PREHISTORIC Surfboards by Chris

 1.  Your Name:Chris

 2.  Your Brand Name: Prehistoric

 3.  How did you hear about us?: Google

 4.  How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z?:easy, straight forward,
helpful

 5.  Why did you want to build your own board?:put a personal touch to my Girlfriends
Christmas present

 6.  Shape of finished board:  longboard

 7.  Size of finished board:  Length: 8'8 Nose:19 1/2 Width: 23 1/2 Tail:17 Thickness: 3

 8.What blank did you use?: US Blanks 8-9Y PU

 9.  How was your board building experience?:  tedious

 10.  Did you use videos, books, web, other?: heck ya

 11.  What videos, books, web, other did you use?:  all kinds of Google and YouTube

 12.  Do you recommend these resources?: Google making your first board and you'll
get everything you need

 13.  What do you wish you knew going into this project?: better shaping
techniques

 14.  What would you recommend to someone else for their first time?: don't be
like me, practice somehow, use left over foam from the blank and try
EVERYTHING before doing

 15.  What tools did you find most useful?: sand paper

 16.  Where did you run into trouble?: stringer! buying a better planer next time

 17.What kind of fin system did you use and why?: single box! easiest and wanted
to do a drill through plug

 18.  Did you glass the board and what was that experience like?: I thought
glassing was pretty easy, SMELLY, but easy, I used UV resin catalyst so i
could take my time as i never did this before!

 19.  Where did you shape and glass your board?: in my garage, DON'T do that, dust
EVERYWHERE

 20.  What type of board do you want to make next?: I have an idea for a hybrid
fish.  Will get to it eventually but got to many boards now!

AOP Surfboards

1. Your Name: Alphonso Olmos

2. Your Brand name: AOP Surfboards

3. How did you hear about us? I don’t remember.

4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Always good.

5. Why did you want to build your own board? Because I wanted and needed to.

6. Shape of finished board? Various

7. What blank did you use? Clark foam and US Blanks

8. How was your board building experience? Challenging.

9. Did you use videos, books, web, other? I didn’t at first then I thought I should, then I watched a video, then I realized I liked my way better, however watching videos helped confirm some questions.

10. What videos, books, web, other did you use? I watched John Carpenters video on shaping but found it too personal to his method, I also thought I needed to be fast. Which was a mistake. I realized that shaping for me like most things are personal and should come from the heart, mind, and internal feeling of what feels right.

11. Do you recommend these resources? Yes and no. Do what you need to do.

12. What do you wish you knew going into this project? Nothing.

13. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Do not watch a video first, Take your time, Shape from within.

14. What tools did you find most useful? Patience.

15. Where did you run into trouble? Start to finish

16. What kind of fin system did you use and why? FCS, my focus is the shape, fins are secondary to me at right now.

17. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? I did not, wish I could.

18. Where did you shape and glass your board? Shaped my first couple boards in my back yard, now in my garage, had 2 or 3 glassed by a guy named Steve near the old foam ez location.

19. What type of board do you want to make next? A good board.

20. Feel free to add any other input or interesting information you’d like… Almost everything to make these boards was purchased through foam ez

Thanks for all the help.

NYADA SURFBOARDS by Andy Byrne

1. Your Name: Andy Byrne

2. Your Brand name: Nyada Surfboards

3. How did you hear about us? Not sure..Internet most likely

4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Great, everyone is super helpful.
5. Why did you want to build your own board? Save money and learn something that would ultimately be very useful for my hobby and my friends hobby.

6. Shape of finished board? LongBoard

7. Size of finished board: Length 9'1'' Width 21'' Thickness just under 3'' at mid point.

8. What blank did you use? US BLANK Blue Density
9. How was your board building experience? This was my 5th board and first longboard. It went a lot smoother than the other four. Thinking maybe since I usually ride longer boards I maybe knew a bit more of what the end result should be.

10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? I spent a lot of time watching clips on the web, reading blogs. Ryan Lovelace, Gato. John Wesley is doing some great shapes. I think just constantly looking at boards that inspire you is a great source of reference. Above all that is simply just doing it...and most likely eating it on the first 2 or 3 shapes.

11. What videos, books, web, other did you use? Youtube/Vimeo, I found that watching a lot of DIY vids that people have put online show what not to do. Ha!
12. Do you recommend these resources? Of course. The more research the better.
13. What do you wish you knew going into this project? That my respirator was only for fumes! not fumes and particles. Wear a respirator!

14. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Try to do it as right as you can the first time, because each step is dependent on the previous. Also..keep it simple. I did pigment my first try, but it wasn't til the 2nd board that I realized it is what made the board look like a disaster.

15. What tools did you find most useful? Surforms
16. Where did you run into trouble? I've ran into trouble trying to add too many elements into the board. Going to keep the next board a clear sanded finish.

17. What kind of fin system did you use and why? I stuck with the single fin on this one.

18. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? I did glass it. This one was better than the others. Smooth and glossy. I spent a lot of time making sure the board was dust free before glassing this time and it definitely helps.

19. Where did you shape and glass your board? My garage which now looks like a meth lab!
20. What type of board do you want to make next? Got a couple friends that want a copy of this one. So looks like the next two will be like this one.

Dana Surfboards "Fatty Fat Fish"

1. Your Name: Dana Blocksage

2. Your Brand name: Dana Surfboards

3. How did you hear about us? Swaylocks

4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Everyone was very friendly and helpful and they had everything I needed in stock to build my board.

5. Why did you want to build your own board? This board was actually shaped for a customer who wanted an unusual shape somewhere in between a longboard and shortboard with a fish like tail (actually his dream board).

6. Shape of finished board? I named it “The Fatty Fat Fish”. It is a truly unconventional shape that incorporates elements from several different board shapes. Goes against the norm but does everything the customer wanted it to (even nose rides).

7. Size of finished board: Length7’6” Nose 17 ¼” Width 22” Tail 18 ¾” Thickness 2 3/8”

8. What blank did you use? This board was cut form a US Blanks 9-3Y (so I could get the wide inverse swallow tail)


9. How was your board building experience? This board was a little trickier to shape than most I’ve done in the past, especially the inverse curve on the tail. I added a generous single concave to the nose and a slight V in the tail, which has lots of flex.

10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? My board building experience has come from scrolling through the pages of Swaylocks, trial and error, and then back to Swaylocks for answers.

11. What videos, books, web, other did you use? I have seen the JC Shaping 101 and Glassing 101 which are good for reference.

12. Do you recommend these resources? Absolutely! They make you want to go out and shape a board.

13. What do you wish you knew going into this project? I wish I knew it was going to be windy the day I did my glassing, so I could have waited for better weather.

14. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Take your time, have fun, do lots of measuring, and where your mask!

15. What tools did you find most useful? My Clark foam planer was a must. The Milwaukee grinder with 8” Flexpad “Softie” was an absolute for shaping and sanding the hot coat, and all my templates for creating this unusual shaped board.

16. Where did you run into trouble? The only trouble I ran into was the cold weather. It made for extra sanding to smooth out the hot coats that didn’t pour as smooth as I would have liked.

17. What kind of fin system did you use and why? I chose the Futures Vector 2 Quad setup for hold and drive and placed the front fins about ¾” higher to give it a little looser ride. I prefer the Futures installation jig, its like second nature to me. I have always been pleased with Futures fins and that is why I use them on all of my boards.



18. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? Glassing went better than previous boards (I think it always does though). I did a 6+4 on the deck and a 4 on the bottom. I added a lot of laminates so I had to pay close attention to drying times and work fast, but it turned out really well.

19. Where did you shape and glass your board? My garage/shop. I had a commercial site with a sweet shaping bay but my operation got shutdown by the man (I guess only a surfer appreciates the familiar smell of catalyzed surf resin).

20. What type of board do you want to make next? My next board is going to be a 9’2” longboard with a step deck and then a super wide 5’ fish.

21. Extra Info... The nose and tail blocks are actually balsa end cuts that came from the old Velzy Jacobs shop in Venice. I bought a big box of it from a guy who used to shape there in the 50’s. This board surfs amazing! I just happened to be there the first day it was taken out. Since then the shape and paint scheme have gotten tons of complements and head turns every time it’s ridden.

BOBSLEDS by Bob Johnson

1. Your Name: Bob Johnson

2. Your Brand name: BOBSLEDS

3. How did you hear about us? The internet (Surf line)

4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Unreal! The people there are the best folks I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with.

5. Why did you want to build your own board? Design and build better surfboards.

6. Shape of finished board? Round pin Glider

7. Size of finished board: Length 9’7" Nose 17 3/8" Width 23 1/2" Tail 16" Thickness 3 5/16"

8. What blank did you use? Custom 9’9 B US Blanks Blue with triple Cedar stringers


9. How was your board building experience? Great and made all the better with the assistance of Foam E-Z for getting me whatever I need to build boards.

10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? Not recently, but there are some good ones that Foam E-Z sells that can show you some good stuff. The Master Shaper and Glasser series are probably the best.

11. What videos, books, web, other did you use? Always reading every Surf journal and book I can get my hands on. You see a lot of cool boards for ideas that way.

12. Do you recommend these resources? Absolutely.

13. What do you wish you knew going into this project? How quickly this board would sell. It really was A LOT of work to build and having someone grab it up so quick was gratifying and a relief.

14. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Be patient, never rush, don’t settle for good enough, do your absolute best.

15. What tools did you find most useful? My Clark planer and Milwaukee grinder are indispensable as well as my block planes, surforms and custom made sanding pads and well worn screen. And then there are my custom grinded squeeges for laminating and hand cut brushes for other glass work, buckets and hey…really good scissors! (All available at Foam E-Z)

16. Where did you run into trouble? Cold weather glossing is never boring, but it’s all good now!

17. What kind of fin system did you use and why? Fins Unlimited 10.5 inch single fin box. It is a solid set-up and allows for many different fins to be used in different positions. Also, the neutral feel of a single fin is the perfect compliment to a glider board like this.

18. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? Yes, and those are RESIN panel inlays in red on the deck, NOT airbrush. It was challenging and fun !



19. Where did you shape and glass your board? In my Garage/Shop.

20. What type of board do you want to make next? I have an order for a 8’3 hybrid/egg for So Cal.

21. Thanks again to the Foam E-Z crew for all the help they have provided. Thanks to my top riders and best friends David Ferreira, Austin Ferreira, Adam Ferreira, Derek Bostleman, John and Shane Greer, and the amazing Mike Andreason : Thanks to my Fiance Anna, my little girl Marisa and my Mom.

DDonn Shapes

1. Your Name: Davis Donnell


2. Your Brand name: DDonn Shapes


3. How did you hear about us? Can’t remember to tell you the truth. I live really close and always drive by on my way to work.


4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Excellent. The guys behind the counter were super willing to help!


5. Why did you want to build your own board? The experience and to have a killer retro board.


6. Shape of finished board? Think of a mix between a 70’s single fin and a modern single fin…


7. Size of finished board: Length 6’2” Width 19" Thickness 2.5"


8. What blank did you use? 6’5”A US Blanks Fish


9. How was your board building experience? Went smoother than I planned. Glassing was a PITA!!


10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? All web and the guys at Foam E-Z


11. Do you recommend these resources? Yea, I recommend looking more into glassing than I did if you plan on glassing yourself!

12. What do you wish you knew going into this project? How to properly cut the fiberglass to make it even.


13. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Have someone else glass it!


14. What tools did you find most useful? Surform without a doubt!


15. Where did you run into trouble? Glassing


16. What kind of fin system did you use and why? 10.5 in Fin Box. I wanted the option to change fins out and have a good time with it.


17. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? Yup. Ugly.


18. Where did you shape and glass your board? My shed. Made a mess but was worth it.


19. What type of board do you want to make next? A 10’ Log