I know, this topic is a bit strange on this forum, but I figured hey, surfing is an outdoor activity, so this should work for the "outdoor" forum. Right? Anyway, my story of surfing is short, so here it is. I grew up about 45 minutes east of San Francisco. A few years ago, I lived up in Washington state for a couple of years. People up there often asked "do you surf?" My answer was always "nope, never even tried it." Well, after coming back to California a few years ago, and now going to college on the central coast of California, I figured there is no reason that I should not try surfing. It looks fun, back home in the Bay Area I'm not too far from the beach, and down here I'm 15 minutes from the beach. Life is also too short not to try things that look enjoyable.

Once I decided that I'd like to learn how to surf, I also decided that I wanted to shape my own board. It just seemed so cool to make the first surfboard that I learned to surf on. I ended up shaping the board at an extra class taught at the college. It was pretty fun. Now, I'm learning to surf on the board that I shaped! For anyone here that may surf, here are some pictures of the progress of the board!

Here's the board when the shaping was first finished:

Here it is after my first paint job. Unfortunately the paint ran under the masking tape.

The new "fixed" paint job just before the fiberglass:

Here, it's done!

A shot of the finished bottom:

Finally, a shot of the "cool" logo I made using my initials!


Well, I don't think this topic is out of line here, but if it is, mods, let me know. Otherwise, I hope anyone interested in this enjoys the pictures because the process of making this board was a blast!

I don't surf, but the idea of making your own board is cool.
In high school (many many many years ago), a friend made a wooden canoe.
I'd like to try my hand a making something like that.

You did a really good job on that. Great work !!!!

Cheers

Great job, DL. Looks outstanding. For some reason, using tools made yourself is really satisfying. I think that's why I enjoy tying my own (flyfishing) flies. I grew up in the South Bay and now live in Washington, but I've never surfed either.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I wondered if anyone here would respond to this thread. So, mhr, where in the South Bay did you live and whereabouts in Washington are you know? And yes, I agree that using tools made yourself is very satisfying. Maybe that's why I'm an engineering student.

Nice work !! I hear <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> there is a place called " Jaws" down by you guys ? Are you going to give it a whirl ? Looks " Scary Huge" !

"surf's up dude"





but seriously....thats a cool project.

CONGRATS on your handi-work

I did a quick google search the other day and I think Jaws is in Maui. I saw a video of some guy surfing a huge wave out there. Those guys are nuts! I went out today and the waves were chest to head high, which is more than enough for someone (me) trying to learn to surf.

i know how to surf dl...thats a sick board looks like a nice gun. nice rails. i prefer a 10'0 classic longboard shape and cruise the ripples or catch long rides. i find bodyboarding better for bigger, faster, deeper waves.

youll find boards are like knives...all dift sizes for all dift waves

Jaws is on maui but you have to tow-in. its for the experienced only. laird hamilton has a sick dvd calling riding giants. you should check it out.

dl i would suggest practicing your pop and stand before just jumping out in the water. other than that its practice and balance just like riding a bike.

wait til toy catch your first wave you'll feel the "stoke"!!! its a good feeling.

I think I have a small idea of what you're talking about! A couple of times, when I was half way between laying down and standing, I caught the wave and the board just seemed to glide on the water! It was an amazing feeling! Those couple of times are more than enough for me to keep trying until I get up and stay up! Tomorrow looks good at Pismo Beach, but a bit big for learning. It's supposed to be head high with occasional 1 to 2 feet overhead! I'll have to master the standing up part first before I take on the bigger waves.

Sorry- I <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" /> got them crossed up. It was called Maveriks ( spelling ? ) . At any rate probably a place to just " watch" and learn somewhere else. Nice work !!

I have never had the opportunity to try it, although I want to. I have snowboarded though. Does that count? They say it is surfing the earth.

"Charlie doesn't surf!!!" ....................... and niether do I. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> But it sure looks like fun. Nice work on that board - very professional looking. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Rem, I wish that I could say I've tried snowboarding, but with the expensive cost of snowboarding or surfing, surfing makes more sense to me since I'm only 15 minutes from the beach and don't have to buy a lift ticket. My sister has a cool snowboard though, so if I rented boots and adjusted the bindings, I could probably try hers.

I just went out to Pismo Beach this morning to get a few quirky Christmas gifts (a chocolate covered scorpion for my brother!) and the waves looked great for learning on! Thanks to finals, no such luck to make it out there today. Oh well.

dl351... If you are ever in my neck of the woods I'll take you. Good mountains in my area. Nothing to crazy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the offer Rem! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be in your neck of the woods in the foreseeable future.

I did get a chance to go out surfing this morning! A bit chilly (by California standards anyway). It was 50 degrees outside, and I think the water temperature is around 55 degrees. It was fun, but tiring. Paddling out past the break is a bit of work!

No problem dude. Happy Holidays. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

When I was in the Navy I was stationed in San Diego and I got a chance to surf quite a bit. I had a lot of good times and meat a lot of good people surfing off of La Jolla shores down and Mission beach.

When is Dan going to produce a line of SR-77 surfboards with Res-C treads?

Dude, that board is sweet!!! Born and raised in San Diego, I only body surfed a little. Saw a board shop in seaside, oregon last month on my way to canada and thought I was hallucinating or seriously missed a turn. Riding Giants was awesome and I definitely recommend, thats where I learned about 'Mavericks'. Gotta love the beach, man do I miss it!

Maybe the next board you carve using a scrapyard blade? Res-C tread/tape is not a bad idea, no more wax. SR-77 is a must for the fins.

Well, I had so much fun shaping the last board, that I did another one! For those who don't know, this board is a "Fish." What makes it a fish is that it's about the length of a performance short board, but it's thicker and a little bit wider. This makes it a little more stable, buoyant, and easier to paddle. Anyway, here are some pictures of the latest one!

Here's the bottom of the board:


The deck:


And another of the deck:


With any luck, I'll have a paint scheme put together on it and have it glassed within the next two weeks!

very nice! i dont surf but i skimboard.

hope your wearing a [censored] good respirator rated for those fumes...that stuff will kill you.....

Thanks! About the fumes, I just shaped the board. It has yet to be fiberglassed. When shaping, the only thing you really need to wear is a dust mask. All you get exposed to is foam dust. The mask as well as a good vacuum on the power hand planer take care of a lot of the dust. The fiberglass resin, on the other hand, does put off some nasty fumes. The guy who owns the shop where I did the second board always wears a respirator around the resin.

yea thats the stuff i meant, the resin, esp some of the newer resins....NASTY stuff!

my buddy wet sands with 3m wet dry paper and uses a wet/dry vacumn.

EDIT: i dont surf because i cannot swim. I have no body fat and very dense muscles, i sink. been thru 8 different swimming lessons. nope.

hence why i skimboard.....

rip the sharks a new one!

fishes are dope my buddies got one it handles REAL nice but you cant get the wicked snaps you see in alot of surf mags...fishes also help you catch a wave deeper or catch it period.<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />


i like the lines on that board...when you take it out im sure it will feel good!


bushman i love bodysurfing theres a spot close to where i work (sandy beach) PRIME bodysurfing....on good days when the sand and swell is right you can pull coffins in mean barrels!<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hahah! Had to bring this thread back up! I just finished painting the rails on my new board over the weekend, and dropped it off at the board shop for the fiberglassing on friday. Here's a picture of the progress:



Four shades of orange/yellow here! It took some time to wait for all of the many coats to dry.

Hah! I was just looking through this thread and saw this! SR77 fins sure could take a beating, but about two weeks ago I ate it while I was trying to catch some crappy waves and the edge of a fin clipped the back of my arm. It didn't hurt too much and didn't seem too bad, but the fin box got jammed down into my board and I got a bruise on my arm that was a little smaller than the size of my fist, and it's still showing a little. Had the fin been SR77... well... ouch, that would've hurt!

looks great!

you wanna do my car?

Thanks, but not much automotive painting skills here (though I'd love to have those skills).

Well, with my excitement of my 2nd board being completed, I just couldn't resist bringing this thread back up. Here are pictures of the finished board:




My "cool" logo:

Both boards side by side:

Awesome job! I don't know much about surfing but it's always been something I wanted to get into. Something about being out in the beach, riding the waves; kind of extreme but relaxing the same time.

You are a true craftsman...an artist! They look beautiful! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

I'm not any good at surfing yet, but it seems that surfing can be as extreme or relaxing as you want to make it. It's nice to be out on the water, sitting on your board, just waiting for the next set of waves. Since I'm learning to surf, I try to keep to the smaller crappy waves that the serious surfers don't want. Also, that way I don't have to worry as much about nose diving and toppling over the front of my board. People keep telling me it just takes time to get surfing down.

Thanks for the compliments, guys!

the longboard looks like fun...looks super similar to a funboard style. as long as you made it thick enough it'll be fun for smaller waves.

the fish looks nice too!

gettign skegged sucks!

i got my fred booth drop knee bodyboard skegged by a longboarder...nearly took my head off! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

are you in cali?

surfing is truly like riding a bike. a longboard is like a beach cruiser and a shortboard is like a bmx bike. guns are like road bikes. tow ins are like downhill bikes! living in hawaii i dont get into the water as much as i used to or should. awesome job on both boards!

Nice work! Funny, I've been lurking on this (knife!) forum for a few years and after seeing this (surfing) thread finally joined <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. Anyway, I'm guessing you go to cal poly right? I live in CO now but grew up in Huntington Beach, went to school in Santa Barbara (and my wife's family is in Santa Maria), surfed all over SoCal, some in Mex and a little in Kauai.

Pismo is kinda mushy (funny though 'cus I just took my daughter there last week!), I'm guessing you tried Morrow and the Spit right? Ever been further south like SB or even Ventura?

The only board I ever shaped was a long board I snapped in two and tried to make a real bad fish out of it. I didn't have a plainer so I used an old sears belt sander and needless to say my rails looked nothing like yours! My board is total crap (I glassed it myself too...still have it) but it sure was fun to try and surf my own (mis)shape.

Anyway, good luck, if it were me I'd stay in the whitewash, and practice "the pop" (think a million reps:), once you have that down, then move on to trying to catch it from the get go. Have fun!

Forgot to ask...what are the specs? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yup, out at Cal Poly right now!

For the Fish, the here are the specs (I think):

length: 6'0"
Width 1ft from nose: About 16"
Width 1ft from tail: About 15 1/2"
Middle width: About 21"
Thickness at center: I think 2 3/4"

I forgot to write down the dimensions, so I quickly approximated with a tape measure. Maybe you've heard of or seen the 7S Super Fish seen here:

http://www.surfindustries.com/surfboards/7S_superFish.php?src=surflineBoardAdvisor

I based some of the dimensions on that, and, with the help of the shaper whose shop I shaped this at, tweaked it a little to what I was looking for. It's a very similar shape though.

As for sticking to the whitewash, that's what I'm doing. I've been out a little over 15 times, and still can't really stay standing on the board. I've gotten up on my feet, but quickly fell off. Part of the problem, I think, was going surfing with a friend of mine who feels that you learn faster if you learn on bigger waves. As a result, I spent more time than I should just trying to catch waves that were far too steep for me. I spent more time worrying about my board (and myself) nose diving off of the wave face than I spent trying to stand. Well, he's studying abroad now, so I'll stick with the whitewash.

I've tried Morro, but not the spit. Is that the same as Sand Spit in Montana de Oro?

Oh, welcome to the Yard!

Hahahahah! I brought this thread back up once again! Why?! Because I shaped another surfboard! This one is actually for my lady friend. I got a great deal on the surfboard blank, and a friend of mine let me shape it in his shop for free as long as he got the glass job. He did a great job on the resin dye, too! Here it is:





Here it is next to my two boards. I still haven't used my shorter board yet because I suck on the long board! I've been swamped with a senior design project this year, too.

sweet looking boards! the paint job on those is awesome <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Thanks! I did the paint on the long board and the orange one, and the shop owner did the pink one.

Tonester, where about are you in SoCal? I'm up at Poly in SLO. I shaped the long board at the school and the short ones at the instructors shop out in Los Osos (he kinda got screwed and doesn't teach the shaping class at Poly any more).

im in Highland, its about 20 minutes east of San Bernardino.

how long did it take you to shape those boards? again, really good job.

ive never been surfing, but looking at those board make me want to try!

Did you set up the shaping room yourself? And where did you get the templates from?

Tonester:

The first board took me 7 or 8 three hour classes at the school. The second board (the orange one) took me 3(I think) three hour time periods at the surfboard shop of the instructor. The last one (the pink one) only took 2 two to three hour time periods out at his shop.

Tagati:

That shop is actually the shop of the instructor at from the school. He has his own shop and was kind enough to let me use it. It'd be cool to have my own! Maybe if I really get into surfing more after I graduate I can slowly build up my own personal shop. As for the templates, he already had some that were cut out of some fiber board material. It's really just a matter of having several width dimensions along the board (at least three) and fitting a smooth curve to it all.

That is a really good effort. I have surfed for years but making boards is really difficult. You obviously have a flair for it.

Thanks for the compliment! Strangely enough, I feel like I'm better at shaping right now than I am at surfing. I guess being an engineering student and growing up working on things helps with using tools. Also, the right tools are very important to do the shaping correctly. A power hand planer is a great tool to speed up the shaping, but isn't necessary. Beyond that, it's mostly just hand tools that are needed.

Do you surf up in Washington?! I lived up around Tacoma and Bremerton for a couple years. I made it out to Ocean Shores once in the middle of summer, and it was a bit cold out there! How is the surfing up in Washington anyway?

I grew up in Durban, South Africa so feel very fortunate that I had great, warm and uncrowded surf on tap. We just used to get our stuff stolen a lot while we were in the water. After that it is an unfair comparison but surfing in WA does my head in.

Firstly the prevailing wind is onshore so most of the coast is blown out most of the time. You get some good swell in winter but you have to wait for a high pressure to sit overhead and push the jetstream North but then that means freezing offshores. Wetsuit technology has become so much better but peeling your wetsuit off after a surf is just brutal.

Then there is the drive down. Topgraphically, if you live in Seattle you have a minimum drive of 2.5 hours because you have to head South to Olympia for an hour before heading for the coast. I have been skunked so many times after a long drive only to have the wind come up and blow the surf to shreds.

And...not forgetting the water temps. Ice cream headaches - just get used to them! I have learned to surf in a full suit with hood but t just isn't the same as paddling out in a pair of boardies and vest.

I think if you live near the coast - especially near the end of the Straits you can pick some good days but for us city dwellers it becomes a labor of love.

Dont forget to grease yer board with some Mr ZOGS SEX WAX!

http://www.sexwax.com/

Suprisingly Mr Zogs is what I use and have done for years. Smells great and they do a decent cold water version (very soft).