Father and Son Shape Lesson!

Brad Nadell of Foam E-Z in Westminster, California has long supplied Orange County’s finest shapers and shapers-to-be with everything needed to build a surfboard.  A few years ago Nadell built a shaping bay that would allow first-time shapers the chance to build a surfboard without the investment in tools, space, and perhaps most importantly, under the guidance of a professional.

Recently, Brad’s childhood friend approached him with the idea of building a board with his 12 year old son.  Brad called in world class board builder, Chas Wickwire, to guide the process.  Here’s what transpired.

CHAS WICKWIRE
“My goal is to just provide an overall view of the shaping process.  I put a heavy emphasis on 2 of the main 
building blocks: comfort with the power planer and the geometry building a rail.  I make it as systematic as possible so if the first-time shaper decides to attempt a 2nd board, they’ll have the fundamentals.  The whole process takes about 4 hours and nobody is going to leave as an expert shaper, but we’ll certainly help you avoid a few botched surfboards.”



JAY CAMERON
“Vance is 12 and he’s been surfing since he was 6.  I have a photo of him on his very first wave at San Onofre and to this day he has the same exact style, arm placement, and everything.  Surfing’s been a great bond to share and we surf the same spots that I surfed when I was 12.  Vance was ready for a new board and I thought that shaping would be a very cool extension of that experience.”




VANCE CAMERON
“I just wanted to shape a board that I could ride every day, when the waves are a little smaller and it’s harder to surf my normal shortboard. After talking with Chas we decided to make a 5’10”. It’s pretty thick. Chas suggested we make it a little wider in the noses it paddles easier. And we made it quad.”


CHAS WICKWIRE
“I’ve surfed Seal Beach my whole life so I’m very familiar with the waves that Vance surfs and the goal he’s trying to achieve with this board. We designed this shape with a low entry rocker so it gets into waves really easily, goes fast and is easy to ride when the waves are less than ideal.”  “We used the 6’2” A which is a real versatile blank to shape a 5’10” x 21” x 2 3/8”.”

VANCE CAMERON
“I thought it’d be more fun to shape a board than just go buy one, but I was really surprise how much math is involved. Not just in the fractions with the length and wide, but there’s a lot of geometry. I thought it was going to be more like an art project, but Chas used a lot more math than I expected.”



CHAS WICKWIRE
“Vance was epic. For his age, he had great intuition. If he decided to pursue it, he’d succeed for sure. He looked really comfortable with the tools and allowed the planer to rest properly.”  “We’ve made a lot of great friends in this room and we’re really grateful for share this process with anyone who is interested to learn. I’d encourage anyone to come on out and give it try. “

Thanks to David Scales of US Blanks for coming out and doing the story.

US Blanks Interview and Video

Shape Box 

Where: 6455 Industry Way, Westminster, CA 92683. Just outside of Huntington Beach and the hub of the surf industry.

Since: 1993

Contact: www.FoamEZcom  (714) 896-8233

Using US Blanks Since: 2007

Me and the Foam E-Z Crew

Foam E-Z was founded by Brad Nadell with the focus of supplying local shapers with board building materials. Over 20 years Foam E-Z has evolved and now supplies home builders worldwide via their eCommerce website. They have played an important role in Southern California’s board building culture and proudly bear the moniker of “The Original One-Stop Surfboard Supply Shop”. We sat down with Brad to hear about Foam E-Z history.

US Blanks: How did you get started in the business?

Brad Nadell: I grew up in Seal Beach in the early 80’s. We surfed Southside a lot and then we’d all hang out at Harbour Surfboards, guys like Tim Stamps, Chas Wickwire, Marty Thomas, Chad Wells, Dave Sauers, Ryan Simmons, Mike Morgan, Chris Sardelis, just to name a few, I could go on. So growing up around Harbour Surfboards I got to see the process of building a board from blanks being delivered by Clark Foam to Rich shaping them to the boards being laminated. So I started sweeping up around the shop, just to be around the scene. Then eventually I started “air-spraying” boards, that’s kind of where I made my niche at Harbour. I painted boards for 8 years until I was in

my 20’s.

Southside Seal Beach 83'

US Blanks: How did you transition from Harbour to Foam E-Z?

Brad: My good friend Steve Adler, may he rest in peace, presented me with an idea to supply the local shapers with blanks. At the time he had The Surfboard Factory which was super popular. This area of Westminster was a real hotbed for shaping. Guys like Mark Pesce, Chas, A-39, Poi Dog, there was a lot of big up and coming shapers around here. As a matter of fact, they were all shaping out of The Surfboard Factory, so we started supplying them all with blanks. Steve’s business was growing and he was busy with his glass shop so I ended up buying him out of the business. Since then Foam E-Z has evolved quite a bit. It used to be just focused on supplying commercial shapers, but there has been an increasing trend of home builders and so we’ve focused a lot of our efforts of education and supplying them with all the materials they need.

US Blanks: Seems like a logical transition. There was a need in the market and you’ve been able to adapt and fill that need. How do you define Foam E-Z today?

Brad: Foam E-Z today has grown a lot. We’re a worldwide supplier of foam, cloth, tools, basically everything you need to build a board. Obviously the DIY (Do It Yourself) builder, the home builder, has grown. More people care about how there board is made or want to learn about construction so we’re really happy to provide education and help people along with the process. And we recently built a shape room that people can rent out, which is fully stocked with tools. We have very good instructors. It’s been fun to see all the people who are interested in board building. We have Father and Sons coming in to build boards together. We can make personalized lams. We get the board glassed for you. We provide ding repair, shipping, pretty much everything. We still supply the industry as well, but that’s not our sole focus any longer.

Customer Service

US Blanks: Why do you use US Blanks?

Brad: Well, I chose US Blanks right when they started. I had relationships established with the the key people, whom previously worked at Clark Foam so I kind of put all my trust in them and had faith that they would be able to translate the superior quality of Clark into their new brand. And so far they've really nailed it. Their efficiently is key. The quality is great. They stand behind their product. I've always asked for feedback from shapers and customers and I always get positive feedback. They just provide me everything I need to be successful selling surfboard blanks. And the fact that they are made here in the USA is a huge slam dunk for us. That’s important to us. And lastly, they just do what they say, which is really important. I trust them and if I’m on a deadline, they always come through.

US Blanks: Awesome. Anything else you’d like to include? How can people find you?

Brad: www.FoamEZ.com has all our important information, but we’ve enjoyed growing our Instagram lately. It’s given us a new way to communicate with customers around the world and give them insight into some of the fine details of what goes on here. They can follow us @foamez. Also, we’ll be celebrating our 20^th anniversary this year. We’re throwing a huge party with food and tons of free giveaways and pro surfers and shapers. It’ll be sometime in March so please follow us to get the exact date and time.

US Blanks: Excellent. We’ll be there! Thanks, Brad.

OHANA DAY 2011 In Seal Beach This Saturday!!!

Come on down to the Seal Beach Pier this Saturday for Ohana Day, i'ts gonna be a great time. We will be set up giving out goodies and have some blanks/free shape time in the Box to raffle off! Many local surf businesses will be down there donating stuff to the raffle.

The day is sponsored by the Huntington and Seal Beach Surfrider chapters – brings out beach-goers for a day of fun for the family (translated to ohana in Hawaiian). And with Earth Day celebrated this weekend, it’s a perfect way to educate the youth on keeping beaches clean and safe.

It’s always a good time, with plenty of fun and educational booths set up on the sand. Last year, there was a sting ray exhibit where kids could pet the rays – don’t worry, the stingers were pulled out!

There’s also a demonstration by lifeguards and free surf lessons for the kids on a first come, first serve basis by M & M surf school, as well as skate ramps set up in the parking lot.

And there’s plenty of be raffled off, with proceeds benefiting Surfrider Foundation!

Hope to see you there.

Travis Potter Talks About Malaria And Chasing The Perfect Wave

Travis Potter began his surfing life like a lot of other young, aspiring Orange County grommets. It starts with a glimmer of talent, soon followed by local sponsorship, obligatory NSSA contests, then it’s a career bound for the World Qualifying Series. At 13 Travis was on the North Shore for his first winter, a ritual he’d maintain for the next 10 years. But at 15, he discovered Indonesia for the first time and was addicted immediately. When he does return home to Seal Beach, it’s only to say hi to Mom and Dad, bang some nails, lay a little tile and save up just enough money to get back as soon as possible.

In April of 2008 Travis contracted a potentially deadly strain of cerebral malaria while traveling through the Southeast Asian island chain of Papua New Guinea. He has since recovered and talks about his experience in the following video.

Ole Surfboards - A True Legend!

The 80-year-old Lahaina resident was inducted into the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame December 2009 at Doheny State Beach.

''I'm pretty honored by the whole thing,'' Olson said. ''I've been doing it for a long time. I started shaping in 1956.''

Olson was a wood shop teacher at Ranchos Alamitos High School in Garden Grove, Calif., when he first got interested in building surfboards. While he was still teaching, Olson opened a surfboard shop.

''I would shape boards after school, sometimes at night, and on the weekends,'' Olson said. ''Everyone was talking about surfing back in the early 60's, it was new.''

''Back then you could sell them a two-by-four with a one-by for a fin,'' he added with a laugh.

Olson took a teaching leave of absence in 1971 to visit Maui and made the Valley Isle his permanent home. He still surfs his favorite spot, Mala Wharf.

Olson is the fifth surfboard builder from Hawaii to be inducted into the SBHF, joining the father of modern surfing, Duke Kahanamoku, and Oahu's Rabbit Kekai, Ben Aipa and Barry Kanaiaupuni.

Inductees are selected by current members of the SBHF. Olson was selected by Phil Edwards, a noted surfing pioneer and shaper for Hobie Surfboards.

''Ole is the oldest-living board builder that is still making boards. It's great these guys get recognized. When these guys are gone, they take a lot of surf history with them.''

Seal Beach - Big Waves, Friends, Crowds, and Chaos!

Yesterday Sunday February 28th 2010 was one of those days in Seal Beach history when everyone you know is out and about. The waves were the biggest of this winter, the weather was perfect and everyone was in a good mood! As usual when the waves get big and the tides are high all the local news vans show up and prepare for flooding etc... Sometimes it is a bit of a false alarm but yesterday didn't disappoint. The water flowed from NorthSide over to SouthSide and filled up the area between the berm and the houses, in some places it was up to four feet deep. Mitchy Dejarnet even got the opportunity to paddle from NorthSide down to his house at Twelfth street (check the pic in our slide show). On Saturday there was a Tsunami warning from the terrible earthquake in Chile. It obviously never arrived but the tidal surge along with the big surf, and high tide made for this flooding. These are days that remind me of my youth since they only happen about every five to ten years with the most exciting one being back in 1983. That was the year when the Pier came down along with Esther the oil Island. They say it's an El Nino Winter maybe it's true!?

The images for the slide show were given to us by Jim "J.B." Boswell. He takes some pretty amazing shots of the local surf, check out his site JB Photography.