I was at a get together with some friends a few weeks ago and while there one of the guys asked me if I copy boards... I said no….  Then asked what he had in mind.

He got his boards from one of the local shapers in the area who unfortunately has passed away. One of his favorite boards was getting pretty worn and he wanted a new one. So, I told him I’d help him if he would like.

It is possible to machine scan a board these days but for just a one off not something one would do. Maybe for a board you plan on making 100’s of yes, but just 1?  no.

So what to do?? I know the person that would like another board that the shaper did, and the shaper he got his boards from I also knew. That particular shaper and I once had shaping bays right next to each other some years back. Well, we decided it would be fine to go after replicating the board.  

I got the board to replicate and mapped it. Mapping is a process of measuring the rocker, outline and thickness of a surfboard from nose to tail. Once the numbers are documented then you can determine what blank will be needed and if it will need a different rocker glued into it than what is available stock, for starters.

With the boards pertinent info, you can hand shape a board to those numbers or build a cut file for a CNC machine to machine the blank and then do the finish shaping work. I went with a cut file, for a few reasons one being I lost my shaping bay…. And don’t have a place for another one yet. You tend to be more comfortable in your own shaping bay for the critical work of replicating a surfboard.

Even making a surfboard prototype, riding it when completed and determining it’s a board you’d like to work into a model, mapping the original so it can be replicated and or make adjustments to the overall shape is essential. It takes the guess work out of the process. 

Running 2” masking tape down the center of the board and writing the numbers on the tape is what I typically do to my own boards to document the dimensions. If you are so inclined, you can input the numbers into a surfboard design app. and generate a cut file for future use if not to have an electronic copy of the board for safe keeping. Hard copies can be lost. Like my data book being destroyed when my property was flooded a couple years ago.

All was not lost thanks to a folder in my computer of electronic files of pretty much all of my surfboards.

D.R.