WHAT'S THE FUTURE FOR SHAPING?

General Discussion
1

Generally speaking surfboards are made today exactly the way they were made in 1962. Shape the foam, cover with fiberglass and resin. There’s new epoxies, better resins (arguable), more dependable glass cloth, and foreign production line mentality has replaced the garage where the Nolls and Velzys started, but again, generally speaking, boards are made the same. When just about every item we use in life has been reinvented or just invented, our world has become remarkably advanced over the past 42 years.

So why has the surfboard remained relatively unchanged? Will boards be built any differently ten years from today? Hollow boards, injected plastics, what’s coming next? Are we where we are because it has remained a relatively small ma and pa cottage type industry until recent years? Should it change? Are there more shapers, better shapers today? Are most shapers making a decent living at it?

This is the thread (so to speak) with which we’re all bound here on swaylocks. At the risk of this going into just another Surftech Asian thing vs custom crafting conversation, looking at the big picture…What are your thoughts as to where the business of shaping boards is going and why?

2

If you look at surfboards in an ideal sense as a well-made fine instrument. Then several aspects come to light.

I make the analogy with the violin. Several famous makers from the 1500’s to the 1700’s hand-made instruments so well that they are strongly sought-out to this day. There are methods of building an optimized Graphite version of a Stradavarius using computer acoustic modelling and CNC machining yielding an instrument rivalling any ever made. Yet the best in the world, like Yo Yo Ma seek out the wooden, hand-made instruments. Why? Is he old school? He also seeks out instruments made in the present out of wood, made by hand and designed by a person. why? Is he short of cash? there are schools full of wooden and fiberglass instruments but that’s okay. I guess it depends upon who you are and what level you are at with regard to the instrument you play…

3
Quote:
So why has the surfboard remained relatively unchanged? Will boards be built any differently ten years from today?

Machines shape boards now. Isn’t that different than 10 years ago?

I don’t think the way we build boards is going to change that much in the next 10 years. Other industries haven’t changed that much either. Take auto or furniture manufacturing, they are basically made the same as when they were first introduced.

I do think that surfing will become even more popular in 10 years with the advent of more artificial reefs and good quality surf parks.

I’m hoping in ten years we have a new foam that is lighter, stronger, more durable and waterproof…but we’ll still be shaping it the same old way.

4

Vacuum bagging will be the future I belive. Removing the excess resin makes the board stronger and lighter. Combine this with Epoxy and EPS blanks and you have much lighter, quicker boards that will float bigger guys.

5

Surfing is changing. I see it every day when I paddle out at my local break or sit up on the cliff and watch the younger kids surf. They are doing maneuvers that I would have never dreamed of when I was their age, and I’m only 24. Those kids are breaking all their boards. Shaping will follow, as new materials and construction methods are invented. Stronger lighter better. Use of exotic materials now is not cost effective, but sooner or later some new material will come along and change everything. -Carl

6

yeah, but don’t you think that there is also enough people returning to vintage and / or “retro” updates, meaning heavier boards and flow / glide, as opposed to aerial flyaways…not every young guy wants to kill the wave or do airs. lighter is not something I think is a necessity in the modern advancement of surfing. if you look at surfing in the 70’s and even 60’s, much of it was highly advanced, but it’s been forgotten or passed by people who were never able to master it. witness longboarders who can’t even cross step, much less hang five, or bonzers and twin keels which were underground back when they were first on the scene and remain so today, yet the surfing that can be done on them still must be considered advanced. I think one factor will be that many surfers will never develop past a certain skill level, regardless of what they are riding. also, does wave quality limit what kinds of surfing is done? many places in the world don’t have great surf, but they do have consistent waves and lifelong surfers. I’m also not sure we’ll ever reach a point where every local kid surfs like slater or trips to Teahupoo become as common as ones to Costa Rica.

kind of like vinyl, it’s death was widely proclaimed, yet it is still very popular and utilized, new LP’s / 45’s / 12’s/ 10’s are still pressed in all genres, it continues to thrive amongst those who know

what about forced environmental restriction / rising resource costs? could that play even a bigger role in shaping’s future than what’s happening in the water?

7

Either: more Sam Maloof-type masters doing it from start to finish AND pop-outs have the rest of market

OR

Carbon-based nanofoams or silica-based (aerogel) foams

OR

Hey, why don’t the Chinese/Taiwanese make us happy and recreate a decent Skil 100

OR

Clark blanks at every coastal Home Despot (or the Lowes right next door)

OR

8

dubstar- True. But there always has been the retro throw backs in any sport. I am sure there are guys who still use wooden tennis rackets. And fly fishermen who swear by bamboo rods. I spend enough time behind my technics to know that vinyl has its place in the world. But, I bet the market for vinyl is very much smaller than it was 30 or so years ago. Not that many people buy tapes or 8 tracks thease days, but I am sure that there will be a retro throw back for those items also someday. It’s a given that some guys are always going to yearn for that magic single or that trippy twinfin, but I would say this whole retro thing that we are seeing these days just a fad. I have said this before on this site, and I’ll say it again, the kids are the future. When I look out and 75% of the local kids can throw up an air, or do a 360 without even trying, that says something to me. In ten years, they will be the present generation, and we will be old carps feeling like surfboards nowadays suck. :slight_smile: Or maybe we already feel that way? -Carl

9

the wake up call drives me from sleep…1hr and 45min from daylight …just enough time to do the board.The waves generated will be gaing height throughout the morning and stablizing at 1030.The peak spot will be best until high tide at noon and then the point will be best.the selection of the right board will be the divider between the vets and the fng…the carbon paste with the poly paste in the vacuform centrifugal mold is the call with the carbon tail and the poly in the nose…the template from yesterday’s board was a little thick and about 1/2’'too wide…the adjustment cycle in the other room didnt have the calibrator ,only in the 3* room do you get the micro calibrator…worth the extra galactic credits…one good turn through the point drive section is worth a 1/2 days pay.Ahhhh the new inside secton they fixed since last year is a real dream come true,that new surf government is the way to go ,…vote’n worth it when the fixing of spots is a priority. The hollow nature of the new boards augments the sensiivity…

lets see… squeeze the tube of auto-mix into the gap and over lap the two densities…close lid clamps two three five seven nine log on card in slot clamp 4,6,10. press blue slow cure so the board lasts all day press one and go back to bed the board will be ready to ride when the dawn light hits the lipping clean green peak…now wheres Ramoma is she awake enough? thirty years married and she still smells wonderful in the morning when she wakes…I love this resort I could live here forever rather than just two weeks a year…ambrose …living the life on Gannymede 's surf resort 171 ,wish you were here

10

The future of shaping , I feel there will always be hand shapers, glasers ,sanders and polishers . Hand made custom sticks will be available for ever only on a smaller scale (cottage industry) as it was in the 50’s 60’s 70’s . Machine shaping and large factories will be the majority of the market how ever when a surfer who knows what he wants and trusts a shaper to put heart and soul into his new board he , she will go to a hand shaper and probably watch the process. Machine shaping and large glassing factories will do most of the stock boards. As for vac bagging I haven’t had much to do with this but feel it is a step forward the same as the electric planer. I personally will keep shaping because the feeling I get when I see one of my creations cruising on a wave is preety cool.

11

In 10 years I should have my carbon nanotube aerogel foam perfected. Density will be a hair below oxygen, just so it doesn’t float away. You’ll have to use some weight attachments on those offshore days.

But in 20 years it will really get exciting when I release my particle accelerator booties. Drop in a couple of double A’s, flip the switch, and they accelerate the water molecules into the surfboard shape of your choice. No more foam and fiberglass… your board is water.

Now if you can wait until the 50 year mark, just go down to your local M.D. and get your brain implant installed. Then plug yourself into the computer and upload the perfect 100’ day at Jaws with Laird file, or whatever, and go surfing…you’ll never have to leave the Lazy-Boy.

12

Surfboards will be grown. I am working on perfecting squash DNA so they can be grown into desired shapes. So far my experiments have been unsuccesfull as all my shapes have come out as fish surfboard shapes.

13

i may have told this one before im not sure???

a retailer was telling me one day about the new asian board catalog…its like a full brochure you open up and can have any custom combo you want…

rocker,outline,rails,bottom contours,fins, glass job or art work…

only problem he said , is most of his customers have no idea about what combinations will work and where…

so even if more boards get made by someone else , it seems there will always be a demand for good shaping advice ,

the custom board consultant???

hm i could be out in the water and still making a living???

even tho composites can deliver superior strength to weight ratios price is still an issue…

i start at 900.00 for a 6’ board no parent is going to spend that on little johnny…

so i fully agree about the next generation leading the demand for the bulk of the boards being built , price is a major issue for groms …

it seems you have to buy your fair share of junk before you gain an appreciation for quality…

most often than not something cheap is just that …but the masses flock to the cheapest thing on the market…or the most advertised…

making custom boards will never die …

but i honestly believe if you are 20 now its going to be way harder to establish your self as a board designer than it was 20 or 30 years ago…

coz now you have designers getting asian made boards and one guy can have his name on way more boards in the market place…thus making it harder for an up and coming to get a foot hold in the market place…

there will more boards designed by fewer people , for the masses …

but always a demand for a 1 on 1 custom board builder…

it just means the custom guys have to deliver a higher standard of work and have something better to stand out, in a more competitive enviroment…

if you cant compete on volume or price …

then you need something different ,better,unique,artistic, whatever…

thats my take on it…

regards

BERT

14

Jimmy said " what?..I tried but…nd i usually get it but"…so here goes the jumpstart backround…

why gannymede? the ice boarders take possession if the glacial icesheets  first for freeform freestyle punk downhill 30 mile runs sometime after  the indie wealth provides enough $ to pay transport then the photos alone generate enough aaa$ interest that the terraformers take massive heat equiptment and make the solar systems largest luge bobsled and daredevil ice board run,to rival the big Island's hawaiian sled run...ok 20 years and massive investment and this Guy thats Morey's great great grandson gets funding  from Locheed/Boeing to melt a couple hundred thousand miles of Ice and make a surfpark .  The earth outlawed wave cannon (erosion shut down installation possibilities in 2065)   the cannon fetch made the swells act very well behaved 30 miles is better than nothing 75miles is better...

Ok the the vacuform rotomold the paste comes in toothpaste tubes you can select density and clarity determining flex…the plastic permanent bubbles off the toy rack in the 50’s thats the stuff but update to thermo plastic evolution and s o p h i s t i c a t i o n…these are kleenex wavehicles one day is all the accelerated attention span of 3025 can stand …same board for two days? what kind of talentless kook?

Last of all monogamy    marriage makes a come back and regular relations stabilizes the human virus into a respectable culture and opens the door to potential admission into the galactic federation maybe bt 3050...ambrose... Gannymede a moon of Jupiter has not yet been claimed by any earth corperation for exploitation though there are some who will wish to export the water before we can surf it contact Earthrider+ foundation to protect Gannymede from premature de aquqficatoin

       lets talk future here not just pick at our toes
15

Here are some things I’ve come to believe about commercial surfboards

  1. the core must be non-absorbent and must not produce pressure with changes in temperature that impacts the shell

  2. the shell must be delam-proof, and reasonably puncture resistant

  3. light will beat durable (provided puncture resistance stays at the same level it is today)

so far commercial manufacturing cannot replace the shapers touch for either shaping the blank or glassing. Even machined blanks are finished by pros if the board is any good, and glassed by pros. If someone figures out how to finish blanks or glass boards without skilled labor, they will make a lot of money and change the face of surfboard manufacturing as we know it.

So far, though, the methods remain the same, and quality surfboards are shaped and glassed by craftsmen.

16

Bert I agree . Custom board adviser well we have them now . Shaping machines ,dial up a new stick. Thre small guy will always be there whether he be a backyarder or the small boutique builder . The amount of wippy he makes will depend on the amount of the process he does himself.

17

hey blakestah…

in response to “so far commercial manufacturing cannot replace the shapers touch for either shaping the blank or glassing. Even machined blanks are finished by pros if the board is any good, and glassed by pros. If someone figures out how to finish blanks or glass boards without skilled labor, they will make a lot of money and change the face of surfboard manufacturing as we know it”

someone has already done what your talking about…

check out http://www.a-h-d.com/techno/index.wrd…

even though Mr. Clark has declared that windsurfing was just a fad, the windsurfing industry is still always two steps ahead of the surf industry in terms of construction… they just don’t sell as many t-shirts…

but i would agree with the first part of your point number 1… non-absorbent will help sooooo much…

18

So I went down to Windsurfing Berkeley, which was about the only place you could buy windsurfing gear, and went in the door and told the nice fellow there that I wanted to buy a windsurfer. He proceeded to show me what they had for sale, which were all Windsurfer one-design boards. They had “A, B, and C condition” hulls. They were all polyethylene molded boards, and if they had a molding defect, the price was set on the extent of the defect. So I picked out a Windsurfer Rocket 12, which had two mast positions, some footstrap anchors, and you could potentially have two fins instead of one. I picked out a “C condition” hull, and when the question of rigs came around, I looked at what they had for rigs and just said, “Oh, this isn’t going to work for me, this is ridiculous.” I just knew the standard Windsurfer rig wasn’t going to do it, so I blatantly told the gentleman at the shop that I wanted a mast and a boom, but I didn’t want a sail. He just kinda looked at me with a weird look on his face, and I’m sure he was thinking, “Well, that guy’ll be back tomorrow looking for a sail.”

Bill Hansen, Founder & Designer, WindWing

http://www.windwing.com/BillHansen

19

i was thinking about post-tensioned (reinforced) concrete…a cable that is tentioned after the concrete goes off and gives greater tensile strength as a result.

imagine a (semi-flexible) prefabricated stringer that had a hollow sleave thru the centre through which you drew a cable…after the board was built.

could you then torsion your board to suit the conditions that you were about to surf?..and imagine if you could dial-in (tension) your own rocker?

and eliminate (?) snapping.

ambrose…there is a satelite just about to enter the rings of saturn…how cool is that.

Like, welcome to tomorrow…only your doing it right now.

20

like with a base fiddle stringcapable of resonance atuning to the whistle and pop crackle of dolphin bretheren sub surface riffing… scat man Cruthers, lift that baritone uke to playing position…are we? yes we are ready to lift the world…saturn?.. tomorrow is a theatre production and we are the principal players …enchambre the tensioner in tubing.brass? …copper…s-less? …Glass?..ambrose…rings of saturn ? hover board.most definately,ilver impact resistant suitfrom Silver Surfer vol.#?