Shapeshifting – The art of hand-making surfboards
Design and creation: The shaping
When he has a firm idea fixed in his mind's eye, Jay starts a board by choosing a blank as close to the new board's finished height and thickness as possible. The bottom rocker – the overall curve from the tip of the nose to the tail along the bottom of the board – is generally the first design element a shaper puts into a board. A well-designed and well-executed rocker is the foundation of a board; all the other variables – the bottom contours, the outline, etc., must tie into and compliment the bottom rocker of the board. Most surfboards have a smooth entry rocker for catching waves and taking steep drops and a gentle tail rocker for release. Too much nose or tail rocker will make the board push water and become slow to paddle. A rocker can be "continuous", "staged", or a combination of the two. A staged rocker has a bottom curve which is relatively flat through the mid section of the board to increase board speed. Increasing fore and aft curve and shortening the flatter mid section yields a tighter turning radius. Good performance characteristics depend on getting these flat and accelerated curves right for the client's individual needs.
"Rocker is everything," Jay believes, "it's a very subtle, fine line."
After deciding on a rocker design, Jay slices the blank in two and glues in a stringer – a wooden rib that maintains the rocker of the blank as it is shaped and stiffens and strengthens the completed board. Besides these strictly functional roles, the stringer (or stringers, some boards have two or even more stringers) may serve as a decorative element: Jay uses a variety of hardwoods that contrast elegantly with the white foam of the board.
Most tools used for shaping are standard low-tech carpentry tools: a hand saw, electric planner, a range of small planes and Surform rasps, together with foam-backed sanding pads and a variety of rules and other measuring tools. A dust mask, protective goggles and ear-wear are essential safety gear. Shapers need an environment where they can clearly see the subtle curves and shapes that they are making. Typically the room will have dark walls and low-angled fluorescent lights, mounted on the wall and parallel with the floor, to side-light the bumps and hollows of the blank so that the lines and curves can be seen as they emerge. The blanks are held in place on shaping rack so they may be easily worked on from different angles.
After stripping back the surface 'skin' of the blank to reveal a good working surface of fresh white foam, Jay uses a long flexible batten to mark out the centre line of the board and its nose to tail length, as measured around the curve of the bottom rocker. Three key reference points are marked on the centre line with a soft pencil: a point 12 inches (305mm – shapers work in feet and inches) from the tip of the nose, the centre point, and a spot the same distance from the tail.
