Haole Built Surfboards Hand Shape SUP, by JK

Quite a hand shape from a Slab!

1. Your Name: Johnny Kahanu

2. Your Brand name: Haole Built surfboards/ Kahanu Surfboards

3. How did you hear about us? Built my first pine glue up alaia and decided I needed a leash plug in it, and a google later you guys popped up!

4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? It was great! Grant had a crazy personality that made it easy to be a total kook that knew nothing except that I was more stoked than ever to get my creation ion the water!

5. Why did you want to build your own board? I have been extremely fortunate to be surrounded by surfers shapers and family that all contributed something to where I am now! Big mahalos to Kirk Kahanu my fathering in-law for showing me the happiness and aloha that could be gained from surfing, to uncle Tommy Stone who gave a glimpse in the roots and beginnings of surfing and Hawaiian culture, the entire Hawaiian Surf Club of San Onofre who have all helped make me the person and surfer/shaper I am today. Lastly thank you to my wife for putting up with the early mornings and late nights, the foam dust all over everything and the sticky resin fingers!

6. Shape of finished board? Stricktly surf SUP 

7. Size of finished board:  Length 9’0" Width 33" Thickness 3-5/8"

8. What blank did you use? A cast off from a CNC company that was a 1# density with a 1/8” stringer outlined and rocker profile already set.

9. How was your board building experience? It was an interesting experience with a lot of different things. My first EPS shaping as well as epoxy glass job.

Killer Airspray, 80's style!

10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? A few tips from the boys on swaylocks here and there, some help from Grant and Matt Bettis.

11. What videos, books, web, other did you use?  Lot's of knowledge gained from working at the shop.

12. Do you recommend these resources? I would always recommend swaylocks.com to everyone with any interest in fixing or making anything surfy.

13. What do you wish you knew going into this project? How much work it takes to hand shape a SUP as well as how much time is wasted watching resin dry when using epoxy.

14. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Take your time and measure often!

15. What tools did you find most useful? The foam E-Z shaping block and 40/60 HD grit sand paper. I also made a custom tool to true up the bottom by using the HD sandpaper 

16. Where did you run into trouble? Crowning the deck is a must tougher process than I originally thought!

17. What kind of fin system did you use and why? Futures all the way, I just like the feel of them and how simple they are to install!

18. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? Yes, first full epoxy glassing using rr2000 system and thought it was great stuff!

19. Where did you shape and glass your board? At Foam E-Z!

20. What type of board do you want to make next? I would like to make another long board or mini Sims.

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.

American Warrior Surfboards by Bill Whitley

Your Name: Bill Whitley

Your Brand Name: American Warrior Surfboards

How did you hear about us? Continuing Customer

How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Great

Why did you want to build your own board? This board is a wake surfboard. I shaped it

for my son as a Christmas present.

Shape of finished board? Wake Surfboard

Size of finished board: Length 5'4" Nose 14-1/2" Width 21" Tail 16" Thickness 2- 3/4

What blank did you use? 5'10"RP US Blanks Fish

How was your board building experience? This board is my 2nd so it went a lot easier.

Did you use videos, books, web, other? Glassing video, and got shape and size from

internet. Help from Johnny @ Foam E-Z

What videos, books, web, other did you use? Master Glasser DVD

Do you recommend these resources? Yes.

What do you wish you knew going into this project? Nothing really after first board I

know it just takes doing it over and over to get better

What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Plan well even before you buy the blank. Think what you want the board to do, see what the 10 million experts

say how to get that then pick one that sounds right for you. They are all right for them

and the boards they sell. Watch the Videos, Read, Get help from someone who has

shaped. It's not really rocket science just looks and acts like it. Measure everything 2

times put marks everywhere to help guide you. Patience and planning are the most

important. If you plan on doing this in the Garage then check out a true Shaping Room

and try to set that up at Home.

What tools did you find most useful? Shaping Box at Foam E-Z, Tape measure, CF Planer,

Foam E-Z square and help from Johnny

Where did you run into trouble? The Rails. Paint. I suck at it. Had to sand board down

and take it to Foam E-Z and have their guy paint it.

What kind of fin system did you use and why? Futures. Have them on my first board.

Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? Yes. with lots of help from

Johnny. Not as hard as I thought. Just take your time, & have a place to make a big mess.

Where did you shape and glass your board? Started & finished in my garage. Did the

basic shaping in the Box at Foam E-Z. Glassed it in a garage.

What type of board do you want to make next? A Fish. Maybe a short board to sell so I

can make another board. Or replicate my old Plastic Fantastic.

I'd like to thank everyone @ Foam E-Z, Johnny for helping on glassing. JD Surf Design for painting.

Eros Surfboards by David Gordon

1. Your Name: David Gordon

2. Your Brand name: Eros

3. How did you hear about us? ordered some supplies from you. Will probably be ordering more soon.
4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Good.

5. Why did you want to build your own board? Always wanted to ...thought it might be a fun addiction. (It is)

6. Shape of finished board? Very similar to a Walden mini magic.

7. Size of finished board: Length 7'3" Nose 18.5" Width 21.75" Tail 15" Thickness 2.585"

8. What blank did you use? EPS


9. How was your board building experience? Awesome. Gave me a new appreciation for the price tag on a board. But be careful...It's more addicting than any video game. I was lost in a time warp. Girlfriend standing at the garage door whining about going to dinner...me standing there covered in dust and telling her five more min...and an hour later...
10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? yes. WEB mostly. video, e-books

11. What videos, books, web, other did you use? Youtube was super helpful actually. ehow.com, Swaylocks, and an e-book. (best advice...learn to walk away...stop trying to "even the table legs" before you ruin it.
Perfection is unattainable...but a great ride is completely doable!

12. Do you recommend these resources? yes.

13. What do you wish you knew going into this project? More about rails and how glassing and rails must be thought of. I know a lot about rails...but I didn't know how the glasser needs to work them. How to bring down the stringer properly.

14. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Get a good spoke shave for bringing down the stringer Home depot won't have a good one.
15. What tools did you find most useful? My E-Z Square was good. Also
the side lights I built and the Surform. (the planer is scary at first) A real surfboard planer is different than the one you get at Home Depot. They can "feather" in the depth better. But not to worry. The Surform can do that too once the heavy lifting is done with your planer. I almost think a serious power sander (the kind auto body car detailers use ) would be a great investment for shaping foam. Then again that might make for some interesting gouges too.

16. Where did you run into trouble? my garage. bumping the foam on things moving it from the shaping racks to holding racks and through the door. (clean your space)

17. What kind of fin system did you use and why? 2+1 center box and FCS Fusion System. I like center boxes because moving the fin back and forth can make a HUGE difference. It can be the difference between crap and magic. The Fusion system finally allows a touch of this back and forth. But I still like Lokbox. I went with FCS because my cousins a rep for them and got me the plugs for free. Also my glasser does them.


18. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? No it's EPS. I am having Mark Schneider of Schneider Surfboards (San Diego CA) glass it. I don't need that kind of hassle in my garage.

19. Where did you shape and glass your board? San Diego, CA

20. What type of board do you want to make next? A hybrid version of a Larry Mabile Twinzer Fish with a different tail. Might end up looking a bit like a Von Sol Shadow...

21. Feel free to add any other input or interesting information you’d like… About templating: I used my AutoCAD program to print out a full scale sheet of paper for my template. Just cut out the board shape...laid it out on the board and painted off the edges. (I used a square block EPS blank. Only the rocker was built in.) It worked really well. Don't feel like you have to have Masonite templates and 15 different tail shapes. Cut it out of paper. Use your eye and square to even things up. If the board is a perfect ride...then template it. If not...you didn't waste tons of time transferring a dud onto masonite.

DRAGOMIR SUP BAT TAIL

1. Your Name: Paul Dragomir

2. Your Brand name: Dragomir

3. How did you hear about us? In the water surfing by “word of mouth”.

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


5. Why did you want to build your own board? I like building my own things. And also there was a lack of options on the S.U.P. market.

6. Shape of finished board? Short S.U.P. with “bat tail”.

7. Size of finished board: Length 8’5” Width 26” Thickness 4-1/2”

8. What blank did you use? EPS by U.S. Blanks.


9. How was your board building experience? It was a “love/hate” thing because it was first board. But I want to make another board again.

10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? I found most of my info on the web, asking other people, and my own personal experience.
11. What videos, books, web, other did you use? I found some stuff on You-tube, and everybody at Foam E-Z were SUPER helpful.
12. Do you recommend these resources? Yes.

13. What do you wish you knew going into this project? I should have better planned my shaping of the rails on the board.
14. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Make sure you plan ahead for every detail.

15. What tools did you find most useful? Stanley rasp planer, Makita upright sander polisher (with 600 to 2000 rpm settings), and a tool I made that work as a sander/leveler/planer.

16. Where did you run into trouble? On the rails. I did not plan enough before I started.

17. What kind of fin system did you use and why? Future. Because they had good options to choose from with S.U.P. fins. They also seem stronger and durable.
18. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? Yes. It was scary at first, but I got used to it quickly and ended up enjoying it.
19. Where did you shape and glass your board? In a work shop that I am currently renting.
20. What type of board do you want to make next? Another S.U.P. in a wide tail fish shape.

21. As a tip to other people who want too make their own board. When you are mixing the epoxy in a measuring cup take a couple of minutes to make sure it is mixed well. Then pour it slowly into another clean cup (slowly so you don’t get many bubbles), get a brand new stirring stick, and continue mixing again. Doing this process will ensure that the resin is properly mixed, as epoxy is a high viscosity material. I also noticed that doing this seems to keep it from exotherming as quickly. And try to use a big stir stick like the ones they hand out at the hardware store for mixing paint.

DANA BOARDS - WOODY LONGBOARD

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 shaped for a customer who wanted a hollow Redwood surfboard. I have wanted to shape this style of board for a while, and this order gave me the perfect excuse to finally do it. My customer was totally stoked when I delivered his new board.

6. Shape of finished board? I would call it a traditional Longboard with a pulled in tail.

7. Size of finished board: Length9’6” Nose 16 1/2" Width 20” Tail 9” Thickness 2 3/4”

8. What blank did you use? I chambered and laminated 19 pieces of California Redwood and Oregon Sugar Pine to create a hollow 9’8” blank with a 3.5” rocker.

9. How was your board building experience? Other than taking longer than anticipated (because of all the extra labor), the board building experience was smooth. It was definitely a learning experience to say the least.
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 that everything was going to work as planned. I had to create my own rocker templates and cut channels in only the right places. Because every aspect of this board was my own design from conception to construction I was worried throughout the whole build that it would turn it ok, which it did.
14. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Take your time, have fun, do lots of measuring, and where a 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 a set of a dozen pipe clamps to laminate the different wood sections and a piece of dragon skin for blending the rails.
16. Where did you run into trouble? I underestimated how long it would take to channel each piece of redwood and shaping solid wood rails by hand. So, my customer got a killer deal on this labor intensive surfboard.

17. What kind of fin system did you use and why? Keeping with the wood theme I hand shaped a 9” vintage style fin made from African Paduak and Purple Heart, Honduran Mahogany, and American Walnut, glassed with a filet of fin rope and 4 layers of 6oz cloth on each side for plenty of strength.

18. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? Because of the redwoods natural strength I glassed 4oz cloth on the deck and bottom along with tail and deck patches. I used the Flex Pad Softie 8” with 80 and 150 grits, hand sanded 220 and 300 and finally, hand wet sanded 400, 600, and 800. With my buffpad, I started with the Foam E-Z Surfboard Polish #2 and finished with the Meguiars Surfboard Finish Polish. The results are a deep mirror like shine.

19. Where did you shape and glass your board? I glassed this board outside on a calm warm day.

20. What type of board do you want to make next? My next board is going to be a 5’11” fish with glass on keel fins made from exotic African hardwoods, made in the same style as this board except I will be using Redwood and Cedar to create a hollow wave rider.

21. Extra Info... I created a leash loop using fin rope and 4oz fiberglass. I felt that a leash plug would have detracted from the woods natural beauty. The nose and tail blocks are made from African Paduak and Yellow Heart.

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.