We're killing the craftsmen

Oh, and you are not following?? You are making surfboards!! A fad!!!!!
I don't care if you make them with gold, silver and titanium laced into carbon fiber---they are still a fad.
That makes you a lemming, and a not very bright one at that!!
As I have said often....we are ALL morons on this site.

 

Speak for yourself. I own 5 boards, all hand shaped. I have no desire to own a Merrick.

That said, some just prefer the shapes from those companies. I can't hate on them for that.

 

It's inevitable that people, including myself, are going to buy big name boards. My board buying pattern is not something that fits into custom shapes. I buy when the mood strikes, I have no patience to order a custom and wait two months for it. By that point the fire is gone and I don't really want it anymore. Also there is nothing worse than ordering a board, pick it up, ride it, and find its a dog. If there was a shop that housed premade boards by local shapers, sitting on the rack, waiting for me to come in and look, feel and hold I would buy. Right now I'm back into shaping my own boards. I rode my own shapes exclusively for years but went back to "real" boards for a while. Now I'm done with those boards and am into my own stuff again. If the time comes to buy again it will be off the rack.

 

brah, you sound like a buggy driver b!tching about cars

cmc machines are neat

dont hate the player


hate the game

 

...nothing wrong with stock boards from a knowledgeable, skilled, local board builder. Hopefully, they work better in local conditions than boards designed for other locals.

I should also add my mantra... "All boards work." They just might not work for you... or might not work they way you expected them to work... but they all work. And I'll follow that by saying ANYONE can build a board that works, and you should all try it at least once. Put those two things together and you know you've become a proficient shaper/builder when you design a board, build it, and it works exactly how you intended it to work.

 

It's pretty notable, the % of boards out in the line up that fall into that category (AM, Firewire...especially firewires these days). I have never owned one but have ridden AMs and they are great boards in general. Most guys I talk to with Firewires swear by them.

To me, we have a pretty solid selection of good shapers on the outer banks (and VB). I think if you have been surfing for more than 5 years, having dialogue with a shaper and trying different things is actually a great experience (mostly). I don't know, We may give up some quality in the craft versus the machine but the little tweaks to a new shape always intrigues me.

Great, seasoned shapers really are passionate about it and the whole process is much more rewarding than spending $700 on a name brand. I have not had a board shaped by Lynn Shell in 20 years but my friends have and he is totally dialed in and to be face to face with that kind of experience is invaluable IMO.

 

Well said.

 

Plenty of guys using machines and there is nothing wrong with that...glad they do so I can get consistent rockers/rails, etc. from one board to another. Just another tool in the toolbox for a shaper...wish all of them had access...

 

My thing is WHO CARES WHERE/HOW ANOTHER MAN BUYS SOMETHING?



I respect if people want to practice what they preach....but the preaching what you practice thing is annoying.

 

I have had great luck over the years with customs, but, I do go to whom I find are the better shapers presently available. You sound as if you have found what works for you-good. For me, I prefer to spend my time doing things other than immersion in fiberglass, resins, etc. Did it 2X in my life. I rather ride them.

 

after buying a few of dogs from a couple of local shapers, I went back to the name brands. 100% handshapes are more imperfect than we want to believe...some end up magic, most don't. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist and the thought of having an asymmetrical board (unintentionally) or different rails on each side, etc, bugs the sh!t out of me.

Most recently, I bought a couple of Roberts (not even in the same ballpark of size/notoriety as CI, Lost, Firewire and Rusty), who is actually relatively local in the grand scheme of things. From what I gather, he does use a CNC machine to cut the raw shapes, then finished by hand...does that count? Prefer he wasn't such a bible-thumper (multiple references on each board) and had better penmanship (writes like a kindergartner), but his shapes are among the best I've ever had.

 

Idk what your talking about....

I only buy boards from my shaper- #RoyStuart

 

^lol...a quiver of 50 pound teardrop singlefins

Got to admit, I've gotten to the point where I can't stand Channel Islands. The designs might be great, but look around...practically everyone is riding them!

If I were to go back to the mass produced, it would probably be Lost. Hate the "...Lost" logo, but Matt's designs are great, the final product is about as perfect (usually) as you're gonna find and most of their models extremely accessible.

 

But their glass jobs are horrible.

 

true, but CI is just as bad..and Lost is available in alternate/third party tech constructions. I'm surprised CI (Burton) even allows third party fin boxes...they would monopolize that, if it were possible.

 

There's no excuse for that... from any shaper. Symmetry is one of the basics of shaping. Not that it matters as much as we'd like to think, but boards should be symmetrical if nothing else. Garage hacks might not know dik about design, but symmetrical is symmetrical, and there's tools and techniques to help you do that. There is no reason why even a backyarder can't make a symmetrical board.

 

My boards always start out symmetrical, lots of measuring, figuring and marking the blank. They stay that way until I start to turn the rails then I loose interest and start winging it. If you took a ruler to the finished product you would laugh you azz off, but, I have shaped some that were magic. Some on the other hand wer not magic, they worked, but kinda sucked.

 

I guess if you are getting a custom from someone who is a young and/or inexperienced shaper, then Asymmetry is probably guaranteed to happen. I would be willing to bet that most seasoned, decades long shapers have honed their skills to have very little. In that case you may forgo absolute symmetry compared to machines but even "finishing by hand" can cause some anomalies I would imagine.

You can still buy "off the rack" from a local shaper.

The other thing I like is I can spend $800 for two boards versus $5-700 for a name brand.

I wonder if in one more generation, will there be any hand shaped boards?