Quick Recap From Sacred Craft Santa Cruz!

Sacred Craft in Santa Cruz was a blast! If you’ve ever been to that town then you already know how cool it is and that coolness spilled over into the show. What the show lacked in international surf brands it made up for in local talent. It was a really great venue right smack dab in the middle of down town Santa Cruz and that energy carried through both days. If time permitted we could have had an encore and added a third day to the party. Cristina and I had a great time doing interviews, demos, and taking pictures. It was awesome meeting new people and seeing our NorCal customers faces. Ward Coffey won the Mike Marshall award for the closest representation to a Doug Haut Bump Model (from the 60's). You can check out some of the happenings from the show on our Facebook page. Look for my goofy little video promoting a great discount code we have going through the end of March.

We’ll see you at the next Sacred Craft in San Diego, where they’ll be honoring Carl Ekstrom for his super rad hats...or innovative surfboards, not sure which ones are wackier? Look for a full re-cap in our upcoming newsletter.

Reporting Live From Sacred Craft This Weekend!

This weekend, March 19^th-20^th, Sacred Craft will be taking over Santa Cruz and honoring shaper Doug Haut. Grant and Cristina will be at the show to bring you interviews, pics, and video throughout the days, so you don’t have to feel bad for missing the show! "Like us"on Facebook so you can follow us around the show throughout the two days. If you have any requests for content then send them to us on Facebook and we’ll try to oblige. If you’re going to be at the show then look for us and say “hi”. We’ll have some freebies that we want to get rid of so we don’t have to lug them around both days. See you there…or in CYBERSPACE!!!

Adler Paddler - A Great Way To Celebrate A Great Man!

So it's been just over a year since our buddy Steve Adler passed away and it's time for a memorial event. It's aptly named the "Adler Paddler" and it's happening this Sunday March 20th. Steve loved the sport of stand up paddling and this will be a free event open for both experienced and novice paddlers, in hopes to get people out together enjoying this great sport.

The other main purpose of this event will be to raise funds for Clark Adler's (Steve's son) college fund through sales of event T-Shirts and an amazing raffle. We will also use this event as a platform to raise awareness and educate people about Ascending Aortic Aneurysms. Also Amy Yasbeck of the John Ritter Foundation will be at the event! She is going to do a book signing with all proceeds to go towards the John Ritter Foundation & the John Ritter Research Foundation. The Thoracic Aortic Disease Coalition will be providing some educational information for the event.

So come on out for a fun or serious race around Naples island. Just under 3 miles. Bring down your paddle board, prone, or stand up, or borrow one from a friend. If you don’t have a board we will have a limited amount of boards and paddles to rent on site for a donation to the cause.

When: March 20th 2011 / 9am for a 10am start

Where: Leeway Beach/Belmont Shores/ Long Beach/ Ca

What: Fun/Stroll for a good cause or Race/ for a good cause/ Just under 3 miles around Naples island

For more info check the Facebook page or www.paddlewithpurpose.com .

See you there!

Waterman's Guild, A True Old School Glass Shop!

Ever thought about it? When you place your order, what happens next? Where exactly does that order form go? Who are the guys behind the scene that make it happen? This is the place, these are the guys. Waterman's Guild is located in Santa Ana, Ca and has been glassing boards since 1983. Specializing in color lamination, Waterman's has a reputation among professional surfers and shapers as the premier glass shop in California. Shapers like Almond Surfboards, Matt Barker, Fineline, Gato Heroi, Randy Gibbs, The Greek, Gtec, Harbour, Hobie, Hurley, Bruce Jones, Matt Moore, Jed & Greg Noll, Jerry O'Keefe, Sonny Vardeman, and Dewey Weber have been coming to the Waterman's Guild for years to have their shapes waterproofed.



For over twenty-five years they have done all phases of production for the biggest names in the industry. Because of this expertise they are also called upon by collectors to do restoration of classics and flawless ding repair. All work is done in house by Greg Martz (owner) and his long time crew.

Thanks to Brock Jones for the cool video!

The Real Entropy Interview With Rey!

We at Foam E-Z want to spread the good word about Entropy. They're producing high-quality Bio-Resins and Epoxy at competitive prices along with a great carbon footprint savings.

We spent an afternoon at their warehouse and laboratory and here is what we learned.

Also, check out this skit "Bio-Resin: Not for Eating"

Citrus Shapes - Cool article off Korduroy.TV

Citrus Shapes

Daniel and Curtis are two childhood buddies who grew up surfing San-O, Church, and Lowers together. At 23 years old, fresh out of college, and into the “real world,” the two got inspired and decided to make their own shaping room…and they got all their materials for FREE! Here’s there story:

First off, what was the inspiration behind the “free” shaping room?

We were inspired by our buddy who is a shaper in Morocco. He taught himself how to shape by watching a video and now he makes boards for professional Moroccan surfers. He started running his business with a low budget and he had to get creative due to lack of resources. This showed us that quality/creative boards can be produced if the effort is willing to be put forth, even on a low budget.
Where did you manage to get all of the materials for free? Who donated the land space?

The supplies for the shaping tent were an accumulation of generous people and getting creative with our resources. It started with needing a roof over our heads. We didn’t know where to even begin, but realized that we needed something because it was November and if anything was going to happen in the middle of winter it had to be done in some sort of shelter. Daniel’s dad, Randy, had generously offered us an old outfitter’s tent that he and Daniel used to take camping every year. It is 20 x 16 feet, so we figured that would be plenty of space. Then we needed a place to set up shop, so Curtis’ dad, Rick, generously offered us a place to build our tent… not sure how pumped his mom is on the huge eyesore in her backyard now. Then the floor was built off of old pallets donated from Daniel’s old plumbing boss and the lights from his pops. Lastly, a majority of our tools were given to us by a family friend, Stan, who has shaped in the past. Stan also gave us tons of advice in getting started, he is a man to be listened to because of his expertise in building sail boats. So everything needed for the shop was free… HUGE!

Seems like a pretty cozy situation with a fireplace and all. Where did you get the idea for adding in a fireplace? Any other unique features of your setup?

Yeah we needed to keep it cozy and we figured that it would help us stay warm in the middle of winter. It keeps things a little interesting due to the fact that we are working with flammable chemicals with a blazing fire, all inside a small tent. But it’s all good!

How long did it take you to put everything together?

We were able to build the whole thing in a couple of days thanks to Curtis’ dad. He saved us hours of backbreaking work by leveling the dirt out with his tractor. Then the tent took us about 30 min to set up, the floor took a day, the racks a couple of hours, and presto, the Shred Shed was born!

How many boards have you made so far? What kind of boards?

We have each made one so far and have started another. The first boards were both 5’8” single-fins. We decided to do massive diamond tails. Curtis did a slight v-bottom and Daniel wanted to keep it as flat as possible to see how much speed he could get. We are just wanting to build the boards that we imagine in our heads. We are excited about experimenting with unique shapes and having fun riding them.

Where would you suggest one to look when wanting to learn how to shape, build their own shaping room, etc.?

Just be honest with people about how little you actually know and ask questions. What helped us out was talking with guys that had experience. People were pumped on our ideas and our desire to make different types of shapes, so they would give us as much advice as we wanted. We also must give credit to JC and “Shaping 101.” A must for anyone starting out. A huge help came from the videos that you, Korduroy, shared with us: Shaping Room, Shaping Blocks, etc. Lastly, find a best bud to share the experience with!

What do you find to be the most difficult part of shaping? What about the difficulties of glassing?

The hardest part of shaping is staying clean… the stuff gets everywhere! Also with our first boards we wanted to take our time so we used no power tools. When we finished shaping we had some serious arm-pump from the surforms.

As for glassing, is like working with a time bomb, before you know it it’s too late. Most of the frustrations came in this part of the process. What you thought was a great shape can turn into a disaster within a blink of an eye. It was a fun process and we learned a ton from it. It is amazing how much detail is involved to get a perfect glass job.


What has been your favorite step of the process…besides surfing the final product?

There were so many nights where we both didn’t want to close up shop because we were so pumped on how things were turning out. Every step of shaping gave us so much stoke because we were seeing this ugly block of foam begin to turn into something that looked like a surfboard. This started out as a project to see what we could create, little did we know how much fun we would have with it!

Do you feel like you have found a new hobby to take serious or is it just something for fun every now and again?

We have fallen in love and are actually planning on building many more boards. Between the two of us there are so many things we would love to shape, it is just hard trying to figure out what will be next. Right now we are starting to work on some shapes for a trip to Costa Rica. For now we are stoked on shaping our own boards, but who knows what might happen in the future.

Do you have a name for this project?

Yup, the name is Citrus. We decided on this name for two reasons. One, we are shaping in the middle of orange groves and two, we hope this project produces some good fruit for all enjoy and take part in.

For anyone that is interesting in following us on this adventure, check out our blog at www.citrusshapes.com or Facebook.

Also, if you have any questions about what we are doing or just want to drop a line and say hey, email us at citrusshapes@gmail.com

Thanks Korduroy for all the help. Keep the stoke coming!!!

Entropy Resins - Don't Drink It!!!

I'm scared to post this little teaser video we did with Rey Benatao of Entropy Bio-Resins but here we go!

I didn't do the camera work, it was on a tri-pod i think!

Enjoy Brad



Look for the full interview coming up in the March Newsletter. Everything you want to know about this Bio-Epoxy and everything you don't want to know about Grant! Just don't drink it.

John Peck - The Penetrator Breaking On Through To The Other Side!

Thanks to the guys at Korduroy.TV for putting together this awesome video of John Peck. It is a great representation of John, a man who has always lived on his own terms. We first met John Peck back around 1994 when he came into Foam E-Z to buy a blank for the Penetrator he wanted to make at the time. He since visits the shop from time to time get a blank or a tool. Each time he shows up he exudes an incredible sense of peace about himself. Anyone who has met him will know what I am talking about.

From being credited as the first to surf real Pipeline in 1963, to one of the most extreme proponents of mind-altering substances in the psychedelic seventies, John Peck has always been exploring the boundaries of his existence. He has been exploring ways to optimally ride waves for over 5 decades and it's this research that has lead him to refine his Penetrator longboard design. In this episode of Korduroy's All Yew series, we learn about the evolution of the Penetrator and how John approaches the board creation process.

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.''

Bruce Jones, Some Serious Experience!

Bruce Jones has built premium surfboards for three decades. The company, renowned worldwide for its products, was founded by Bruce in 1973 after he shaped surfboards for many years with some of the biggest surfing names in the sport: Hobie, Gordie, and Brewer to name a few.

Bruce was there at Hobie's, during the golden age of the mid 1960's, when the best shaping talent in surfing history was gathered in one place: Phil Edwards, Dale Velzy, Terry Martin, John Gray and Ralph Parker, among others. Starting in the gluing department, Bruce worked his way into rough shaping, then into the actual shaping room and lost no time in getting help from everyone involved in shaping surfboards. In the mid to late 60's, Bruce moved to Huntington Beach, California where he shaped for Vardeman Surfboards, doing all the Jackie Baxter Models, which to this day are considered rare collector's items, being the first board on the west coast to combine the low tail rails of the Hawaiian Gun (for speed), with a refined longboard outline and eventually a turned down, flat-bottom nose for superb nose riding (influenced by the famous Morey/Pope John Peck Penetrator model).

At night, Bruce would shape surfboards for Gordie Surfboards. Gordie (Gordon Duane) had a reputation for being a superb craftsman but very hard to get along with. Bruce put up with him and learned some of Gordie's shaping techniques and most of all his dedication to perfection through using these techniques. Bruce did a short stint with Dick Brewer in '69, ghost shaping surfboards for him on Maui. He then went on to shape for Russell Surfboards, Newport Beach, and then Ole Surfboards in Sunset Beach, California from where he launched his own business. Bruce has made a number of surfboard blank molds for Clark Foam and most recently for US Blanks.



Enjoy this great little video with Bruce Jones shaping and designing filmed and edited by his son Brock.

Round 2 - Bettis Shapes Up An Orange Foam from US Blanks!

Round 2!!! We had Matt Bettis give the Orange Foam from US Blanks a whirl. The more shapes the better when it comes to R & D on a new blank. This time we got some better audio and video equipment so we don't look as ghetto...still ghetto but with a touch of class! Anyways, the foam is looking solid so check it out and listen to what Matt had to say about the blank. We'd like to thank Matt for donating his time and expertise in the name of research.

Foam E-Z and Matt Bettis shape a US Blanks Orange Foam from grant ramey on Vimeo.

The Inside Scoop at Quik!!!

Is Dane sponsor shopping? There's been some big changes at Quiksilver in recent months. Kelly won 10, Julian went to Nike, Steph joined the team. We sat down with surf team manager Chad Wells to get the inside scoop. Check the video!

A big thanks goes out to David Scales of 1HourinHB.com for filming and editing this video.

Let us know what if you think Kelly will come back for another year, if Dane will jump ship, and how you feel about Julian's departure.

Foam E-Z Takes A Quik Fieldtrip!

We took a field trip the other day to the Quiksilver headquarters in Huntington Beach, CA and sat down with team manager Chad Wells to get some inside info on Slater, Julian, and Steph. It’s been a pretty wild couple months for the crew over at Quik. Slater won #10, Julian took off to join Nike 6.0, Steph Gilmore signed to Women’s Quiksilver (not Roxy), Dane is Dane, and we’re not sure if Slater is coming back for the 2011 WCT season….and there is plenty more. That’s just a little sampling of what’s to come in the Foam E-Z February Newsletter.


If you’re not on the email list then you’re missing out on the latest industry happenings, product reviews, events, and monthly promotions. Shoot us an email to Support@FoamEZ.com and we’ll throw you on the list.

2 Hours In HB With Simpo And All The Other Local HB Rippers!

These guys are amazing! They absolutely tear up the waves flicking airs whenever possible. Boy how surfing has changed in recent years. This crew (Brett Simpson, Shaun Ward, Ted Navarro, Derek Peters, Billy Hopkins) of local pros are all from the HB area riding boards from local shapers like Tim Stamps and Mike Ward. Thanks to David Scales of 1HOURinHB for the killer footage.

Orange Foam Sample Get's Glassed, The Update!

Here is the video sequel to Stamps shaping the US Blanks Orange Foam sample. It's just a short little diddy but choked full of information about the glassing of the blank. This 5-8 Thruster is 2-3/8" thick, has Future Fins boxes, and with a single 4oz deck with a 3/4 4oz deck patch and single 4oz bottom glassing schedule had a finish weight of 5.5lbs! We should have the Orange Foam in stock by middle February. Soon to come, the final video in this series "How the Orange Foam surfs and holds up".

Enjoy!

HAPPY 2011!!!

Hope everyone had a safe and insane NYE, hopefully you didn't get into too much trouble. Another year has passed and we are looking forward to even better things in 2011.


In celebration of the new year we are extending the 10% off sale on all Resin, Cloth, Pigments and Tints. Either mention the sale when shopping in the store or use this code EZDEC10NL online.

Our best wishes go out to everyone for a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

The Gang at Foam E-Z

Tim Stamps Test Shapes an Orange Foam US Blank!

Hope everyone had a great X-mas holiday weekend and are now ready to get back down to some serious business of building boards.

About two weeks ago the brass over at US Blanks threw us (Foam E-Z) a sample Orange Foam surfboard blank to shape out. This NEW surfboard foam is 6% lighter or 1/2 pound compared to their Red Foam formula. We thought we would enlist pro shaper Tim Stamps as test pilot since he is a stickler when it comes to his foam. We knew we could get an unbiased, honest opinion from Stamps whether it was good or bad. We interviewed Tim at the end of this video for his take on this new foam. We were pleasantly surprised by US Blanks latest creation so look for the Orange Foam at Foam E-Z in 2011.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

December is my favorite month of the year because it means one thing; Christmas! To me, it’s all about the decorations, music, presents, oh yeah, family and friends too. Now, that time is finally here, which can be a good thing and a bad thing for some. The folks who have spent the last few months shopping and already getting their presents together are now able to relax and enjoy the holidays. While others (like me) are rushing and using every last minute to buy gifts and wrap them in time.

This past week, we’ve had many people come into Foam E-Z to get Board Kits, DVD’s, and other board building supplies as presents for their loved ones. Though it has been crazy and stressful at times, it has been fun and rewarding as well. We have received so much candy and cookies; I think it’s safe to say that we all might die before the New Year. We definitely want to thank all our customers for their amazing support and all the great holiday swag.

Have a very merry Christmas and be sure to make a toast to anything or anyone!

Enjoy the holidays-

From C-Monkey and the rest of the Foam E-Z Crew

Some Holiday Shopping Motivation!

This one goes out to all our procrastinating friends out there!! There are only 8 days until Christmas and since you’ve waited this long to start your shopping we thought we’d help you out by being open on Friday, Christmas Eve from 10a.m.-2p.m. I would recommend trying to get your goods before then but chances are you’ll lag. We will be here providing some holiday cheer!!

For those of you out there in cyberspace you can still place your orders and have them shipped out until the 23rd of December. Check out the shipping calendar above to get a general guide for shipping deadlines so you can make sure your package arrives on time. If you would like exact transit times to your location then just give us a ring and we’ll put one together for you.

Happy shopping and please try to smile when you're sitting in traffic at the mall!!!

Thanks for the support in 2010.

The Crew at Foam E-Z

Foam E-Z Holiday Party Recap! (Cristina's perspective)

The Foam E-Z Holiday Party began on a cold, but not so cold Friday night in December. One by one the crew showed up to Brad’s humble abode. Once everyone had arrived, the party began.

We were each greeted by Brad’s daughter Bailey giving us a mini air guitar performance for a very unique welcoming. We then all wandered to the kitchen and were given drinks of choice and snacks to keep our hand’s company. It was hard for me to decide on whether to eat all of the m&m’s or chips. So I ate both. Hugs and stories were swapped and then my favorite time happened; DINNER.

After we had all stuffed our faces with a plate or two of the tasty Thai food, we let our bellies rest by the fire place. With a long couch full of friends and food in my stomach, I was very content.
Once we had digested some and could move again, we got a little mushy and gave some Christmas presents out. It was uncomfortable, hilarious, and sweet all at the same time.

Then we looked through old surf books and heard some stories about the characters that come into the shop all the time. We also got to see what they looked like before they were present day dinosaurs.

All in all I’d say it was a great party. Minus myself getting lost on the way there.

Happy holidays-
C-bags