I've heard and read it a million times from guys and in text: "If you don't shape your
own board at least once, you're not a complete surfer." The statement leaves
quite a bit of debate about that, and I'll leave it up to you to decide where you stand
on the issue.
But the fact of the matter is, if you DO shape and ride your own board(s), it creates an
entirely different perspective on yuor surfing experience. I think if you shape your own,
it broadens your experience and appreciation for what you are doing when you ride
a surfboard, buy a surfboard and exposes you to another part of the surfing culture. If you go through
the entire process from buying your blank, hand shaping it, getting it glassed
and ultimately riding it, it creates new feelings and emotions, new knowledge and
appreciation and a great sense of accomplishment, pride and satisfaction. Of course,
this depends on whether or not you hose your first attempt completely, or are
successful.
After 27 years of riding other people's shapes, buying off the rack, and presenting
my custom ideas to a couple of top shapers along the years and having them produce
my concepts in both design and artwork, it was time to pick up the planer
and the hand tools and shape my own. When I did have guys like Blair, Kies, Presiendorfer
and Pavel shape me a custom board, I asked to be part of the process, even if it was watching
at a particular step for an hour or two. They obliged and let me watch. Since those times
I've been interested in trying to do my own.
It was a great experience to go through the entire
process and then paddle out and catch my first wave on a surfboard that I had hand shaped
and designed and specified the artwork and color for. I'm thankful for the support and guidance
and feedback everyone gave me. As it turns out, all the comments were very positive from the moment
I bought the blank to the moment people saw the finished product. "Wow, that's your first board? It
looks really good," "That's your first board?" "That's a really nice shape," "etc., etc., etc. One of the
final comments was something like, "Well, you shaped it, it came out great and you can ride it
and not a lot of guys get it right the first time and get to do that." The overwhelming response
to the the board aesthetically was that the gloss and polished black and white design and the final "logos" and art that I came
up with "looks totally hot." So everything was a success with help from a lot of people.
the only gaff came when the glasser put a Bahne Box as the center fin box and not all Futures,
and when I picked it up I was pissed off because that's a pretty big mistake. But there's knowledge
buried in making that type of mistake. As a result, I've learned a lot, and will continue to learn more,
about interchanging fins, fin placement, different fins, etc. After being upset, I listened to everyone
and accepted the fact that the board is "versatile" rather than "ruined." The shop said, "We'll
get you next time," so maybe I should hurry up and shape another and get the messed up fin box
bro deal quick before it's forgotten amongst all the resin fumes.
You can hose a blank in half of a second with a planer, or even using hand tools incorrectly. I am happy that I did not. The glasser told me
that I could ride it for a while and sell it and shape another one that would be better. But I would never
sell the first board that I shaped, especially since it's riding great. I look forward to
doing a couple more boards, without question.
I hope this section helps people out a little bit. Whether you just want to see what shaping
a board is like, are planning to shape a board, or are a season shaper, I think there's
good information here for everyone. Enjoy. I know I did!
- Cliff
