"Slowly and steadily board-builders from around the world have developed a deep well of resources to refer to and share amongst each other. Resources that are perhaps for the first time ever available to anyone of any skill level.
From websites and forums (i.e. Swaylocks), to YouTube channels and podcasts, and [of course] our own backlog of Foam E-Z curated resources (here and here for instance), anyone could pick up a rudimentary idea of what building a board involved if they were so inclined.
This has been undoubtedly one of the preeminent causes for what I will glibly refer to here as the D.I.Y. Shaper Revolution that’s been running strong for the last fifteen or so years. But while this trend has gained popularity amongst the many folks who have taken it upon themselves get their own hands a little dusty, it is been met with its fair share of ire from some of the old guard of surf craftsmen."
Interesting statement as for ‘the revolution’ in a DIY’er sense.
I clicked on your blog and see my long time friend, Marc Andreini’s statement about being 100% self taught. You can add Al Merrick and myself in that same camp.
Opposed to some shaper’s who proudly state which luminary shapers they have been instructed by, or swept their floors, or just allowed to hang around and watch… which sometimes is more the case than any official kind of lessons being given, many of us earlier day shapers… or let’s say, shapers before the era of “close tolerance blanks” and custom rocker adjustments being offered by Clark Foam and some other blank companies, many of us were in a group that learned by emulating the surfboards that we rode and liked while developing the unique skill of “reading foam”.
Back in the day, there were considerably less blank molds to select from. This required shapers to envision precisely what blank they needed to create their designs which nearly always required thinning and shaping preferred rocker and foil into somewhat crude, raw blanks. It was a regular practice to cut and thin from the bottom while adjusting thickness and bottom curve in order to preserve the harder outside foam on the deck of a board. This became a regular and judicious practice by most knowledgeable shapers in the industry.
Fast forward to the advent of “close tolerance” blanks, and the introduction of a method in which to order specific rocker changes, and the end result was blank designs resembling a finished surfboard by such a close margin that it became significantly more difficult to screw the end result up! This ushered in a whole new group of young shapers that no longer cultivated the skill of ‘reading foam,’ and as CNC programs became widely popular, the talent for envisioning the finish surfboard purely by what’s between one’s ear versus on a computer screen has become all but a lost art.
Don’t get me wrong, there is no value judgement here. I have files and machined models in order to up production, turn rate delivery times and increased customer satisfaction due to the ability to scale a specific design in different sizes while maintaning the same riding characteristics that made the design popular in the first place. But I also continue to shape from ‘raw’ (unmilled) blanks as well as machined blanks along the way to making the modern day surfboard.
At the end of the day, the skills of yesteryear remain invaluable much like the importance of remembering history is. And there is something ever so satisfying for any surfer to pick up some tools, have at it, and see what his end result nets. More often than not, this results in that same person to have a new found respect for what the guys in the trenches do on a daily basis while fulfilling the needs of many different surfers questing for just as many different rides.
…hmm, I do not know DS, but I have an interchange of comments via blogs with a guy from there that is the head of Oakfoils surfboards. He really think that what they do IS the future. He has a machine with proprietary software or like that and he (and possibly “they”) has a totally different vision than me of what a board should be…or should stay.
I only see guys that made (shape only mostly) boards long time ago (that I m totally sure if they had access to a CNC tech back then they never ever hand shaped anything included many big names)
and now relies on such past to sell their product to the high end niches, like Japan, fashionistas, etc. A product made by the machine and crew…but with the right logo and the right marketing.
