6'9" x 22" x 2 7/8"

Used Rainbow Fish

6'2 Rainbow Fish.

Shaped by Rich Pavel.

$500

#9- 5'7'' Fish

There has been a 5'10'' fish blank sitting in my room for over 3 months just begging me to do something with it. Now with winter break in full swing I have finally had time to shape it. I was fortunate enough to get to shape it in the FOAM EZ shaping box. Its a great set up, there is literally every tool in there you need to correctly shape a surfboard. There is good lighting, the planer is hooked up to a vacuum for minimal foam dust, and even a small radio and c/d player to get your jam on. It got all the bells and whistles in it and its a convenient place to shape if you don't have an ideal set up at home like myself. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to shape a surfboard whether they are first timers or veteran shapers. Thanks Brad @ FOAM EZ for letting me use this great set up!

Because of the portable shaping bay this was the best surfboard I have ever shaped. Granted this is only my 9th one and I am not ashamed to say there is still probably some problems with it. Before using the FOAM EZ shaping box I would shape at home under insufficient lighting and making due with my limited tool resource. But now I can see after using the shaping box how much it helps to have proper lighting to see all of the lumps and imperfection in the blank when you are shaping. So it is for that reason that this surfboard has turned out better that the ones before.

I shaped a 5'7'' keel fin fish. 17" nose, 21 1/2'' wide, 16 3/4'' tail, and 2 5/8'' thick. I carried the thickness throughout the entire blank so it is a full shape and very buoyant. Which is what I intended because this is going to be my small wave board. After doing some research and looking up dimensions and outlines of other fishes my board is pretty standard, except for the tail. I came across a popular Australian shaper Daniel Thomson of Tomo Surfboards. He has studied the aerodynamics of fighter jets like the F-18 and has applied the same theories to surfboard design. This has allowed him to come up with some very interesting shapes and designs that seem to work very well. For fear that I will not explain his ideas correctly go to his website here tomosurfboards.com for more info. One particular aspect of his design that seemed to make sense was in his tail shapes. You can notice in the first picture the tail is not a traditional swallow tail. I turned the swallow design into two straight angles instead of a singl curve because Daniel Thomson's theory is that water flows faster off of straight edges and should therefore get a little more speed out of the board. I know that there is a lot more going on as far as foil and rocker goes in Daniel Thomson's shapes than what I did on this fish but I like his concept. I don't know if this tail shape will make a difference or not but the nice part about shaping your own board is giving this stuff a try because there is no lose if it doesn't work.

Next stage is fin placement and installation then onto glassing. I have decided to try my first resin tint on this board. So stay tuned for more updates on the process of my 5'7'' fish. This resin tint is either gonna make or brake the outcome of this board for me.

***All photos are courtesy of my friend Brian Kucera, check out his website briankucera.com**

-Daniel Thomson inspired tail

5'10" custom for Daniel Partch.

Three Fin Twin Pin

Carl Ekstrom developed the first asymmetrical surfboard in 1965. He was twenty-four years old. Although the concept of asymmetry never really gained traction in the surfing mainstream, sailboards and snowboards have been capitalizing on the design idea for decades.
Re-inspired by fish designs of the last few years, Ekstrom again put planer to foam and has been coming up with some cool asymmetrical stuff. This board is inspired by Ekstrom, a low-rockered EPS blank that I’ve had lying around for years, and a demo fish that was returned to me with one keel fin missing. Not broken, just gone.
When I asked the borrower if the board looked at all off, he took a hard look, scratched his head, and said, “well, the color’s kinda girlie.”
So, what to do with an EPS fish blank and one keel fin?
This.
And this.
And this.
Resin pigment work by Leslie Anderson of Fatty Fiberglass. When I asked her what she thought of the board she said, "who cares? I'm in love."

Custom Quad Fish for Go. Alice blue opaque deck with an abstract inlay bottom. Go brought Kamakura cookies again. Thank you!

Keel fin custom for Yuji.

Larry Crow just finished up these resin bands for this three stringer fish. I think it all looks good together.

Triple cedar stringer keel fin for Yuji.

5'6" Quad fish for SoakRoom .

Yuske and Maki are here on a two month vacation. They have been stopping by from time to time to see what's happening. This time they brought two friends. I want to go on a two month surf vacation!

Custom 6'6 Keel fish with Daniel Partch art fins for Tiffany.

These are a few boards I am taking to Sacred Craft in Del Mar.

shape, lamination, fin, sand, gloss and polish ---> Michael

Finished laminating the four fin fish. Now it's ready for sanding.

Four fin fish ready to laminate.

Custom 6'0" x 21" quad fish for Tsutomu.

Ugly 5'10" x 2 3/8" Keel Fish.

shape, glass, fin, sand, gloss, sanded gloss -> Michael

The Undecider

Numbers scare the hell out of me. Want an example? 300. Terrifying number.
This is why I have a deep respect for Northcoast shredder and beard-growing enthusiast Chris, who chooses to remove numbers from his life entirely.
Chris wanted a board, but didn’t concern himself with the details. Our conversation went like this:
Me: What are you looking for?
Chris: Shaper’s choice.
Me: Glassing?
Chris: Have at it.
Me: (scrunching eyes with what-you-talkin’-‘bout-Willis-like suspicion) When do you need it?
Chris: Whenever.
With respect to Chris, I went for a shortish, wideish, thinnish little number that would like nothing more than a wave about yay-high--preferably with water temps hovering around just right.

Leslie's glassing is good.

6'9" fish I made for Daniel Partch. Daniel is living in Hawaii now and needed a shorter board to fit in the steeper waves so he asked for this long keel fish. Custom fins with wood burned birds by Daniel. Daniel is a true craftsman when it comes to wood fins.