I live in Orange County, of southern CA. I’ve finally found my “magic longboard” and can’t find out who shaped it. Therefore, before this older mystery brand board falls apart I want to have it copied by a shaper in or near Orange County Ca. I know of several shapers, but not sure who’s the best at “replicating” another’s board design. Suggestions please…
Mr. Jim Phillips is your man! His nickname, ‘‘Jim The Genius’’, is not accidental. HE HAS EARNED IT. He is in Encinitas, and does some posting here on Swaylock’s.
Check you PMs. Lowel
Didn’t receive any PM. Can you try again, or just post here please?
Send me a PM and I will reply. They’re flocking with me. In other words a moderator or someone else is blocking and censoring my PMs. Lowel
Sorry to hear of your troubles McDing, but for the record, moderators don’t have access to block or censor anyone’s PMs. At least as far as I can tell, I cannot see any way, its just ouside the scope of what our access allows us to do.
Figured it out. Not a problem. Changed up some things to secure my account.
If you were on the east coast I would tell you Ricky Carroll Would be theperfect choice. He has won so many shape offs they made him a Judge just to give others a chance.
Of course Jim Phillips is located just down the coast from you. Just reach out to Jim
Dano Forte is your man. Manufacturing facility is in Costa Mesa. Surfs Blackies all the time. He can build anything but his longboards are sublime. Check Tim Stamps also.
Jim Phillips is a master shaper. You will have a treasure.
Couple of practical notes to add… I’ve been asked to make a copies for hire a few times, and often make copies/variations of existing boards for myself. You asked “who,” but my answers are about “how” and “what.”
Main thing to add to discuss: usually if a name shaper agrees to make a copy for you, and doesn’t charge you more than for a normal board, it’s not actually going to be a copy. It’s going to be just the general rocker totals (total nose and tail numbers) and the planshape and eyeballed foil and rail replication. Why? Because it takes hours to measure all the relevant details, even before beginning to shape the board. The last time I measured a board and catalogued all its details to my satisfaction it took three hours. A contemporary long board with a subtle bottom will take the longest, usually, to because there are more things going on in the bottom than on a shortboard, and there is just more board to measure. That’s before even talking about the additional time in shaping to reproduce numbers accurately as opposed to just shaping a board out the way the shaper her/himself normally does. There is at least an added hour or two of checking one’s work and carefully approaching the target numbers involved when making a copy, and how much added time just depends on how accurately the shaper is trying to reproduce the board.
Even after all that, the board won’t be exactly like the original.
But if a shaper isn’t charging you extra for about 4 hours of additional work, minimum, it’s going to be a rough reproduction, as opposed to a more accurate one that still doesn’t ride exactly the same. On the upside, there is a very good chance you’ll like the “copy” better if the shaper is a good one with a good eye.
I guess that’s the difference between guys like me and you and guys like Terry Senate, Ron House, Roger Hinds, Renny Yater, Wayne Rich, Marc Andrenni, Dennis Ryder, Ricky Carrol. They don’t require all the extra time you or I would need. Primarily because at some time in their long career of hand shapes they have no doubt shaped something just like or very similar to the board they are copying. Don’t get me wrong; they measure, check rocker etc. But with their well trained eye, they can read the board If you have ever watched shapers at the “Shape Off” at the Board Room Show. They are limited to what? Two Hours? Based on the extra three or four hours you refer to; How could anyone do that? Well here is the answer; Not just anyone can.
Whomever you choose, pay him/her a bonus. That is a skill set earned by years of experience. When I became a production shaper for some elses label, I had to learn to shape a board that had his contours, not mine. Learning to observe contours and mimicking them is a skill rarely found these days.
No, it’s not. You are wrong. I don’t like you either – I think you are a fundamentally toxic human, but it doesn’t affect my responses to your post, or my perception of what’s true. You are wrong. It doesn’t matter who is doing the work. If they’re not making detailed measurements and checking it to ensure they’re on point, they’re going to be off by more than they’d be if they were measuring.
…yes; that is one of the causes why I look a bit intransigent with the machine guys.
When that generation of master shapers quit or die; would be a void, a hole that with the people that we have now shaping, would be very difficult to obtain. Well; in fact most do not even know about many things; like pre shaping, glueing; trueing etc
And in USA most careers worked good due to the high quality crew in the glass shops; if not…
Japanese love that.
Haha. I love it. Made you so mad you didn’t take a full page for a long winded expert reply. Pissing you off wasn’t my intent. Just stating a fact. There is a difference between; Average and Master. As I said if you have ever seen one of the shape offs; they do it all, including taking the necessary measurements. But they don’t take an extra four hours like you would.
Very true. In OC I have watched three very good shapers fill in for one who was out due to medical issues for awhile. Even the best of those three was distinguishable from the shaper they were filling in for. You had to look hard though.
Thanks for all your replies. I do understand that my current longboard won’t be perfectly reproduced to the exact 1/100" BUT, I’m going to find an honest shaper in Orange County, Ca that is enthusiastic to take on this replicating job. If they “humm & haw” about my request, or don’t appear confident and want to take my money for my request (not an unlimited budget), then I’ll go to the next pro. I just want my board’s weight, volume, and measurements to be replicated as close as possible.
Regarding people getting “Hot Headed” over this topic earlier; everyone has their own opinion. Live & Let Surf!
Amen
I’m calling bull$it on the idea that anyone can replicate a board by someone else without taking a whole bunch of measurements. Shapers are not magical creatures- even the best. Surfboard manufacturing is pretty unique in this belief system. There are parallels to musical instruments; musical instrument makers/ luthiers using CNC vs varying degrees of “hand made.” The best of the best old school hand done guys fetch top dollar and revered the same way some shapers are. But they sure as $hit measure everything- including when building a replica of someone else’s work.