2006 We produced a few hundred blanks and even milled the all the stringer on our band saw. (LAGUNA 16)
The CLARK FOAM shut down forced us into making our own blanks.
One of the top shapers at CHANNEL ISLAND setup our blank production with XPS.
Completed boards (50 +) as surfers would not pay the extra cost!
The rest I sold to various board builders.
Didn’t say I came up with it. The first were the X-tune blanks from Japan as I recall. In California in '91 Hydro-foam is SB was producing them, as well as, Pedro Vasquez of SVF, I don’t think back then you had shaped a board Surfding, so how would you know? Javier H. " Epoxy-Pro" took the foam over from Pedro. Pedro was pushing them and Aluzine resin, and Clyde was glassing them with SP115, and RR. I must have a freakin insane imagination, or I was there; I reckon you weren’t Surfding.
Put a lot of time into making the things back then. Ran into a ton of walls, especially trying to get surfer’s to pay more, and take care of the boards temperature. Nobody wanted to shape it either, hand shaping was like a death-sentence, except I had a pleskunas-drum that didn’t tear them up. Solved a few problems with the material, but I was and still am pretty much a day laborer, and the money guys f-d it up. Ran into the Chounard’s at the top the point at Pitas on a crappy afternoon and I could still surf way above average and showed them that day; surfed and talked them silly. Ivon went up to see Clyde and Yater. Furthermore, I introduced the stuff to Rennie at Hammonds, and Clyde ended up moving in his factory.
That was then.
GR, Clyde and I did that project together, Clyde west, me east. I remember busting ass for Dow for two years and ended up be owed money by everyone. Not one of my better periods of surfboard building but oh well. Ran into a wall I couldn't climb and that was the SE heat. Popped those babies like they were Orville Redenbacher. Had one of Stan's drums too. Nice smooth cuts. Today I have White Hot up the street and life is good when I want to mow.
“I don’t think back then you had shaped a board Surfding, so how would you know?”
I don’t know anything.
I corrected my post where I mispoke. Sorry!
Cylde Beatty glassed a few for me in the old Yater Factory.
I wanted to shape since I was 15 years old. 1973?
Did not start surfing until 1970.
2002 I shaped by first surfboard and surfed it at PIPE and was hooked!
I’m no LEGEND as you are however I had my fun.
1991 I was living in FRANCE so your right I don’t know!
Kind regards,
surfding
Come on MIke, your amazing, and you have had an amazing life. You really have lived your dreams, and I am impressed with so many things you can do. The diving stuff, computer shaping stuff, woodworking stuff, you truly are a renaissance man.
Anyhow, that’s when I got introduced to RR, and fortunately for Hank, it only took about 10 years of telling him and retelling him, you got to get this stuff, and he finally did… It was so much better than the SP115 that we used to use at Paradise over 5 years before that. Can’t help it I was there, covered in foam dust, but there. Respect is probably something I will never get, for there are far too many out there who believe they deserve it more.
As it goes I was the one who talked to Rennie to set up Clyde in that shop, built the shaping room too. Wayne Rich I think is in there now.
Quit talking about yourself gettorat nobody gives a shit just flappin those gums
gettorat I really do repect you and I’m embrassed I mis-spoke.
Wayne Rich, Cyde, Casey McCrysal were all a big help along the way.
I got in to shaping and making surfboards because I loved the sport.
I remember In the sixties renting rafts on South Side sitting in the line up wishing I was surfing!
I’m very grateful for the experience I’ve had however.
The reason I did not make surfboards when I was younger was because the older guys would not let me.
So I just surfed.
At 40 and with an established career I started shaping trying to meet a goal on my bucket list.
I had a ball making surfboards.
My sons were my test pilots.
As a business a complete grind!
As a passion really cool!
To have made boards since the beginning would have prevented me from the places I’ve been to.
I make boards these day for the love not to pay the rent.
Believe me I understand how hard it must be to survive building boards.
Kind regards,
Michael aka surfding
