Rockers And Bottom Curves, Natural Or Custom!

“Rocker” is the dimensional curve along the bottom, top, and rail of the surfboard, usually referenced from nose to tail.  Not one rocker is universally better than another.  Rocker is just one instrument in an orchestra of design elements that contribute to a successful surfboard shape.  There are, however, some basic rules of hydrodynamics that one must consider in order to understand the function of rocker.

Ace Buchan uses every bit of his rocker to make this steep drop!

Firstly, the more rocker or bottom curve that a design has, the more maneuverability but less speed the design holds.  The added degree of rocker pushes water, and consequently reduces overall speed.  On the other hand, that added curve allows the design to turn in a tighter radius.  Additionally, rocker allows designs to fit into steep waves without submerging the nose, i.e., hollow waves like Pipeline.

Conversely, flatter rocker brings more speed but also a decrease in maneuverability.  The flatter rocker allows more of the board’s surface to be in contact with the water and therefore generate more planing speed.  Generally, flatter bottomed designs are applied to boards that will be surfed in small or gutless waves, i.e, fish boards.  And, of course, with the flatter, straighter rocker the board will feel more stiff and will be more difficult to turn.

Cut and ready to glue up

US Blanks are molded with a “Natural Rocker” unique to each blank and specified in the blank description within their catalog.  The Natural Rocker is designed to accommodate a variety of designs.

While the blank is molded with a Natural Rocker, there are two additional opportunities to adjust the rocker before finishing the surfboard design.  Once, when the blank is ordered and secondly, when the shaper is shaping the board.

Each blank can be ordered with any desired rocker adjustment.  The blank is cut down the center lengthwise, stringer is chosen and the blank is glued with the rocker adjustment in place.  The adjustments are written in a formula beginning with the nose (noted with an “N”) adjustment and followed by the tail adjustment (noted with a “T”).  Us Blanks use the deck line to adjust the rocker which is referenced from the Natural Rocker, i.e., an adjustment of +1/4”N -1/4”T would indicate bending the foam upward to add one quarter inch of rocker to the nose and then bending the tail downward one quarter inch to decrease the rocker in the tail.

US Blanks has a large selection of Public Rockers available to choose from, specific to each blank, but we (Foam E-Z) can also accommodate "Custom Rockers" at no additional charge.

A few of US Blanks Public Rocker Templates!

Once the blank is ordered with the requested rocker adjustment, the shaper can still make further refinements to the rocker of the final surfboard design.  The shaper can carve subtle adjustments to the board’s rocker within the design of the given blank, but they cannot permanently bend the blank at this point.  This is why blank selection is an important first step.  It provides a flexible yet specific foam structure that most closely resembles the final design that the shaper will implement.

It is important to remember that the resulting affect of any rocker adjustment is influenced by other design elements like rail contours, fin set up, and concaves.  Finding the exact right rocker for a surfer, a given board and specific type of wave is the result of thorough communication between the surfer and the shaper.

Thanks to US Blanks for this thorough explanation!

The Fin Project! Support them...

As most of you know this past weekend was the Boardroom Show in Orange County.  There was so much cool stuff to see and so many cool people to talk to.  One of the neatest booths at the show was the Fin Project booth.  If you can help them that is great but if not just check out the killer fins and photography.  Here's a little snippet of what they are about:

About theFINproject:

theFINproject is the epic journey of the surfboard fin, the inspirational stories of its innovators and their role in fin as the driving evolutionary force in surfing. Through the documentary film and photographic study, theFINproject will paint a dramatic - and visually stunning - portrait of this neglected piece of surfing history in a way never before seen. 

Featuring the stories of Tom Blake, Bob Simmons, George Greenough, the Campbell Brothers, Mark Richards, and Simon Anderson  - the film will explore how their passion, drive and "inventor's mind" have shaped surfing into what we know today - and open up the question as of what's next for the sport. 

 

The FIN Project was founded as a passion project in 2012 by Timothy Hogan, a lifelong salt-water addict, surfer and critically-acclaimed commercial photographer.

The KICKSTARTER campaign to fund theFINproject documentary is running NOW through November 4th, 2013 and features four Hand-Signed Kickstarter-Exclusive Limited-Edition Artwork by Timothy Hogan as rewards - that are not available anywhere else. 

Please back us here: http://bit.ly/finproject

And show your support for the story of the fin in 3 clicks HERE: bit.ly/finshare

Cheers, and thanks for your continued support, 

Tim

Kickstarter home page: bit.ly/finproject 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theFINproject

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theFINproject

Instagram: http://instagram.com/thefinproject

Press Page: http://www.thefinproject.net/pages/press

The Boardroom Surfboard Show Is This Weekend!!! See you there...

It's that time of year for our industry convention... The Boardroom Surf Show is unique in that it brings together all the manufactures and board builders into one place.  This will be the first time The Boardroom visits Orange County.  In the past the show has mainly been in North San Diego and has once visited Ventura and Santa Cruz.  The Orange County Fairgrounds will be the hub of the surf industry this coming weekend.  This show started about six years ago, at that time it was called Sacred Craft.  No where else can you find all the big named shapers and small ones too, not to mention all the other cool stuff going on.  There will be live surfboard shaping, live surfboard glassing demos, live music, surf movies, ‘Road Show’ style surfboard collectibles with expert analysis and appraisal, book signings, and more...  Click here for the schedule of events.  Did I mention this show is open to the public???  It's your chance to come see, feel, talk shop, buy a board or two, and all things surfboard.

You can find Foam E-Z in the Los Alamitos wing, booth #634, right next to the Block of Foam Shaping Bay.  Of course we will be giving away lots of swag, selling our goodies at a discounted price, and giving away a FREE Shaping Lesson.  That's right... We are going to be raffling off a Five Hour Shape Lesson with our Master Shaper ($300 value), no purchase necessary!  We will also have a paint pen station and FREE mini surfboards for the kids to paint. 

Come on by and say hello.  The show hours are Saturday 10-6pm and Sunday 10-4pm.  For more info on the show check out http://www.boardroomshow.com/ 

Foam E-Z's fuNKy FieldTrip To Drew Brophy's Studio In The Surf Ghetto

It’s been a little while since we took a Funky Field Trip but this one is definitely worth the wait… We headed down to the San Clemente Surf Ghetto and popped in to see Drew Brophy.  Drew welcomed us with open arms and lots of story.  As we walked through the door prominently displayed was the Foam E-Z 20 Year Anniversary board that Drew painted as a present for us.  My first thought and feeling was of all the colorful paintings on the walls and other Brophy paraphernalia perched throughout his studio. 

As we entered he showed us his studio where all his amazing paintings get created.  From there we headed into Maria’s (Drew's wife and business partner) office/meeting room, this is where all the Brophy product samples get QC’d, and the business ideas come to life.  In this room were Converse Allstar shoes, skateboard grip tape, IPhone cases, water bottles, skateboards, body boards, motocycle helmets, and more, all with Drew’s art displayed on them.  Pretty amazing stuff for someone who first hit the seen as the artist who did “pen art” on LOST Surfboards.  As we made our way through his building we came to a kind of “catch all” room where the Brophy’s keep their inventory, stretch canvases and pack and ship stuff.  Last but not least we were invited into Drew’s office.  The walls were layered with some of most brightly colored and unique artwork I have seen.  Not to mention the size of the original pieces, some had to be 4’ by 6’ or bigger, simply overwhelming to the eye and brain.  In addition to the artwork Drew had his computer where he answers emails and does all of his computer stuff. 

As we meandered through the building Drew talked about his business, the inspiration for his different art pieces, the history of how he got to where he is today, his motivations behind his artwork, his amazing travels, and basically chatted about all things life.  Drew told us stories of the early years of painting the LOST boards and how it helped influence a number of today’s surfboard artists.   Drew and his family travel quite a bit for work and play often spending time in the mountains as well as taking surf trips.

I really want to thank Drew for taking the time to show us around his shop.  Also, thanks for the incredible 20 Year Anniversary paint job on my board.  That was an awesome field trip, I'm still trying to get my head around all the amazing artwork!!!

LEARN TO SHAPE YOUR OWN BOARD!!! Shape Lessons Are For Everyone!

Wanna learn to shape a board????  We give lessons 2-3 times a week right here at in our own E-Z Shape Box.  Our instructor, Chas Wickwire, has lots of experience as he has been shaping for over twenty years!  Chas learned the ropes under the tutelage of Rich Harbour of Harbour Surfboards.  

Our Shape Lessons are great for everyone, young and old, because each lesson is customized to meet your needs. Sure, you can learn to shape on your own by trial and error, which can be frustrating at times, or you can have someone guiding you along the way. With the help of a professional by your side, your board will come out looking, and riding great. Along with books and DVD's, the Foam E-Z Professional Shaping Lessons are another way to educate board builders of every level.

The cost for the Shape lessons are $60/hr. Average time for a shortboard shape lesson is 4 hours and a long board takes approximately 5 hours. You are welcome to bring your buddy, dad, sister, brother, mother, or anyone you'd like to watch at no extra cost. Shape lessons are great for school projects. Each lesson is tailored to suit each student's needs and interests. At the end of the lesson each student will have learned about board design, functionality, basic and advanced shaping techniques. All students will walk away with a functional and aesthetically pleasing custom surfboard to be proud of.

Here's more details about the lessons and finishing out your custom board:

Blanks are sold separately (starting at $45.00).  You can paint your shaped blank yourself or have us professionally paint it.  We can print custom professional looking lams for you starting at $20.00. Just provide us a high quality PDF or Jpeg and we’ll do the rest.  Glassing is sold separately.  Glass your shaped blank yourself or have us professionally glass it (starting at $200).

Email us at Shape@FoamEZ.com  for more details or to schedule your lesson.  To see what dates are available check out the Shape Box Calendar.

Shaping lessons are for everyone! See ya soon…

What A Great Time! Thanks To Everyone!!!

I want to send a HUGE thanks to all who attended our party this past Saturday. We hope you had an awesome time I know I did!  Here is a quick recap...

Larry Bertlemann, that's right THE Rubber Man, was there and chatting it up with everyone.  What a great personality and very approachable he is.  Drew Brophy was his usual spectacular self, bringing pen art to life right before the party goers eyes.  Drew was kind enough to leave his pens out for the kids to thrash and paint the mini blanks US Blanks brought.  Balestar, Stamps, and Doc in the Futures Fish Bowl Shaping Bay was an awesome site to see.  Those guys were really tested as the lighting sucked, it was about 100 degrees inside, no air hose, and hundreds of people starring in from point blank range.  It was awesome to have Chad "The Lad" Wells (Quiksilver Team Manager) as our MC, he knows how to really fire up a crowd. 














We gave out so much free stuff thanks to all the vendor donations.  Thank you to the beautiful Ivie, who came in from Utah just to work the raffle booth.  Foam E-Z is donating $500 bucks to Surfrider Foundation from the money generated at the party.  The Jimbonaires were sending out killer music vibes throughout the event.  Food, thank to Chef Larry Meyers was on point, although I never got a chance to eat... 

What a surprise to be awarded that unbelievable hand-built Seventies Gun by the Crew at Foam E-Z.  You really didn't have to do but I love it!  

Thanks to the vendors and participants;  Drew and Maria Brophy = incredible art on the Aipa board... Stamps, Balestar, and Doc for donating their time and sweat to shape out those boards for the lucky winners, Matt Barker at Hurley for donating those awesome tees, Future Fins for the Fish Bowl and bitchen fin sets, US Blanks and Marko for the raffle blanks, Ryan Bryant at Delve for doing the bitchen four color screen printed tees, FCS for the incredible raffle package, Solspot for the beer, Resin Research and Revchem for the board building supplies for the raffle, Harbour Surfboards for the raffle stuff, Val and Duke Aipa for the board that Drew painted, Larry Bertlemann for the signed wax, and so on.  I really apologize if I missed someone and I'm sure I did. 

I want thank the Foam E-Z Crew for all that they did to help prepare for this and help make the day amazing.  Thanks to my beautiful wife and family for putting up with me over the last month and I was stressing miserably about this event.

Thanks again for all the support we really couldn't do it without you guys (customers and vendors)!

Check our FB Page for pictures from the party, thanks to Kitty Willis.

Brad

Itinerary And Updates For Our Party This Saturday!

Only two days to go until our 20 Year Anniversary Extravaganza!!!  It's going to be a day for of festivities, food, music, and fun!  The party will take place in the parking lot behind Foam E-Z from 10-3pm.

The day will start off with Tom Balestar shaping a bitchen 5'10" Retro Single Fin, similar to an Eighties Stussy.  When he's done shaping we will raffle the board off.  Next in the Future Fins Fish Bowl Shaping Bay is Tim Stamps.  Tim will be hand shaping a Stamps 5'8" fX Quad/5 Fin to be be raffled off when it is completed.  At noon, a ticket will be drawn and the winner will be creating his/hers custom board with Doc of Surf Prescriptions.  Here's what Doc had to say about what he'll be doing:  "Saturday June 1st we will be at Foam EZ in Westminster CA. to help Brad and his crew celebrate their 20th anniversary . Now who needs a Surf Prescription?   Some lucky individual will win a custom Surf RX this Saturday June 1st at 12 noon.  Winner needs to be present because you will be immediately sitting down with me and we will design your board in my Surf CAD system at  the Surf RX tent. Next I will head off to my Factory and cut your board on my shaping machine ( you can come with me if you'd like) after which I will be returning to the "Fish Bowl' shape room at the event and hand shape your cut blank. Your custom shape will then be glassed at my factory  Surf Prescriptions  in H.B. where you will be picking up your  custom Surf RX on its completion  Good luck  See you Saturday at the event.  PEACE OUT DOC".

In addition to all the shaping going on, Drew Brophy will spend the day doing pen art on party goers surfboards.  If you have never seen Drew in action I highly recommend checking this out.  He is world renown for his art work and his pen art surfboards.  Another cool exhibit will be live screen printing with a four color process.  Ryan Bryant of Delve will be screen printing your tees to order.  If that's not enough, there will be live music by the Jimbonaires - Cameron Vogel on drums, free burgers, hot dogs, Pop Chips, Vitamin Water, raffles every hour, lot's of freebies, and 10% Off everything in the shop.

I'm gonna blow my lid...

See you at the gig!

Stamps Shaping His fX Model To Be Raffled Off At Our Party!!!

Tim Stamps will be shaping his new fX model in the Future Fins Fish Bowl Shaping Bay.  This will give party goers the opportunity to watch a “pro” shaper do his thing and one lucky customer will win the board!  That’s right if you are lucky enough to win this raffle you will win your own custom StampsfX 5 Fin Convertible Surfboard.  The board will be raffled off after Tim shapes it, around 1:30pm.  

Here are the details on the fX model according to Stamps:

fX Model

“The fX originates from my ever popular Quantum Fish design. This design has been blended with more ‘performance’ characteristics such as a more refined foil, enhanced bottom contours, and a slight rocker adjustments. A smaller wave board with limitless speed and unprecedented maneuverability. Ride approximately 4” – 6” shorter than your height.  The board is ideal for ankle to chest high surf.”

A little history on Tim Stamps:

Tim Stamps has been building surfboards since the age of 15, and is known for the progressive and innovative boards he creates for some of the most accomplished pro surfers out there, novices just figuring out what boards work best under their feet, and everyone in between.

In The Shaping Bay

It was his surroundings and upbringing that fostered his lifelong passion of surfboard building, and as a kid it didn’t take long to realize he had the shaping bug in his DNA. His desire to help, learn, create, build and dissect surfing into physics, geometrics, hydrodynamics and displacement theory began with two mentors. The first was his father Johnny Stamps and the second Rich Harbour.  Tim was under the tutelage of Harbour from the years 1985 through 1997 when Tim decided it was time to venture out on his own.  The rest is history as they say.

Courtney

Stamps has been shaping a lot of boards for pros on the tour as of late.  He has been working closely with surfer’s Brett Simpson, Travis Logie, and Courtney Conlogue.  Keep your eyes out at the party as there is a high probability that one of these famous surfers will be attending.  

If you’re in need of new board or just want to have a deep conversation about surfboards stop by and see Tim, he’s just down the end of the street!

Win A Free Custom Surf Prescriptions Surfboard At Our Twenty Year Anniversary Party!

Who wants to win a new custom Surf Prescriptions Surfboard for basically free?  One lucky party goer at Foam E-Z's Twenty Year Anniversary Party will win a brand new custom surfboard from Surf Prescriptions.  The winner will be picked at NOON, then they will design the board of their choice with Jeff Doc Lausch on the computer at the party.  After that Doc will head to his shop to get the blank cut.  At 2pm the cut blank will be shaped live in Future Fins "Fish Bowl" shape room.  This will be a great opportunity for all party goers to watch Doc finish out the blank!!!   

What an awesome giveaway.  Stay tuned for more announcements.

A little back story on Jeff "Doc" Lausch:

Gerlach

He's been shaping since 1969, that's hard to believe since he's only fifty years old.  I guess that means he started at the very young age of six!!!  

Doc is known for shaping high performance shortboards, guns, alternative equipment, and outside the box innovations.  

Surf Prescriptions really hit the main stream in the late Eighties when Brad Gerlach came on board as their top pro surfer.  Soon thereafter Donavon Frankenreiter was seen cruising on Surf Prescriptions and helped develop and test some of their most unique models.  Over the years many pros have stepped foot into Docs shape room to have a board made.  

Donavon

Some of Docs influences are Brewer, Stussy, Hurley, Timpone, Al Merrick, Rusty, and more...  Surf Prescriptions is based out of Huntington Beach, Ca where Doc builds the entire board under ONE roof.  Everything from shaping to airspray to glassing is done in the warehouse.  Stop by and say hello and check out the history.

Live Surfboard Painting and Mini-Art Exhibit at FOAM EZ 20th Party June 1 2013

For the first time this year, Drew will exhibit some of his latest art pieces and will give a live surfboard painting demonstration at FOAM EZ’s 20th Anniversary Event.

***Drew will have time to paint 2-3 surfboards during the event, and one of them could be yours!

If interested, pre-book your Drew Brophy surfboard painting by calling 949-678-8133 or email info@drewbrophy.com.

Price depends upon size & complexity of what you want.  (Brand new, sanded surfboards only, please.)

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN OF THE FOAM EZ EVENT:

WHAT:  A fun day to celebrate the surfboard, fins and art!

Surfing’s source for all things surfboards, Foam EZ, is celebrating their 20th Anniversary Party – this is a family event, so bring the kids!

They’ll have:  Live Music, Surfboard shaping demos by greats such as Stamps and “Doc” Lausch.  Surfboard painting demos by Drew Brophy,  a BOUNCY HOUSE (for the kids only!), LOTS of FREE SWAG and raffles held every hour, and food!

WHEN:  Saturday, June 1st, from 10 a.m.  - 3 p.m.  (it’s FREE!)

WHO:  Everyone!  Bring the kids and anyone who appreciates surfing, art and a day enjoying both.

WHERE:  FOAM EZ, 6455 Industry Way, Westminster, California.  For info call 714-896-8233

MORE INFORMATION ON DREW BROPHY’S BOOTH:

GIVE-AWAYS:  Roxo, one of Drew’s newest Licensees, has provided some cool give-aways for kids!  They are wristbands with Drew’s art printed on “rocks”.

We will also be donating some awesome Drew Brophy art goodies for the raffles that will be held every hour.


LIVE PAINTING OF SURFBOARD DEMO:  Drew’s live painting demonstrations are where he generously shares his surfboard painting techniques that can be used by both the novice and the experienced artist.  His medium of choice is Uni-Posca Paint Pens.  Feel free to watch and ask questions!

Drew’s 10 x 10 booth will exhibit some of Drew’s latest art pieces, prints and other fun stuff.  All works will be available for purchase, as well as Drew’s books, DVD’s and art prints, priced special for the day.

Let Drew Paint your Surfboard!  Pre-arrange your own custom surfboard painting by calling 949-678-8133 or email info@drewbrophy.com.  Pricing is determined by size and complexity of the painting.  Only 2-3 surfboards can be painted that day, so call right away!

What Does Stamps, Surf Rx, And Drew Brophy Have In Common??? Foam E-Z 20 Year Anniversary Party...

Everyone is invited and here’s the latest on our 20 Year Party Saturday June 1^st in the yard behind

Foam E-Z.

Thanks to Future Fins for donating their “Fish Bowl” shape room, this will provide the opportunity for all guests to watch shapers at work.  Throughout the day Pro Shapers Tim Stamps and Jeff “Doc” Lausch (Surf Prescriptions) will shape boards in the “Fish Bowl” and those shaped blanks will be raffled off to lucky guests!  Drew Brophy will be joining us to do live art demos and paint customer boards. 

Live music, free food, and a bounce house will add to the ambience.  There will be free swag and raffles every hour thanks to donations by companies like: Future Fins, FCS, US Blanks, Revchem, Graphite Master, Hurley, and much more.  

During the month of May we’ll be giving away a FREE Shape Lesson on our Facebook page that will be carried out during the party!  Shapers and vendors will have tents set up for the crowd as well.   

Last but not least, we will be having a 10% OFF everything in the store sale.

All this and more!  Stay tuned as we announce more happenings throughout the month.

Look forward to an incredible day!

Foam E-Z's fuNKy FieldTrip to Procam Surfboard Machine Shop

Well we headed out for our latest Foam E-Z fuNKy FieldTrip and ended up at Procam, CNC surfboard machine shop.  When we showed up there was foam everywhere, EPS and PU alike.  Huge billets of EPS to be cut into surfboards, SUPs, and paddleboards were stacked to the sky!  Tucker came out to greet us with his trusty watchdog Devo.  Tucker then brought us in to show us where the redwoods of paddleboards get cut.  There were fourteen foot blocks and huge paddle boards reaching to the roof.  I couldn't believe my eyes at the size of these EPS skyscrapers!  They cut these boards for some of the biggest names in the industry. 

Next we strolled over to the ware house next door.  This is where all the crazy high tech business goes on and where the owner Brian resides.  In his office are the computer masterminds that convert and write the programs to make their machines run smoothly.  Brian and good friend Robert Colby started Procam back in 1996.  With the computer age really blowing up, easy to use surfboard specific programs were created.  Shape 3D and AKU are the standards now and all shapers have to do is send their files over and Brian can cut their boards.  The result is, shapers have become programmers. 

Getting boards cut on the machine isn’t for everyone, but computer savvy shapers can really fine tune and reproduce a “magic” surfboard like never before.

Thanks Brian for having at your EPS redwood forest!

Foam E-Z's fuNKy FieldTrip To Future Fins!!!

Last week we got a chance to visit 
and tour the Future Fin Factory/Warehouse.  Luckily for us their facility is only two miles from our shop so we get a chance 
to stop by often.  This time when we showed up we caught Vince Longo (owner) in his office working on some top secret stuff.  
Vince and his wife just had twins so needless to say he has been extremely busy for the last few months.  

After saying hello and a few words of catch up we headed over to the customer service department where Jacob Dildine greeted us.  Jacob, our tour guide, has been with the company for five years and has been moving up through the ranks.  


After saying hi to all the peeps in customer service we headed back to the warehouse.  I'm always blown away at the number of fins and fin boxes they have in stock, but then again they are a fin system company!  The sheer numbers are staggering as they have all their Thermotech fins on one side and all their Premium fins on the other.  There's a big rack holding the white and black fin boxes, the new totally bitchen brightly colored fin boxes, screws, fin keys, etc...  Complete fin system heaven!!!  All these items surround their shipping area where the guys are always busy packing stuff for their US and international customers.  


Future Fins also have a large manufacturing section where they build fins and boxes!  
They have these super high tech CNC machines to cut and foil fins and have a special screen printing machine to apply logos on their fins.  Within their warehouse they have a killer machine shop where they are constantly working on new projects, testing and improving their current systems, and just plain tinkering trying to come up with the next big thing in fins.



It's pretty cool this locally owned company has grown to be one of the big powerhouses in the fin world.  Some of the most popular and successful surfers in the world ride Future Fins.  This is a great testament to the time and effort these guys have spent perfecting their brand.  

We really appreciate them giving us the opportunity to go behind the scenes and see how this operation runs.  Great job guys, keep up the amazing work and continue to push this stuff forward.  Congrats on the twins Vince...