"Hand-shaping is critical to the evolution of the surfboard. It has been passed down from generation to generation... Hand-shaping really is the soul of the surfboard and in many ways the soul of surfing itself. It will be a sad day if the hand-shaped surfboard ever goes away." ~ Greg Noll
Shaping a surfboard is an artistry, more of a craft than a science. I knew this, but it wasn't until I walked into the shaping bay at Shaper Studios did I truly appreciate it as so. If you're not familiar, Shaper Studios is a North Park based studio that offers shaping and glassing lessons, as well as shaping bays for both novice and experienced shapers. My husband was there to take a private lesson and shape his first board. I was there to document the process. I was actually pretty excited about the whole thing, but never did I imagine how much I would actually learn and how much the whole process would intrigue me. It was so much fun to watch each stage of the board develop. Honestly, I liked it so much I plan on shaping my own board in the next couple months!
Kory, our instructor (notice how quickly this became my lesson too!!) was really knowledgable and very patient. He gave you freedom to shape, but was there to check your work after each step ensuring the creation of a board that would actually be rideable. He also played old school hip hop which earned him bonus points in my opinion.
I have the attention span of a two year old, but somehow Kory managed to hold my attention for the whole six hour shaping process. Okay... except when I ran outside to take a picture of that one really beautiful sunset... and those few minutes when I had the pizza delivered to the shop, but who can concentrate on an empty stomach right?!? A girl's gotta eat!!
On a very basic level I will attempt to tell you what I learned. We'll call this Surfboard Shaping 101.
Every surfboard starts out as a foam blank. Surfboard blanks are pieces of foam that can be cut, shaped and designed into a specific shape. It is important to choose a blank that is relatively close to the shape and size of your desired board, as too much cutting will leave the foam weakened and result in a board with poor flex. A traditional fiberglass board has a polyurethane foam core.
our PU shortboard blank
tracing the template
Once you have the template traced onto the blank it is time to cut the board down to size. We were instructed to cut about 1/4" outside the outline. When cutting it is important to keep the handsaw completely vertical. Novice shapers have a tendency to rock slightly from side to side while cutting so that 1/4" allowed us some room for error.
cutting the blank down to size
After cutting the blank down, the next step was to shave down the edges using a surform. The surform is a surface-forming tool that resembles a cheese grater.
After the foam was sheared down to the proper shape, the edges needed to be sanded down with a sanding block.
The next stages involve working on the "foil" of the board. My understanding is the "foil" is the change in thickness along the length of the board from it's nose to the tail. This involves skinning the blank. Using a planer the outer layer of the foam (the skin) is shaved off. This is done in various stages for each part of the board.
Periodic checks with the calipers are important to avoid removing too much foam.
checking the thickness with giant calipers
markings for the nose rocker
A quick note about the lighting... Most shaping bays are equipped with side lighting. Side lighting refers to the fluorescent tube lights that run horizontally about waist level along each side of the board. These side lights cast shadows along the rail of the board which make it really easy to see imperfections or high/low spots in the foam that need to be worked on. For someone that knew essentially nothing about shaping when going into this I thought that was pretty cool!
creating the tail rocker
A spokeshave is a tool that is used to shave off any part of the stringer that is laying above the foam. The stringer is a wooden strip that runs down the middle of the surfboard giving the board it's strength. It is important to have the stringer flush with the rest of the board. The stringer was shaved down multiple times throughout the board shaping process.
spokeshave
Next it's on to the tail. To design the swallow tail another template is laid out and traced onto the board. This template gets cut out with a much smaller tool and definitely requires a bit more precision when cutting.
outlining the template for the swallow tail
carving out the tail
making the 1/2" double wing for the tail
more work with the surform
The final steps involve sanding and lots of it. This ensures that there are no bumps or imperfections on the board. The rails, as well the entire board from nose to tail should feel smooth.
taking out the final imperfections with the sanding pad
fine tuning the rails with a sand screen
signing the board
Kory inspecting the board for the final time
Two sessions and six hours later, I couldn't believe our block of foam had turned into this... So rad!!! Our board was now ready to go through the glassing process and have the fin boxes placed. Shaper Studios offer lessons on these things as well, but we decided to have them do it for us. With only a three week turnaround time we should have the final product in our hands before Christmas!!
**Approximately one month later we have our board!! YEW!! We are so stoked with the way in turned out!! Looking forward to another trip to Shaper Studios next month to shape my board with Kory!!**
Pin it
Share This
Tweet This
No comments:
Post a Comment