Boardroom 2016 Icons of Foam: Gerry Lopez

         Throughout the course of surfing history certain surfers have become synonymous with certain aspects of the sport, be it with a certain kind of board, a style of surfing, or in the case of Gerry Lopez, a location. Lopez rose to international notoriety in the seventies for his cool and elegant surfing in waves of serious consequence, most notably at the reefs of Hawaii’s famed Pipeline. The calm focus that Lopez was able to achieve in situations that would keep many surfers on the beach was due in part to the confidence that comes from knowing you’re riding the right equipment for the waves at hand, in this case, equipment that he himself had helped design. Gerry and his iconic Lightning Bolt Surfboards played a huge role in the shortboard revolution that was happening in that era and helped to establish a radical new style of surfing and its accompanying aesthetic. Over the next few decades he helped lay the groundwork for what we consider modern high performance surfing while influencing several generations of surfers and shapers.                              It comes as no surprise that Lopez will be joining the ranks of such influential shapers as Rusty Preisendorfer, Dick Brewer, and Ben Aipa among others to be honored in this years Icons of Foam shape-off for his contributions to the surfing world. Six shapers (Ryan Burch, Ryan Lovelace, Roger Hinds, Pat Rawson, Ron House, and Ward Coffey) have been chosen by Lopez himself to attempt to recreate one of his classic Lightning Bolt boards, so we sat down to talk with the Mr. Pipeline himself about The Boardroom show, surfboard design, and his insights on the past, present, and future of surfing that could only come from a lifetime spent in the water and in the shaping room.

- Joey Estrada

 FOAM E-Z: When did you first find out you were going to be honored for this years Boardroom Show, what was your reaction to that?

            Gerry Lopez: I was down here in January working with Robby Naish at the HanoHano Race, the first event of the stand-up paddleboard season. Rob Machado and I were surfing in front of his house at Cardiff Reef and ran into Scott [Bass, creator of the Boardroom Show] in the parking lot, and he asked me if I could come to the show this year. I came one year when he had it up in Ventura and I came I think the year before that when they had it in Del Mar, just briefly, and so I said ‘well I don’t know…’ And he said he wanted to do the Icons of Foam thing, and I said ‘I don’t know, I don’t know…’ And he just kept pressing me, so it was kind of hard to say no to him so finally I said o.k. [laughs].

FOAM E-Z: Sounds pretty informal.

            Gerry Lopez: Yeah kinda like most surfer things, so… here we are [laughs].

 FOAM E-Z: How did you go about choosing the six shapers for the shape off to replicate one of your classic boards?

 

            Gerry Lopez: Well that was really easy, I just thought about all these guys that I’ve shaped with and some of the young guys I’ve seen and when he [Scott Bass] said ‘Who do you want?,’ I just reeled the names off. The only guy who we couldn’t get a hold of was Tom Eberly so I said ‘Well what about Rawson? See if he wants to do it.’ And Pat said he would.

 F-EZ: No doubt they all jumped on the opportunity. It seems like your choices cover several generations of shapers, was this the intent?
 

            Gerry Lopez: Yeah I feel like we’ve really covered a lot of ground here. Ron House and I used to build boards together, you know back in the late sixties and all through the seventies. And Ward, he was younger, but he was always that shaper who I really admired his work and his surfing. And Roger, I’ve known him forever, and he was the returning winner*. With the Two Ryan’s I’ve always really liked the work they do and the stuff that happens on those boards that they make. So that’s what I suggested to Scott and he said that sounded good to him so I said ‘Okay then.’

 F-EZ: How often do you find yourself shaping boards these days?

            Gerry Lopez: Oh, well I mean as much as possible. You know, the shop is about ten minutes from my house, and my son is very interested in shaping so, yeah I spend a lot of time down there. I don’t produce a great deal, but I’m in there a lot.

F-EZ: You spend a majority of your time living in Oregon now, what is your shaping set up like there? Is it pretty similar to what you would have somewhere else, say in Hawaii or California for instance, or is it something much different?

            Gerry Lopez: No, I mean yeah my shop's in Bend, but you know, I’ve set up a lot of surfboard factories in my time and they’re pretty easy to do so it's pretty much like all the rest.

F-EZ: You’ve got it down to a science now eh?

            Gerry Lopez: [Laughs] Yeah I guess... it’s a nice little set-up though.

F-EZ: Has the change of climate affected your processes much? 

            Gerry Lopez: The resin actually works really good up there, the air’s really dry. I mean it’s cold so you have to heat it, but in some ways it’s easier to work with the resin and the foam there than it was in Hawaii.

F-EZ: Has your knowledge from shaping surfboards affected how you approach shaping stand-up paddle boards, or has what you’ve learned from shaping SUP’s affected the way you approach shaping surfboards at all?

            Gerry Lopez: No, I mean the stand-up boards are just big surfboards. That’s all a standup board is.

F-EZ: It seems like the level of interest in events like The Boardroom show and surfboard shaping /design in general continues to grow every year. Would you say that the shaping community is more open and willing to share some of it’s secrets and processes to the average surfer who is just curious or looking to learn shape their own boards now than was in previous decades?

            Gerry Lopez: Well in a nutshell, first of all there aren’t any secrets [laughs]. Everything that’s being done now had been done before. Definitely Bob Simmons has done most of it before anyone, shape and construction-wise. Secondly it's really not that hard to build a surfboard. If I can do it anyone can do it, and you know once someone does build their own board, whether they just shape a board or go through the whole process and glass it as well, they figure that out in a hurry. Then they also experience the satisfaction and everything else that comes with taking that board that they made out in the water and riding it and seeing that it actually surfs pretty damn good. From that point forward it’s just they want to do it again and do it better. And I don’t think that that’s changed, going back to the ancient Hawaiians, even though maybe it was a little more...eh, it wasn’t as easy to do back then.

            But I think the steps are the same, as far as going surfing, liking it, wanting to get better at it, and getting to a level where you’re pretty good at it, but not being able to go beyond a level that the shape of your surfboard kept you at. So you either get a better board or build yourself a better board and in that way you advance your surfing skills. And so if you build a board yourself at least you’re understanding the design of the board. Like I said, I don’t think that has changed since the very beginning of surfing.

F-EZ: Would you say that having knowledge of surfboard design and the shaping/glassing process has the ability to improve a person’s actual surfing ability? If so, in what ways?

            Gerry Lopez: I think so. I think when you understand things better you get a clearer picture of how it’s supposed to work.

F-EZ: Briefly, what do you think are the some of the most progressive as well as most detrimental trends in surfboard design happening right now?

            Gerry Lopez: Well I think it all helps in one way or another, just that some things help more than others. I think that there is really a lot of people interested in what was done in the past more now than ever before. At one point everybody was looking ahead and didn’t maybe grasp the concept that it’s all been done before, but maybe in the wrong combination of design features and factors. So putting them together in a different way might have a different outcome, and you really see almost as much experimentation in shape now as you saw when the boards first went short in the late sixties. The understanding that comes by seeing guys like Ryan Burch or Craig Anderson, or these guys that are riding these boards that are really not considered mainstream-type designs and are riding the hell out of them in like heavy-duty kinds of waves, or any kinds of waves, really making them work like you wish you could surf. Like Rob [Machado], he’s been riding boards here that are way off the grid for a long time and really riding them well. And you look at the board and you go ‘wow, I didn’t think you could do that on that board.’ I think that and I’ve been surfing boards for, shit, almost sixty years. And I thought I knew some stuff about it, and the more time goes on I realize more and more that I hardly know anything.

F-EZ: Especially now with the internet as a factor, it’s not even just about what you’ve personally experimented with, there’s also everything you can see or read about that other people all over the world are experimenting with, which you can take and apply to your own shapes and designs.
 

            Gerry Lopez: And that’s being done especially now because there’re way more surfers, on a greater scale than it was when the first short-boards started coming out and no one knew what they were supposed to look like, but everyone knew what they were supposed to work like. They were just supposed to work better than the boards we had before [laughs].

F-EZ: You’ve said that one should not try to ride the smallest board they possibly can ride, rather they should aim to ride the biggest board they can that will allow them to do what they want to do, why is this an important rule to keep in mind?

            Gerry Lopez: Well I saw a trend back in the eighties, where everybody was trying to ride a board like Kelly was riding, and I tried it too. Potato chip boards are really narrow with a lot of rocker, and I couldn’t catch any waves on it. And I realized right then that I was kidding myself- that I wasn’t as quick or lively, or as good as Kelly or Rob were. I needed more surfboard and I think that I’m more of what most surfers are like, I'm an average surfer, and someone like Rob or Kelly or any of the top guys are the cream floating on the top. Generally speaking, what they ride is probably way more advanced than what most people could ever figure out how to ride. So I think it’s better for the mainstream to pull back a little and just catch the wave before you figure out how you’re going to ride it because you can’t ride it until you catch it. A bigger surfboard is going to allow that to happen way easier than one that’s way too small.

            And you see that, I mean surfing is a sport of tremendous and continual frustrations, I think even for the really top guys, in lesser degrees of course. But if that’s all it ends up being for guys of medium ability then how long is it gonna be before they just go ‘screw-it, I’m not having any success, I’m gonna just go play tennis or baseball or something.’? So yeah, with a little bit more foam you can catch more waves and maybe learn a little bit more about riding because then instead of missing all the waves, you’re actually getting some.

F-EZ: It seems like you and Grubby Clark are pretty close, did you ever help him design/test any of the blanks back in the Clark Foam days?

            Gerry Lopez: Oh yeah I'm pretty sure I used, at one time or another, all of them.

F-EZ: Were there any that you had a particular attachment to, maybe that you put more time, effort, or attention into refining?

            Gerry Lopez: Well I had a blank in 1980 that was one of the biggest selling blanks that Clark Foam had just because that particular blank was a size (I think it was 6’9, I can’t quite remember anymore) that was the size board that everybody used. I mean you could get a lot of different sized boards out of that blank. So it wasn’t really super specialized, but it was close enough to shape and you could build a pretty strong surfboard out of it. When I built it for Clark I just made a blank that they didn't have, and one that I could use to shape the majority of the boards that I was riding at that time. 

            But all the way through Clark Foam Grubby and I were very close, we experimented with a lot of different stuff, you know. The tow-in high density blanks are another thing that comes to mind. I told him we needed to make the boards heavier and stronger, and trying to do it with stringers or fiberglass wasn’t the way to do it because the weight distribution kinda went askew. So I asked him, can you do it with the foam, so he made up some tow-in foam that he said were just about solid resin. But the foam was capable, it was actually really easy to shape, like all Clark Foam Blanks were, and it was really hard too. But still managed to have enough flex to have that factor into the design as well.

F-EZ: Where did you turn to for blanks after Clark Foam closed its doors in 2005? What sort of blanks and materials do you like to work with now?
 

            Gerry Lopez: Well U.S. Blanks, ‘cus that’s where everyone from Clark went [laughs]. Yeah I still use P.U. [polyurethane] foam and polyester resin. We do epoxy just because the paddle boards, SUP or prone, with polyurethane foam would just be too heavy, so pretty much you have to do them with polystyrene [EPS foam]. But yeah, I have a close relationship with U.S. Blanks, I think their service has just carried on what Clark Foam had become at the end, and maybe even better now. You can pretty much order what you want and get it pretty quick, the service at US Blanks is really outstanding. 

F-EZ: Do you work with a CNC machine and shape design programs ever or do you stick strictly to hand shaping?

            Gerry Lopez: Eh a little bit but not very much. Most of my shaping is from scratch. You know, I’m old school. I can probably, if you include the indexing of the blank, beat any shaping    machine around with my planer [laughs]. And for me that’s the best part of the shaping, the planer work. 

           

F-EZ: What sort of direction would you like to see surfing and surfboard design head next?

            Gerry Lopez: Well what I want doesn’t have anything to do with what’s going to happen. I just enjoy watching what is happening, because like I said, I think right now more is happening at the present than has almost ever happened in any other time in my short history of surfing. You can build a surfboard for any kind of wave and any level of surfer and make it so they can have fun on it. I think that now more than ever guys that are building surfboards understand that more clearly. That’s why you see such a wide variety of boards, and also so many surfers.

F-EZ: Will shaping always be in the picture for you or do you intend to retire from it at some point?

            Gerry Lopez: Well why would I do that? [Laughs] I mean as long as I continue to surf I’m always going to want to make my surfboards and all the boards for all my friends and everyone else.

Be sure to check our Gerry's website and Instagram to see what keep up on his work!

*Roger Hinds won the 2015 Icons of Foam shape-off honoring the work of Rusty Preisendorfer.

Re-(F)inventing The Wheel

Fifteen years ago almost every proud surfer in the line-up insisted on riding glass on fins and had 34 reasons to tell you exactly why they were better than fin systems.  Even as recent as ten years ago many people were still dubious of removable fins- in the 2008 movie One Track Mind, nearly every surfer interviewed on the subject from Mick to Dane to a young Kolohe insisted they only ride glass-ons (everyone except the ever experimental Kelly of course). Fast forward to 2016 however and it’s not only unlikely that you’ll find very many surfers at the top of the game riding boards with permanently affixed fins, its doubtful that’ll you find very many in your local lineup anymore either. And this is not just some big coincidence either. The reality of the matter is that these days the utility and value of being able to remove and exchange fins depending on the situation far outweighs whatever slight advantages glass-on fins may still retain over removable fin systems. In order to make use of this advantage though, it is first necessary to be able to tell the difference from one fin to the next how they may ride differently. When it comes to choosing a set of surfboard fins there are three main elements to consider apart from what sort of board the fins will go on (i.e. groveler, step-up, standard short board, etc.) or the conditions in which the fins will be ridden, which are as follows:  

 1.      The first and most generally most noticeable feature in a fin is the materials it is constructed with. Essentially some materials are more flexible than others and therefore will be more malleable when subjected to the pressures exerted on it while you are riding a wave. In general, powerful /hollow waves will require a stiffer fin that will resist energy already generated by the wave to help control speed and maintain a steady line, while a surfer on a wave which is more mushy and flat will benefit from a fin that has much greater flex pattern that will provide a springy and lively feel when pumping to help generate the speed needed to propel them through weaker sections. Stiffer fins tend to be ones that are made up of mostly fiberglass materials, while more flexible fins generally rely on a combination of honeycomb and carbon fiber lay-ups, though any of these materials can be combined to produce any sort of feel that exists between these two extremes.

    2.     The second aspect of fin design is the amount of rake in the fin, or how upright or curved back the fin is. Rake is a fairly simple concept to understand as the more upright a fin is the more pivot you will get out of your turn in addition to having a tighter turning radius. Conversely the more raked back a fin is, the more drive and stability you will achieve from the fin, creating a more carvey performance.

    3.     The last major feature to consider when selecting fins is the foil of the fin, or the distribution of the fins mass that is designed to affect the way water flows through the fin and how it propels the board forward. Fins with a flatter foil have a more stable and controlled feel to them, while fins with a more concaved foil will feel more springy and speed generating.

 If you’re interested in researching more about fin design a great place to start is here, where Futures have broken down all of these aspects in a detailed yet easy to understand system they have created called Ride Number.

            It should go without saying that just because removable fin systems have their own unique set of benefits that come with being able to refine your setup with a few turns of a fin key that glass on fins don’t still retain their own set of virtues. In fact in an attempt to close the performance gap between removable and glass-on fins, some companies have began testing fin systems that seek to emulate the construction and feel of glass-on fins such as with FCS and their Origin series of fins which blend the base of the fin smoothly into the box and board to create a smoother transition area from board to fin. As is always the case, there is never a right or wrong answer when it comes to dialing in your boards and equipment, all it takes is a little research, experimentation and open-mindedness to find what works best for you!

Ohana Day In Seal Beach Saturday April 16th

There are few sports that connect its athletes directly with nature in the way surfing connects us with the ocean- as a result we as surfers have a greater responsibility to preserve the quality and well being of the beaches that have come to define the lifestyles we live and love.  That’s why this Saturday the 16th we will be down at the Seal Beach Pier to support the Surfrider Foundation in their 9^th annual Ohana Family Day in a day an effort to spread a little environmental awareness while enjoying a day of fun and music down on the sand. The Huntington Beach/Seal Beach chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and Foam E-Z have a long history of involvement and mutual support, “since day one” as shop owner Brad Nadell puts it. Brad is a through and through Seal Beach native having grown up surfing the pier as a young grom, eventually working as an air-sprayer at Harbour Surfboards and then opening up Foam E-Z to serve the local shaping community. As a result of our shops history in the area, we were of course eager to jump on a chance to give back to the community that has allowed our shop to thrive and grow, as well as helping to spread awareness of environmental responsibility and education for the place we all consider to be a second home. In addition to the free surf lessons, beach clean up, and music stage Surfrider will be offering, we will have our own booth featuring some of our range of environmentally friendly products and knowledgeable staff, as well as some free swag and raffles you won’t want to miss out on. Be sure to stop by from 9-1 on Saturday, you’ll find us under the blue Foam E-Z tent!

Happy New Year From The Foam E-Z Family!

2015 has quickly come to a close and with it we are winding down on some of the busiest days we’ve seen here in the shop all year long. This past holiday season has been especially an especially busy one for the team here, which came as a little surprise considering we have been hard at work all year to bring together a whole range of new products and services to our customers. As a result of our busy season officially coming to a head it was necessary for the team to get together and celebrate everything that we’ve been able to accomplish this past year at our annual company Holiday Party a few weeks back at 320 Main in Seal Beach. There was indeed much to celebrate this year too, and as a result a long dinner easily turned into a late night of fun and festivity for the Foam E-Z family.

            Yes, there have been many changes this past year for Foam E-Z, perhaps most notably in the new faces joining the team here in the shop. After saying goodbye to former shop manager Jackson earlier this year, we were excited to welcome new manager Rob Lewis, a former customer and avid shaper, to step in and fill those shoes. Under Rob’s direction, we have been able to expand our line of products and services offered both online and in-store to keep up with latest technology and demand as it becomes available including (but not limited to) a full assortment of colored FCS II fin boxes, Futures new Generation and BlackStix fin series’, and variety of SUP Think Tank goods for those of you out there who prefer to remain more upright out in the water.

            We have also had the pleasure taking part in and sponsoring a whole host of local events which have allowed us to give back to and support the communities that have allowed the shop to thrive for the past twenty-two years.  The event that perhaps had the most impressive turnout was at the Huntington Surf and Sport Surf Demo Day where we had a tent just steps away from some fun surf at the Huntington Beach Pier while we were able to meet and connect with a whole handful of future board builders.

If our recent holiday party serves to be a sign of anything, it was surely a sign of the pure stoke and excitement our team at the shop here has heading into 2016. We have been all been working really hard here to bring a whole slew of new projects and ideas for the shop to life that you should keep an eye out for in the coming months. Among other things you can expect to see an expanded line of products available online and in store, more days available for shape lessons, and the launch of a new monthly blog!

Here's to a happy, healthy, prosperous, and adventurous 2016.  If you haven't already, be sure to Build Your Own Board (BYOB) as your 2016 New Years Resolution.

Thanks for all the support in 2015, see you next year!

The Guys at Foam E-Z

             

Rockers; A Detailed Explanation!

Everyone knows how important rocker is to the performance of a surfboard. US Blanks offers custom rockers at no charge, including private rocker templates.

While our master plugs were designed with a Natural Rocker that fits a variety of designs, we know that individual style and design will require adjustments.

We use the deck line to adjust rocker, and all adjustments are referenced to the Natural Rocker. If desired, we can adjust rocker to the bottom. Adjustments can be made from almost any point on a blank and from one blank size to another. Unless instructed, all rocker adjustments will be made from the center of the blank. If the adjustment is made from a point other than center, the adjustment point will be part of the description. Rockers transferred from one blank size to another will require a match point. Radical rocker adjustments may result in bumps or dips created in the deck line.

Selecting the exact right rocker profile will ensure that you have the perfect contour for your specific board design. Rocker helps determine board speed and turning radius.

Flatter Rocker = More Speed

More Rocker = Tighter Turning

NATURAL ROCKER


All blanks are designed with a Natural Rocker optimized for the widest range of potential design needs. Natural Rockers are written in number of inches that the tip of the nose and tip of the tail rise from the bottom plane of the blank.

The Rocker Formula:

Natural Rocker = Inches Rise in the Nose, Inches Rise in the Tail

(from the Bottom Plane)

Natural Rocker 5 -1/2″N, 2-1/16″T

The Nose is always written first. It begins with the number of inches the tip rises from the bottom plane of the blank and is followed by the letter “N”. A comma separates the Nose rocker from the Tail rocker. Likewise, the Tail rocker is written in number of inches the tip rises from the bottom plane of the blank and is followed by the letter “T”.

ROCKER ADJUSTMENTS


All Custom Rockers are written as adjustments from the Natural Rocker. Adjustments are made from the center of the deck unless otherwise specified.

Rocker Adjusted from Deck Center (the default adjustment)

+1/2”N +1/8”T

This indicates that the tip of the Nose is adjusted +1/2” and the Tail is adjusted +1/8” from the Natural Rocker and the adjustments were made from the center of the deck.

Rocker Adjusted from Location Other Than Deck Center

Adjustments made from a location other than Deck Centered (DC) are indicated by  the number, in inches, that follows the “N” or “T” in the rocker formula.

+1/2”N18” +1/8”T12”

This indicates that the tip of the Nose is adjusted +1/2” from the Natural Rocker, but only within the last 18” of the Nose. And the tail is adjusted +1/8” from the Natural Rocker but only in the last 12” of the Tail.

Rocker Adjusted from Multiple Locations

Rockers can also be adjusted from multiple locations within the Nose or Tail to add subtle rocker to a given area and then increased rocker to another area, (i.e., a “Flipped Tip” effect). This is indicated by simply adding values to the existing rocker formula.

+1/2”N18” +1/2”N12” +1/8”T12”


This indicates that the tip of the Nose is adjusted +1/2” from the Natural Rocker in the last 18” of the Nose and then an additional 1/2” in the last 12” of the Nose. And the tail is adjusted +1/8” from the Natural Rocker but only in the last 12” of the Tail.

AVAILABLE ROCKERS

A drop down menu of all available rockers accompany every blank page listed here  (and in the US Blanks catalog). If you can’t find what you need, we will gladly make you a custom rocker.  We can get your custom
rockered blanks within one week of ordering.  Let us know if we can help!

Thanks to US Blanks for this informative explanation of how rockers are determined.

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.

The Art of the Perfect Stringer Curl

Is there anything more gratifying?  When thumbing through Instagram, if you happen upon a perfect stringer curl, it’s a guaranteed double-tap.  It’s a bravo to the shaper who kept his blades sharp, maintained a steady hand, and lucked into some straight grain.

We asked a few stringer curl connoisseurs what’s required to achieve Rapunzel-status.

Firstly, a word from the kingpin of color-dyed plywood:

Bradley Appelcore:  Super straight grain (vertical grain) material, whether from Bass, Cedar, or Redwood performs best.  The straighter the grain without interference from diverging branch grain are guaranteed perfect curlers!  It can be from fast growth (wide grain) or old growth (tight grain) as long as it is arrow-straight. It’s easy to notice on Cedar and Redwood, but much more difficult to spot on the Bass.

Sharp tools are key, low angle, and a steady, even push, keeping your palm out of the way from inhibiting the emerging curl.  There isn’t much you can do if the stringer is from solid wood and has divergent grain (grain rising away from the blank or grain diving into the blank) even with the sharpest of tools.

Essential Tools

Tim Stamps:  The best tool to get the curl is the block plane.  This curl came from the blade from my Lie-Nielson standard angle block plane.  This block plane was a gift to me several years ago from Rich Harbour.  He’s a tool fanatic!

Josh Martin: My vintage Stanley model 60 1/2 block plane is the best tool to get the perfect curl.  I hand grind the iron razor sharp.  Also, my Xacto mini spoke shave is the best for mini curls.

Nick Aleandro:  Each wood will work a bit differently so it of best to have a variety of planes or spoke shaves to choose from with various bevel angles.  I prefer narrow curved Japanese plane since I can use the same tool on the deck and base no matter the rocker.

Massimiliano Purchiaroni:  The tools are very important.  I used a normal David Combi plane, a spoke shave, and a Japanese curved plane.

The Best Wood for the Perfect Curl

Josh Martin:  Premium light Balsa is my favorite wood to get the perfect stringer curl, but it needs to be the good stuff.  The heavier it is, it tends to get stringy and produces the worst curls.  The good stuff produces the most golden and perfectly relaxed curls.  The best part for me is the sound produced when making them.  A light clean hissing sound that almost sings like a rubbed crystal wine glass rim.

Wade Tokoro: Basswood with the David block plane is the best combination.

Breno Basiliro:  Powerline Strignerz is a composite so it is even throughout the length of the board.  You will not run into grains, as with wood, which can break the flow.

Tim Stamps:  From my experience, the type of wood that most often gives the best ‘spiral curls’ is Basswood.  My guess is it’s the combination of the woods density, cell structure, and grain pattern.

Massimiliano Purchiaroni:  Red Cedar is my favorite for a perfect curl.

Todd Messick: Balsa is like Butter compared to the rest. Easy Breezy!

Technique

Wade Tokoro:  One long pass with a sharp blade.

Todd Messick:  The curl comes into play based on function.  I angle my planner to create a roll or curl,  as i cut across the blade.  This technique allows the cut stringer to curl off the side instead of rolling over on top of your pass.  Form follows function.

Nick Aleandro:  Sharp tools are the only option.  At a minimum you should be able to shave with the edge.  When sharpening I go to at least 8000 grit and use a Veritas honing guide to make sure I get consistent results.  What ever your method, a sharp tool and slow cut work best.  It is always better to do a few passes rather than to try to cut one deep one.  If you are digging in often in one section, try approaching from the opposite side or skewing your edge.  Wood sometimes just likes to be difficult, so don’t get frustrated.

Breno Basiliro:  The curl is a reflection of how continuously you’re able to run your hands and make micro adjustments, feeling the board and stringer as you move.  Again, sharp tools are still the most important factor.

Josh Martin:  I customize my plane irons so that they have a slight radius from corner to corner.  This is done so the corners don’t score the foam as much on each side of a stringer but may affect curl quality as well.  Sharpness cannot be over emphasized.  Holding the plane at a slight angle to the grain direction seems to produce the best curls.  Don’t be in a bad mood when making curls.

Tim Stamps:   To get that perfect curl takes three main things: a very sharp blade, a deep cut, and the proper skew angle. I’ve shaped quite a few boards, and these spirals and curls are always things that brighten my day and get me stoked. Just like seeing a perfect wave peel down the beach!

Bradley Appelcore:  I actually carry a tiny cheap Stanley planer with a medium angle that’s 1-3/8″ wide by 3-1/2″ long with a sharp blade loaded slightly on the bias and it works killer.  I have to check the glue line on all production panels so it sees some serious mileage.  However, when I want the kind curl for showing off my fancy stuff on Instagram, I use my grandfathers two handed plane from the 50’s where I can control bias and angle with precision controls.  But that one stays on my workbench.

by David Lee Scales for US Blanks 

One Of A Kind Blank, Two Years In The Making!!!

DEAN EDWARDS

Years Shaping: 48
Board: 5’11” x 20”
Blank: One-of-a-Kind blank made of over 1,000 different offcuts from 47 different colored blanks.  It took 10 years to collect all the foam off-cuts and the process of gluing took over 2 years.

Words by Rick Berman
“For years shapers have been trying to figure out a useful way of disposing the off-cuts of foam left over from shaping a surfboard.  Several years ago, Dean Edwards of Big Rock Color Works, a master shaper/board builder on the island of Hawaii had a vision and began saving the ‘bones’ from the boards he was shaping.  Dean has more than 48 years of experience shaping boards, beginning in the late ‘60’s with Wilken and Natural Progression and through the last 25 years on the Big Island of Hawaii.”

“When he thought he had enough material to proceed, he glued the pieces together and started to shape the BONEFISH.  The advent of colored foam in the last 6 years or so made this approach much more interesting.  Together with the glue lines, a one-of-a-kind blank is produced.  This particular board consists of the ‘bones’ of over 47 different blanks.”

 

Words by Dean Edwards

“I’m pretty isolated here on the Big Island, but I know that other people are building interesting boards.  I had seen the “Sunrise Surfboard” that Jim Phillips made in 2009, which helped me clarify my vision.  Jim’s work is incredible and I just wanted to build something that might encourage or hopefully inspire others to build interesting boards from re-purposed materials.”

“Nearly the entire board is made from waste.  Obviously, the foam is all off-cuts, which normally end up in the dumpster.  The fins were made out of plywood and fiberglass scrap.  The sandpaper was all previously used.  The scraps were collected over the course of 10 years.  There are over 1000 cuts; 90 foam pieces in the checkerboard section alone.  It took over 2 years to glue-up the blank.  There was no template, no rocker. It was all free-hand shaped.  The only new material in the construction process was the resin.”

“One thing that I’d like to reiterate, is that there are so many ways to reduce the waste we create in our industry.  The Bonefish is an example of something that would have ended up in a landfill.  With a little consideration, we can help reduce our waste output.  That is my challenge to other surfboard shapers.”

Young Costa Rican Girl Rips and Shapes Her Own Board!

Shaper: Surya Folger
Age: 10 years old
Years Shaping: 1/2
Number of Boards Built: 1
Location: Playa Negra, Costa Rica


Forest Folger (Surya’s Dad)
Surya’s been surfing since she could walk.  She competed in her first contest at the age of 6.  Previously, she was riding a 4’8” Rusty Kerrosover, but I wanted to get her on something a little different.  I really liked the outline and flat rocker of this Craig Anderson model Hayden Shapes that I was riding, so I tried to replicate that board in a much smaller version.  This board is a 4’6″.  It’s a very user-friendly design, for both the shaper and the surfer.






So much of our life in Costa Rica revolves around the ocean.  There is nothing better than water time with your kids.  This experience of shaping a board with Surya and then using it in the ocean just adds another dimension to the experience.  It’s really inspiring to see her begin to understand how shaping a rail determines the lines that she can draw on a wave.  It’s a really cool learning experience for us to share.  Plus, she did a great job with the board.  She’s made every contest final since she began riding it!

Surya Folger
I prefer to shape my own board, rather than buy one.  I really enjoyed making it.  It’s fun to try something new and then ride it in the ocean.  The board is so fun because it’s easy to turn.  It’s very loose.  My favorite spot to surf it is called Piko Pequeño.  The paddle is easy and when you get a wipeout it’s smooth.  The board works really good there.
            

I was going to leave the board white, but then I saw a Yin-Yang in a magazine and I decided to paint it on my board.  With that design, it looked like it needed color so then I added the pink, yellow, and green.  My dad helped me paint it.  That’s my favorite thing about surfing too, it allows you to express yourself in your own unique way.  It’s really fun!