side of the box, and having the skill of makin’ em work. And when it all comes together, if you sit back and smile.
Then you have the stoke that Mr. Martin (RIP) had, up and at it early til late! Love of the art NO machine loves its job!
“Really, how much skill is required to ull out a shape from a cnc machine??” Really?? More friggin’ skill than I have. I’m still paying for AKU and struggling to even create a template. You ever tried it?? Lowel
Great video! Glad to see that Ed is still making boards after all this time. My hair is not as gray (thanks to my dad) but I know his path. There are lots of guys who are unknown, unspoken in the media hype that makes up that part of the surfing culture. When I started shaping back in the late 60’s in the SG valley, there were lots of backyarders who were very skilled in making/stripping long boards into shorties and today are unknowns. Marty Cicci is one of my early influences in shaping down-railers from old logs! He is a great pin-liner (automotive) today due to his quality resin skills back in the day. My influences/teachers are Rich Harbour (don’t know his numbers, don’t care, he is still one of the best balsa craftsmen alive today), Bruce Jones (RIP), and Bob August (from back in the day when he didn’t hate foam dust, LOL ) , Kurt Augsburger, (that young turk) who taught me how to glass, and I mean really glass transparents…. Today, there are lots of quality shapers out there who don’t get their props. Ray Promer of Clearwater Glassing is a good example. Without giving away secrets, he makes boards for many of the HB labels that don’t have a shaper but have a name. Some of the old school guys that are still here (Mr. Schrobs, et al) or have passed on (Dan Bendicksen, thanks for the rolling pin) but their techniques and legacy have passed on to the younger gen. The middle generation is doing the skills justice, I have seen Stamps hand shapes & machine cuts and it takes real skills to make a great (even magic) boards from the rough cuts. I have seen them shape, from blank to finished board and have no doubt that the skill is still alive! Shout out to Tyler from the CM, Griffin at the BJ shop (not a pun), and Duane Poole, the best sander I know! Anyway, all this electronic bs means little, the proof is in the foam, history will show the truth! Shape as often as you can, make what you must, and create when you can! Just my 2 c…… BKB
Good post. Thanks. Lowel
Yup dun tryed it (AKU) I’m really not stupid but just too complex for this old man and really why?
If you can’t “see” the board in the blank (assuming U got the right blank) MAYBE AKU could help.
Just “old school”
John
Just to play devil’s advocate
I’m not going to compare myself to the likes of legends like Terry or Ed. However there are still young people who love the art of shaping and glassing. OPS has a kid he’s training. I love shaping by hand and I wish it was something I could do all the time. I’m sure there are lots of people out there who love shaping by hand and who won’t let the art die out. I wish more shapers would take worthy people under their wing and teach them. If we want hand shaping to live on more shapers have to be willing to get my generation involved on this amazing artform.
Also to touch on the very hot-button idea of CNC.
Check out this video or Eric Arakawa
Somebody like this may not handshape, but certainly is what i would define as a “real” shaper. He loves what he does, he infuses soul into what he creates. There is meaning to what he does. Hes not sitting behind a desk somewhere in China pumping out cheap-o boards for the mass market. Not all CNC is evil. Maybe CNC can open doors into shapes and ideas hand shaping hasn’t been able to venture into. Who knows, maybe even boards that are mostly hand shaped but with some crazy design feature that only a CNC could make happen.
Checkout my signature. “keeping handshaping alive” I hope more of my generation will adopt the idea and art.
Patrick, thanks for posting that video of Ed in his element. I need to get back over there and see you guys soon!
Cheers, Jeff
