Timely thread
After 5 years of swaylocks and about 14 boards later, I just watched a board shaped in person yesterday for the first time.
Thank you Bill Barnfield.
It is a beautiful thing to watch a master board builder at work.
CJ
i just learned a ton of good stuff watching CJ3 a few weeks back, and would love to be a fly on the wall in BB's room!
everything i know, i've learned from Swaylockers. mostly on the message board some in person.
key people in no particular order:
CJ3
Stingray
Bill Barnfield
Mike Daniel
TriDrLes
Lavarat
Resinhead
Afoaf
So what really impressed you about watching Master Shaper Barnfield at work, and what did you learn?
Hey CJ, Great opportunity. How long did it take him start to finish? Long or short?
Ghettorat,
Swaylocks, master shaper/glasser, JC vids.
I buy my resin and blanks at Mitch's in Solana beach and Scott Raymond Henry and a guy named Mike have tried to give me a few over the counter pointers which I soak up like a sponge. I always feel like I'm bugging them though. They started offering more advice the more I came in and showed them what I have done,
I think it would be a cool idea to have a San Diego chapter sway group so you could network and learn from people.
Thanks again to all the people on sways.
spent a bunch of time hanging out in steve coletta’s shaping room a few years ago; my lunch hour 3-4 days a week. he helped me make a board all the way through and has shared a bunch of computer/design stuff.
lately i’ve been shaping out of a spare room at stretch’s and i’m picking up a lot of stuff from him. he’s inspired me to do some hand shaping and helped me get a skil 100 in excellent condition. we’ve worked on one board together and i hope to work on a couple more, under his wing. he’s an amazing craftsman and i’m super stoked to have the opportunity.
If I ever really wanted to learn to shape…I would look to Jim Phillips for an apprenticeship…
roger
Anybody who knows Gordon has to have talked surfboard design for hours. Sometimes it’s more listening than discussion. Even though we had are ups and downs I still call Gordon my friend. I learned a lot from Gordon. I really want to watch him shape more than I have. But we have talked design theory for hours and about history and Joe’s participation in the development of the sport. Gordon is a much under-rated master shaper.
Tell Gordon I said howzit. We touched base on facebook a couple weeks ago. and keep it to only a couple of 12 packs.
Yes I have talked with Gordon for hours about surfboard evolution and design. He is a wealth of knowledge regarding board shapes and history. His tales of the early days when Joe was making boards and boats offers a look into how pioneering those early shapers were.
Like you, sometimes I am listening more than discussing. But that can lead to some interesting encounters. Last May we took Gordon to the “Keep the North Shore Country” victory party at Waimea Valley. Everyone knew Gordon, and they were buying him glasses of wine. Near the end of the evening we found ourselves listening to Peter Cole and Gordon talking about Joe and the early days for over an Hour. We occasionally nodded but mostly listened. On the way home Gordon was telling us Peter had told him some things he didn’t know. And he was curious to ask Joe about.
I haven’t watched him shape as much as I would have liked, and that’s mostly my fault. We seem to surf and hang out a little to much. Gordon knows a lot of “off the beaten path” places to surf, and is a Master of reading swell and ocean conditions. And sometimes it’s just fun to surf, it helps with new boards I get as well. He can see my deficiencies first hand and make suggestions. I have found this works much better than me just telling him what I need. He often see’s things I don’t I have seen a few of my blanks right before they got glassed, and saw him do the final touches on them. I am going to talk to him about a fish when I’m out there.
I will tell him howzit for you. I am staying in Kailua this trip, so less drinking than usual. But he did just have a birthday, so maybe one of those 56oz margarita’s at Luis Bueno’s.
ive only shaped a few blanks, havent glassed my boards yet but am in the process of setting myself up to glass my first board. I have been in close contact with a guy on swaylocks who truly knows his stuff and his humble enough to share his time with me over the net, I am enternally thankful for this and plan to share this knowledge with my young boy when he grows up. I am saving to buy four blanks from him and get stuck in, shape them, glass them, donate them and keep one for myself, such a buzz..
One day I hope if the oppurtunity arises to drop in and see my mentor with a case of beer, swap a few stories and watch him shape a board if possible. Dont want to say any names but he knows who he is, God bless ya mate, you truly are still a stoked grommet.
seems like there’s always some Sways get-to-gethers going on down in San Diego or near there… have you hooked up with Keith Melville, Stingray, Resinhead, …
liddle tuned me into importance of rocker.i watched tony masiel shape a board for me once. but, it was paul gross who really showed me the ropes from shaping and glassing to fin building and foiling....
The Jim Phillips Trilogy (I actually bought and paid for it Jim) got me up and running, the school of hard knocks and swaylocks have also been essential. Vids and books are nice but they definitely didn’t eliminate the learning curve. Ive seen all the vids- thanks Jim yours was the only truly helpful one . JC not so much. Get in there -get dirty- only way to get better.
The Jim Phillips Trilogy (I actually bought and paid for it Jim) got me up and running, the school of hard knocks and swaylocks have also been essential. Vids and books are nice but they definitely didn’t eliminate the learning curve. Ive seen all the vids- thanks Jim yours was the only truly helpful one . JC not so much. Get in there -get dirty- only way to get better.
Cecil Schertz-----The original "Native Surfboards and Sailboats" He made very early skateboards as well. Bought my first used board from him and later went back and bought my first blank from him. Dave Sweet --------Bought a Kit from Dave that included a blank, fin box, glass and resin. He gave me good technical advice on how to do it. Ron Cunningham ------------I learned from watching Ron and riding his boards what it took to refine a design and how important a nice rail is. A trip to Chanins glass shop(the one at the beach in Del Mar). Looking over all those blanks in progress made me realize how a good professional glass job can make a "hacks" boards look great. I've had a lot of interaction with shapers over the years. Picked up a few tips from some of them that helped imporve my shapes and solve certain problems. Influence by Rennie and Lauran Yater, John Mel, Doug Haut and several people on Maui. You see someones shapes and you know they are good. Then you begin to strive to reach that refinement yourself.
I got this thin glossy “How to make a surfboard” pubilcation from the hardware store early in high school cirrca 1980.
I called the only surf shop in the state to ask a glassing question, once I started my first reshape in high school.
I talked for days, starting @ '81, with Dale Solomonson about hydrodynamics. He took interest in my funky reshape… Ha!
I hung out a couple times, trying to get into “the industry”, back in the late 80’s, at Jack Sykes shop in H.B. - I can’t remember the name of his boards.
Once I started to get into it… for me… Dale turned me onto this weird web site called Swaylocks… And the rest, as they say…
Once I got on here… I went to Kauai and met Ambrose, he introduced me to Topper.
On Sways I’ll give special mention to those who’ve indulged me in my endless questions:
Greg L., Mark S., Tom O., Robin M., and if I forgot those I’ve bugged to tears I’m sorry.
Additional mention for those who’ve “hooked me up…”
Ian “Lavarat,” Bud, Keith M., Dale S., Lee V. (where are you man?), Bernie “Oneula,” Mark S. (Mr. MVG!), John M., Chris P., Red boards, Tim “Surf4fins,” and the rest of the crew…
And if I forgot you, please forgive me, and send me a PM… ;-)
OK - I love this place.
Howzit Taylor, When you mentioned Mark S did you mean Mark Sausen AKA Papa Sau surfboards or just PS surfboards. I taught him some tricks about repairs before he decided to start shaping and I built his shop and set it up for him. Then I was the guy he brouht the shaped blanks to and gave him back finished boards till we had a small spat and I told him that in order to keep being his friend I think I should stop our business dealings. That was when I started doing boards for Mark Angell and Ian Vernon of SunBurnt surfboards. Mark was not a good craftsman at first but knew what a surfboard should be shaped like in order to work. He finally got his craftsmanship down and even does a little glassing but he has a long long ways to go in that area and think he only does some team riders boards. Known him since 73' when I got to Hanalei from Oahu. Aloha,Kokua
Hey Kokua - Good to see ya still hanging - even if you’re stuck out in the desert…
Sounds like cool guys and stories, but I refer to Mark Spindler of MVG fame. He’s a fin, and chocolate, wizard from back East.
Re-read the original question - Cool stories…
I’ll say this - as one of our own Swayer called him, “The Wizard of Waipouli,” Ambrose Curry III… He may write some poetic prose here, but in real life he’s a straight up funny mofo… And, hanging out at the “Spoon,” and the “Boat,” is a rich source for learning about all kinds of things surf, island, and life related.
Here are two quotes from amc-III which speak volumes:
“Most any board works in the upper third of the wave, but what really matters is how it works in the bottom third of the wave.”
“It’s like any board (When I asked him how a classic looking 12’ red gun worked.) you get used to it.”
“Try it (Holding the planer out to me, after I told him I’d never used one.), you’ll get addicted and be hitting up the garge sales…” A few months later I bought one at a local pawn shop…
I have read this thread (Shaping longboard rails) http://www2.swaylocks.com/node/1018545 many times, but was never able to grasp it all until I saw it happen in real time.
CJ
Howzit Taylor, I have known Ambrose for 40 years+ and he has always been a great guy and we went and saw him when I got out of the hospital after my cancer surgery and he graciously gave me the latest Surfers Journel and a Ambrose one of a kind Tee Shirt. I glassed some boards for him back in the late 80's but then had to leave to take care of my dying father for a few months. He was also one of my clients when I had a mexican food wholesale business and he still had the health food store open for business. We have some great people in Hawaii and the more of them you meet the better for you. Aloha,Kokua