Almond Surfboards Guide to:

SHAPING YOUR FIRST SURFBOARD

This is a bonus section of our multi-part guide to helping you make more informed
decisions about your surfboard quiver. So far, we have discussed the thoughts and
intentions that go into designing our range of surfboards. We have touched on some design
elements and how they impact the boards you ride. Now, we are going to do a brief primer
on shaping your first surfboard. It is a transformative, and eye-opening experience to roll
up your sleeves and sculpt a surfboard out of an oversized blank.

Now, important to note: this guide is called how to shape your first surfboard.

This guide is not called how to become a surfboard shaper, how to quit your job and start a
surfboard business, or how to become a master of the shaping room. There are unique
elements to shaping your first surfboard that I think have tremendous value in the overall
surf experience, and I want to focus on those things as much as I want to share some tips
for making a rideable surfboard—which is the intended goal at the end of this.

Understanding your equipment is a critical part of progressing your surfing experience, and
becoming the best all-around surfer in the lineup. What better way to gain knowledge than
investing time, and mental energy, into shaping a surfboard yourself.

What You Will Need:

● A clear vision of what you’re going to make
● A Template (We have a couple available for download)
● A Surfboard Blank
● A place to contain a lot of foam dust
● Some Tools (more on that in a few)
● A Plan for Glassing (more difficult than it was a few years ago)

MOST IMPORTANT TIP::

My #1 tip, and one I want to revisit several times throughout this guide is this: “Build this
surfboard like it is the only surfboard you will ever shape.” What do I mean by that?
Don’t be hasty, this isn’t a warm up.

Approach every step of this process like this is the only surfboard you are ever going to
build—because for most people, they only ever build one board. Take your time, walk away
regularly and come back with fresh eyes.

You may also consider finding an outfit that offers shaping lessons or tool rentals. (I’ll leave
that googling to you, and your local area.) A good teacher can be like the difference
between going fly fishing with an experienced guide, and standing on a riverbank confused
and frustrated with a tangled back-cast to deal with.
As you wade into the waters of a project like surfboard shaping, there will be countless
decisions along the way—approach those decisions with the mindset of “this is the only
surfboard I’m ever going to build, so I’m going to treat it that way…” Hopefully that helps
you get a finished product that you are proud of for many years to come.

A CLEAR VISION:

Before embarking on any project, you want to have

a clear idea of what the end result will be. Write
notes, print pictures, feel rails, draw the board you
are trying to shape. Your notebook should be a
recipe for the dish you are preparing, before you
start cooking.

I spent a full year on my first surfboard. This was

2006 / 2007, so there were a lot fewer resources
available online for aspiring hobby shapers. I
printed articles, chatted with patient folks who had
much more experience than I did, and dreamt about
the 6’5 Single Fin that I wanted to make. Before I
ever took a planer to the blank, I had mind-surfed
the finished board, felt rails of all sorts of interesting
shapes, and doodled pages of chicken-scratch
drawings of the board I was going to make.

THE TEMPLATE
The surfboard template is the most instantly-identifiable clue as to the intentions of a
particular surfboard. If you are dreaming of a board you want to shape to add to your
quiver, chances are that dream starts with the outline.
We have two templates available for free, as a download on our website. Check the Free
Resources page. We offer templates for smaller boards, because a smaller board is much,
much more manageable for a first attempt at shaping. The ranges on these templates are
from 5’4”to 6’2”.

TEMPLATE PRINTING HOT TIP: Technically you can print a surfboard template on a
dozen or so sheets of regular computer paper, and tape them together to make a
full-sized template, but it’s really tricky to get smooth, continuous lines that way.
The templates we provide come 24” wide x however long… because office print
places like FedEx/Kinkos almost always have a black and white roll printer that
prints 24” wide x as long as you need—and it’s incredibly inexpensive. For a few
bucks, you can walk out of there with a nicely rolled surfboard template that is
already to scale and ready to use.

Step 1:
Determine which length board you are going to use, and cut along that curve with scissors.
Take your time and do it as cleanly as possible. If needed, have a backup. It is much, much
easier to fix the outline now than it is to fix it later.

The template is only ½ the outline on purpose, so you can line it up with the stringer, and
flip it over for doing the other side. This ensures the board will be symmetrical.

Template Tip #1:

You are going to want to skin your blank with a planer, before tracing your template
on, to give yourself a nice fresh, smooth surface to work with.

Template Tip #2:

When it comes time to trace your template onto your surfboard blank, trace it on the
bottom, not the deck.

Once you have your template cut out cleanly, save it somewhere where it won’t get
damaged (roll it back up or tape it to the wall like inspirational art).

A SURFBOARD BLANK
Selecting a surfboard blank that is well-suited for the board
you are attempting to make is of utmost importance.
Surfboard blank companies have fantastic catalogs, spend
some time browsing those and find the right blank to match
your project.

Trying to force-fit a shape into a poorly-matched blank will

leave you wrestling the inherent characteristics of the
medium you are working with.

If you need help finding a great quality surfboard blank, we are particular fans of US Blanks
for Polyurethane (PU) and Marko Foam for Expanded Polystyrene (EPS).
SHAPING LESSONS:
We do not offer shaping lessons at Almond, but there are plenty of resources available for
eager and aspiring builders of surfboards— a lot more resources than were available in
2006, when I was first interested in shaping a surfboard.

A quick YouTube search will bring up dozens of lessons on the art of shaping. It’s a lot of
information to digest, so my hope for this guide is to provide some insights and advice, but
to really gain an understanding of the steps involved, I would watch a few different videos
on the subject—because different shapers have different perspectives and unique
approaches. The classic video on the subject, when I was first interested in learning to
shape, was the Shaping 101 by John Carper of JC Hawaii DVD. It’s still available on
Amazon. It’s definitely dated, but as they say, it’s a classic.

Here’s a video our friend Brecht shot of Griffin shaping a Lumberjack in 2015, it is far from
a How To video, but you can see the process that goes into finding the finished surfboard
that is hiding inside the raw blank:

Memorize these 3 rapid fire hot-tips for Shaping:

1. Get the outline perfect. You don’t want to be chasing whoops in the outline—it will
drive you mad—so take your time and do the outline as cleanly as possible the first
time.
2. Work for a while, then walk away and come back with fresh eyes. Do this regularly
throughout the process. It is easy to get tunnel vision on a particular spot and fresh
eyes seem to help put things in perspective.
3. Revisit your plan regularly. When I’m cooking in the kitchen, I relook at my recipe
constantly—shaping a surfboard should be no different. Remind yourself what the
finished goal is, along the way.
A PLACE TO SHAPE YOUR BOARD
So far, we have a vision for what type of board we want to make, a template to use, a
surfboard blank that is well-suited for our project, and we’ve done some YouTube research
on the shaping process. We are getting dangerously close to putting tools to foam.

But first, we need a place to shape that’s not going to get us in trouble. Foam dust is fine
and it tends to get everywhere. It is not a coincidence that production shapers have a
dust-collection system in their shaping bays.

When I was 19 and first trying my hand at making a surfboard, I did what most everyone
does and helped myself to the nearest garage, which in this case was my parent’s garage.
The dust not only covered every surface in the garage, but found its way out the door and
into the swimming pool. There was a nice foam dust layer floating on top of the pool, and
when I went to scoop it out, realized that the foam dust is so fine that it goes right through
the netting on the pool net. Quite a quandary for an enthusiastic teenager. I tell you this as
a cautionary tale so you don’t get yourself into a pickle, like I did.

A shaping bay has one more critical

feature—besides dust collecting—lights.
In order to see the highs, lows, and
curves of the board you are working on,
shaping bays have lights arranged
parallel to the shaping racks, which casts
light evenly across the surface you are
working on. Overhead light does the
opposite—makes everything look flat. If
you are going to be building a makeshift
shaping bay, give serious consideration
to where the light is coming from.

The lighting is another reason why renting time in a shaping bay could be worthwhile—it’s
easier to focus on the project at hand when the external variables are more controlled.
Turning off the overhead light in a garage, and relying on the light coming in through the
door is a shaky, but common, replacement for true shaping lights.

TOOLS / EQUIPMENT
The list of tools required to shape a surfboard
can be a bit daunting, particularly if the aim is
to shape one surfboard and do it really well.
How heavily you want to invest in tools
depends a bit on how likely you think you are
to want to attempt surfboard #2 or 3.

Here is a semi-complete list of the basic tools

required for shaping a surfboard:
 ● Electric Planer (modified for surfboards)
● Surform
● Mask
● Eye Protection
● Tape Measure
● Calipers
● Sanding Pad
● Sandpaper
● Sanding Screen
● Block Plane / Spokeshave
● Hand Saw

There are retailers online who specialize in tools / gear for DIY surfboard shaping. I don’t
know any of them personally, so I’ll leave the Googling to you to find the place you’re most
comfortable ordering from.

Almond Surfboards wouldn’t be here today without a Surform and a Bad Idea.

In 2008, I was 22 years old and had the hair-brained idea to shape a surfboard with no
electricity. I was going to only use hand-tools and natural light sources. I called the board
“Cordless”. That board is how I met our now shaper of 12+ years, Griffin Neumann-Kyle.

Kyle Lightner, a photographer who

knew Griffin, was intrigued—or
bemused—by the notion that I was
going to shape this thing with no
power tools, so he wanted to come
meet me and photograph the
process.

Lightner somehow convinced the

notoriously stranger-adverse,
then-19-year-old, Griffin NK to tag
along to see what this was all about.
Griffin hung out and was as
amicable and enthusiastic as the guy
who I’ve had the pleasure of
working alongside for the last
dozen-plus years. We chatted about
teaming up that day (something
about the refined nature of the
board I shaped must have inspired
him to want to offer some help and save me from myself).
At that point, I had about 20 surfboards under my belt, and was more than happy to pass off
the planer to Griffin, so I could get back to the job I was more minded for—envisioning and
enacting the surfboard brand that I felt was needed and missing from the world. We’re still
working together to bring joy-harnessing devices to the world all these years later, proving
that even a flawed idea can set great things into motion.

A PLAN FOR GLASSING

As my two-year-old daughter would say, this is the tricky part.

Several years ago, we made a comic book strip

style graphic titled “How an Almond Surfboard
is Made” and it had 15 scenes showing a
surfboard go from raw blank to riding in the
water. There were two scenes dedicated to
shaping and eleven dedicated to the various
stages that we lump together under the
general term glassing.

That should give a clue about how much work

is still ahead once a blank is carefully shaped
into a finished board. But do not be
discouraged, plenty of other people have found
a way to get a beautiful protective shell of
fiberglass around their self-shaped surfboard,
and you can too.

There are two primary options for glassing: do

it yourself or call around your local area and
find a glass shop who can do it for you. As of
this writing, we find ourselves in a bit of a
boom in demand for surfboards, coupled with a limited pool of skilled laborers to meet that
demand. So, right this moment, it’s harder than usual to find a glass shop who is able to
take walk-in work. But, make a few phone calls because we live in a world that is evolving
quickly.

If you are feeling bold and want to complete your DIY

surfboard yourself, good on you. In the same way there are
tons of resources online on how to shape, there are plenty
about how to glass a surfboard as well.

If you are concerned about the health implications of

chemical reactions in your garage, consider epoxy resin for
your DIY project. You can use epoxy resin on either PU or EPS
blanks. The inverse is not true, if you choose to use
polyester resin, you can only use it on a PU blank.
 ● Just keep in mind, if you shaped an EPS surfboard then use epoxy resin.
● If you shaped a PU surfboard, you can choose either epoxy resin or polyester
resin.

Earlier, I said I was going to leave the Googling to you, because I wasn’t comfortable
endorsing folks who I have never met or worked with, but I’m breaking my rule here
because I found this How to Glass a Surfboard Guide to be thorough and very clear to
understand. The folks who put it together run a DIY surfboard building ecommerce
business out of New Jersey called Greenlight. For those of you on the West Coast, there’s
also a spot in Huntington Beach called Foam E-Z that offers everything for the DIY
surfboard builder.

Going through these processes creates an increased appreciation for the finished product.
When Almond was very young in our growth, I spent plenty of hours in the glass shop
bugging Greg Martz (the then head laminator, now retired) about which ideas were good
and which ideas were bad—and why.

I used to draw or photoshop all sorts of ideas for color

jobs, and then Greg would educate me on why some of
them didn’t jive with the surfboard building process. In
order to know where you can bend the rules or color
outside the lines a little bit, you have to know what the
rules are, and where the lines exist. It’s about learning
the process and understanding the constraints.

When we approach the aesthetic side to surfboard

design, we want to do things that accentuate and draw
attention to the construction, never to ignore the
construction in favor of something forced.

Whether you decide to contract the glassing—which

again, I highly suggest making a few phone calls before
you embark on your project—or glassing your
surfboard yourself, the simple fact that you are curious
enough to read a guide like this one, and watch
supplemental videos on YouTube gives you a deeper
understanding of the surfboard under your feet and a broader understanding of the world
around you.
CONCLUSION
Keep that curiosity going and don’t be afraid to mess up. Take your time. Walk away from
the project, and come back with fresh eyes. Treat it with patience and care, like it’s the only
surfboard you are ever going to build and enjoy the process of diving deeper into something
that clearly fascinates you.

Check back regularly to our Free Resources page, as we will be adding more templates and
guides to assist in your journey.

Other Surfboard Resources:

● Almond’s Guide to Surfboards (Introduction)
● Almond’s Guide to Longboards
● Almond’s Guide to Fishes & Small Boards
● Almond’s Complete Guide to Ordering A Custom Surfboard
● The First-Time Surfer’s Cheat Sheet
● Read More Articles & Surf Tips…