I was asked a question this week…

How serious is the threat of shaping machines?

There may have been a threat 30 years ago but it’s over now because the machine is everywhere. They are affordable, every major label uses them or has their own. And, many of the small guys use cutting houses for a large portion of their orders if not all of their orders.

Sure there are guys that hand shape most or all of their boards but I think it may be the exception rather than the rule now.

This is a little of what I’ve seen…

Six years ago there was this young guy that really was interested in getting into the surfboard business. He really didn’t have any experience but he was determined and landed a job laminating part time for a busy label. Within a month or so he had enough know how to laminate ok.

His shaping was another story. His first boards were pretty crude. That’s fine, everyone’s first shapes are crude. But, he kept at it. Then he went to the local cutting house and suddenly his shapes were really nice. Within a year and a half of getting his part time job laminating he found a place to set his own place up making his own boards. The machine was a major factor in that happening.

Another guy used to have his own designed boards made to order through another builder. He’d never really shaped any boards before but he had some nice designs going. So he connected with the local cutting house, got his boards cut, set up a little shaping bay, cleans up the machined blanks and takes the finished shapes to the local lam shop. His boards came out fine right out of the gate with no real shaping experience at all.

Then there is the avid surfer type. He has gotten a connection with someone that can get blanks cut at one of the machine shops. He wants a new board so he gets a machined blank through his connection. Finds a place to finish sand the cut blank and takes the finished shape to the local lam shop. Three weeks later he has a new board that looks as good as most other boards you might see… at least from a distance. Because of the machine.

There’s this old blues song, “The Thrill is Gone”. Well, we could change the words a little and say “The Threat is Gone”.

D.R.

Doing it the old fashioned way.