The cottage industry of hand-building custom surfboards has always been essential to the development of surfing. It is from within this field that the quantum leaps in surfboard design began. Whether your local shaper is a total backyarder or makes it their profession, choosing a custom surfboard over something factory-made supports a craft that is under threat from so many angles. This photo-essay charts the creation of a custom surfboard from raw blank to finished article.
One particular Scottish river bar breaks in a unique way. The waves have to cross a Kyle to reach the sand, and in so doing they pass through a lot of empty, shallow water. With a solid northerly swell, the lines stand up for what seems like miles until they peak into a fun sand-bottom point. It’s fickle, but inspirational. The perfect board for this place requires length and a pin-tail to catch the large, unbroken chunks of water, gathering speed over hundreds of metres before reaching the point.
The board inspired by this place was hand-shaped by Adrian at Fluid Juice, and based loosely on a Skip Frye Eagle design. Skip created these 10’ plus monsters to cross-country surf his way from one break to another, marathon sessions that could encompass five reefs or more.
Around the time this board was conceived, Clark Foam shut their doors permanently and created a major deficit of 10’ plus blanks, particularly triple-stringers. The surf industry was full of claims about ‘the last Clark Foam blank in the country’; this was one of the last ones in Seabase: a Clark 10’7’’H.
Getting the template right was no easy feat, as we based the design on low-res pictures and a chat. Using a variety of templates, some of which date back thirty years, Adrian arrived at an incredible looking outline. A pointed nose gave way to massive shoulders, a mid-section the length of big shortboard, and a pin-tail three feet long.
After sawing out the outline, Adrian started on the blank. After a few initial cuts with the planer, he used hand-tools exclusively. Gradually, the board started to take shape. Watching a shaper breathe life into a chunk of foam using his hands and simple tools is a real joy, for each approaches their craft in a different way. Some are methodical, others take the vibration route, feeling their way around the blank.
The wood from the triple-stringers in the blank gave off a really interesting smell as it was cut, over-riding the usual shaping bay fug of resin and mown foam. The toxicity is one of the things that sit at odds with the activity.
These three shots illustrate the blank taking shape, the rails and bottom cut in by Adrian, approaching the glassing stage. The board already spoke of long, swooping turns and glide in abundance.
This is Burt’s glassing stand. Burt shapes his own surfboards, including one recent motor-driven creation. The glassing stand is always covered in a range of different tints and colours.
The board, once glassed, came up a treat. Without leaving it to cure, it went straight to Scotland. The promised rivermouth never materialised, lying dormant as big west swells rolled past it. The bird was christened at another spot, where the waves leapt from two foot to overhead on the pushing tide. Riding a big board in solid waves gives a whole new meaning to glide. Getting caught inside is punishing though, and forget surfing in crowds.
Watching the handcrafting of a surfboard, whatever your take on the design and on surfing in general, is a real joy. After witnessing the creation of this longboard, supporting those people who devote their lives to creating surfboards seemed more of a pleasure than anything else.
This board was handmade by Adrian Phillips, and glassed by Burt, at Fluid Juice, the Old Airfield, St. Merryn.
Submitted By
Dan Crockett on the 8th August 2007.
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