Bouvier's Bomber!

1. Your Name: Mark Bouvier

2. Your Brand name: No label.

3. How did you hear about us? Originally from a friend.

4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Great, I remember the first time I came in, the guys were all very helpful in picking out the right blank and letting me know what tools I would need to get started without selling me a bunch of stuff that I wouldn’t need as a first time board builder. One of the best resources now is the shaping box…It’s a fully set up shaping room available for rent. Also available for rent are all the tools necessary to really get a good feel for shaping. It’s a great way to try out the expensive tools (such as the industry standard Hitachi planer) without breaking the bank your first time out.

5. Why did you want to build your own board? I’ve always felt that if you love doing something, you should explore all aspects of whatever it is. Learning the history and culture of surfing and shaping is huge and very eye opening. The more time you spend around board building the better grasp you get of how boards work, and it not only makes you a better surfer, but also makes you a more versed individual who is in tune to what’s going on in the line up.

6. Shape of finished board? Longboard. This one in particular was made to be thinner than most with slightly turned down rails and a round outline. I wanted a log that was wide and stable but still loose and fast enough not to be too clunky.

7. Size of finished board: Length 9’6” Nose 17" Width 23 ½” Tail 16 ½” Thickness 2 ¾”

8. What blank did you use? 9’8 Y because it has more continual rocker from the nose to the tail and offered enough extra space to move the template around and play with different ideas

9. How was your board building experience? My experience was great. Being as I shaped in the box I had relatively little clean up because of the vacuum attachment which collects all of the planer dust. This also kept me from getting buckets of foam dust in my eyes which can be entirely too frustrating. Between the facilities and the advice of the guys working there I felt like I went into it with more confidence than if I’d just picked up a blank and started hacking away.

10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? I watched the JC video on shaping (shaping 101) and also picked up the surfboard construction and design book. I found both very helpful. Not to mention there is a lot of footage on youtube.com and posts on swaylocks.com which help answer any left over questions

11. What videos, books, web, other did you use? Refer to question 10…guess I jumped the gun.

12. Do you recommend these resources? I definitely recommend some form of instruction, be it through books, videos, or endlessly browsing the web. There are so many little things that a person wouldn’t even think to do, or would never know without some form of prior research.

13. What do you wish you knew going into this project? I wish someone would have told me to take my time while I was glassing and finish sanding. I’m a very impatient person and wanted nothing more than to get the board in the water…needless to say, it isn’t as pretty as it would have been had I taken the time to grind my laps and work my way up to 600grit instead of finishing out at 120g and calling it good enough. But I guess I can always go back and sand it later if I feel like it.

14. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Take your time. You don’t have to finish in a few hours like the pros do. The more time you take the more likely you will be to finish out with something you’ll be proud to take down to the beach and show off.

15. What tools did you find most useful? There’s so many, now that I’ve tried them all I don’t know if I could live without them. First and foremost I LOVE the EZ Square which helped keep my outline straight and even, without it I’m convinced my board would look like a crinkly fry from Del taco. The planer is awesome; being able to take the skin off the blank in a few passes as opposed to a few hours makes worlds of difference. And finally the shaping blocks with the foam pads that attach with Velcro. They work better than a normal piece of wood by giving you a forgiving padded sanding surface that isn’t too soft or too hard.

16. Where did you run into trouble? I hit a bump with my sanding block. I was using a normal piece of 2” X 6” wood, or a piece of upholstery foam. The issue was that my sanding blocks were either too hard or too soft. I came to a point while finish shaping where I was just working against myself by making more deep scratches or uneven spots. That’s why I went in and bought one of the shaping blocks that they sell in the showroom. I got the one with the medium (yellow) pad and found that all the extra scratches and uneven spots I was getting from my other blocks were taken out immediately just by having the right type of backing to my sand paper/screen.

17. What kind of fin system did you use? I went traditional and glassed on my fin. But that was only because I didn’t own a router and buying fin-rope and an extra yard of glass seemed like it would be cheaper than buying an install kit. Though I must say, that will definitely be my next investment. The ability to change and try different fins is huge, and if I want to sell the board I’m sure any potential buyer will appreciate the ability to make the board perform to his or her liking as opposed to being stuck with the fin that I liked best.

18. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? MESSY. STINKY. And FUN. Glassing is something that every surfer should do at least once so that they can appreciate all of the great glass jobs that can be found on any surf shop sales rack. Besides, it’s part of board building, and if you short cut yourself by skipping a step in the process just because of a little mess then you’ll never fully understand the boards you’re riding.

19. What supplies were purchased from Foam E-Z? I ended up buying more than I’d planned on. The things that I didn’t buy I used in the kit that I rented (and I will end up buying all of those tools too). I had such a great time shaping that I will definitely do it again, and I’m sure that means picking up every tool to make my future creations as dialed in as possible.