Christmas is upon us and it dawned on me that I would really like instructional videos on shaping and glassing.
Which video series is best?
The Master Shaper and Master Glasser series by Jim Phillips
or
The Shaping 101 and Glassing 101 series by John Carper?
Thanks.
I’ve got all the 101’s… they great starting points, lets you wrap your head around concepts and see what all the technical talk means…
I think master series shows you all the intricate bits and bobs … i’m yet to see it though, i want to get a copy as well…
Cheers
L
I agree. The JC Carper 101 is the best intro. MasterShaper/Glasser is 201.
Thanks guys.
I’m looking for the basics but not too basic. I’ve done some pretty large repairs and know how to handle glass and a sander. Shaping will be all new to me though.
Does the Carper series cover things like cutlaps, and installing fin boxes?
If I remember, chip and hicksy and lavz have a cutlap video floating around somewhere. I have it downloaded, but cant post it. its too large. if you send me an e-mail ill send it to you. its just under 5 megs… they have 5 vids. also fun to watch. nice accent chip…
it also depends on what kind of boards you intend on shaping. the 101 series focuses on shortboards and the masters series mor eon on longboards. true the techniques are the same but there are subtle differences.
i have the 101 series and feel that it has helped me out a lot. but it would be nice to graduate to the masters series.
i say ask for both.
I’m mainly interested in longboards at this point but I agree most of the techniques translate. Especially in glassing.
Right now I’m planning to use poly. Does either series cover EPS and epoxy?
I’d like to ask for both but one will take me a while to absorb.
nope. but i have shaped both and have and all i ever needed to know about shaping boards from eps i learned from here. its not really that different.
glassing with epoxy on the other hand is slightly different from poly. you cant work the resin as much and you have to let it soak in.
either then that there isnt that much difference between pu and eps and poly vs epoxy once you now the basics. its just a mater of learning the subtle differences.
I'm mainly interested in longboards
The MASTER series. I have shaping 101, master shaper, and master glasser.
I get little from shaping 101. It is a little better at showing/expaining railbanding and the tucked under edge. Master shaper shows shaping a 9’1"Y ino a noserider and then also an old style down rail wood board. Shaping 101 shows a single single short board. Master glasser is great and shows everything except epoxy. All I do is epoxy and the primer in the resources tells you everything that you need to know about the difference between polly and epoxy.
enjoy
I also vote for the Master’s series. Well worth the money.
Thanks guys,
Sounds like feedback is a little mixed.
Now, throw in the fact that the Masters series cost twice as much as the 101 series. Does that change things?
I think the isssue is one of comprehension. the 101 is like surfboard building for dummies. its easy as hell to understand and you cant screw it up. but then again, its very basic. the master series is like AP Calculus 2. you gotta know your basics and go from there. there’s alot of comprehension involved in the master series. so take your pick… like choosing to watch “sesame street” or “fight club”
its more of a question of how much you know.
Hey yeah! How could i forget! Thanks Scott…
Don’t forget the lastest and greatest video series from WOZZIE PRODUCTIONS!
There’s the thread “Check out Hicksy’s Online instructional videos” or just click HERE
With out doubt THE most comprehensive guide to everything you’ve ever thought about! 
haha well almost…it was good fun though.
Catchya
L
I would recommend the 101 series if you’re just starting.
And I disagree that the Damascus series is like calculus compared to the 101 series. Certainly with regards to the glassing video. I actually watched it again last night. You can definitely pick up a lot of useful tips, but it didn’t answer questions I had my first couple times glassing. That video, to me, just seemed like “ok, here’s another cutlap. Here’s another pinline.” I found the 101 series really helped me get a feel for what I was doing, and covered all the basics and problems you’d run into starting out.
And since you can get the 101 series for like 20 bucks a pop, and the Damascus series is 79.95 for each DVD, I’d say start with the 101 series, then move on to the Master series. Or if you can, get both!
It’s interesting. All the different perspectives. A lot of them seem to be effected by the experience level of the viewer…
Let me add a little info. I’m not a complete beginner. At least not with glassing. I’ve learned to handle the basic lam, hotcoat, and gloss from the repairs I’ve done. Several large deck delams etc. I haven’t shaped a board though so my experience is limited there.
However, I don’t plan to shape my first board. I’m designing it in a computer to be cut by machine. Don’t beat me up on this please. I just think I understand design intellectually better than I can translate it to foam with my hands. This way if my concept is good the shape will turn out, for better or worse and I won’t screw-up my first, very large, project. Besides, I don’t plan to become a shaper. I’m just building an 11’6" monster for novelty. It’s for goofing around on small days and maybe tandem with my daughter. I don’t want to pay big bucks at a shop for something like that.
That said, the only foam work I’m going to do is fine tuning after the blank is cut, and finbox installation. So I’m primarily concerned with the glassing aspect of the videos. Things like cutlaps, installing the finbox, how to handle the transition on the flat areas from deck patch or finbox patch where the lam ends.
If there is design info that would be helpful in the compute design but I’m not mowing foam.
Thanks for the help. Hopefully this will help you recommend a video series.
in that case, go w/ the 101… the master series is better if you plan on becoming really good. something of that size has a little fudge room in it. also, in addition to the 101’s, watch the hicksy, chip, lavz video… they have a great display of cut laps, and cloth cutting. very informative. also, dont worry too much about it, just have fun with it.
p.s. if you get the 101’s, you save $180… use it to buy your daughter a wetsuit or something. or use it to make her a board of her own.
p.p.s. what type are you planning on making? EPS? Poly? if you do EPS, then just buy the video from Sfoam (www.sfoam.com) it has it all in 1 cheap video. its very instructional. I usually watch it before every board as a refresher and to get me in the right mindset.
Excellent info Scott.
You’re reading my mind on the money and surfboard for daughter thing. This summer I’m hoping she’ll get more into it. If she does, I’ll be cranking one out for her.
I’m planning on doing my board in poly. Just because I’m familiar with the materials. I thought about EPS. I read Greg Loehr’s post about the new, better foams. One of my hang-ups on the EPS is color. I figured since I’m going so big and crazy with this board, I might as well get really stupid and try a resin swirl on my first attempt. Or at least a tint on the bottom and rails.
My whole approach to this board is kind of funky. I’ve got a 11’2" board I bought for cheap from a guy who made it himself. It’s a beast but is fun to goof around on. The board not well shaped and has a pretty good twist in it. But once I get that thing lined up it really flies. And, get this, the guy who shaped it is the ex-singer/guitar player for the 70’s band Iron Butterfly. I’ve painted the name MONSTRO on the rails in honor of the whale in Pinocchio. Its’ a whole goofy/beater/backstory thing. So I’m looking at MONSTRO II as a newer, biggerl, better, funkier version of the old beat-up MONTRO. In my mind, a white EPS doesn’t quite fit the plan.
Further down the road, I’m thinking of a big boy high performance shape that I might do in EPS for strength to weight reasons. I’m 6’2", 220 lbs, 42 yrs. I can’t do anything on my old 6’7" Linden. I was really interested to see what Greg Loehr had to say about the new foams making them strength to weight competitive with the Surftechs. If I can get close to that, I’ll go EPS and make my own. Right now I’m looking at the Merrick 7’6" big guy shortboard. If I could make something like that, custom, that would be fun.
I sent you and email about the videos you mentioned in an earlier post. Did you get it? I sent it to your tulane.edu address in your profile.
Thanks,
Ryan
my e-mails acting weird right now (my school server…in new orleans… go figure)
Lavz posted the link to the videos… here it is again if you missed it…