Hi All,

The other day I bumped into some one who had a custom board made. 7'11x29x5?? about 105 liters. Looked awesome and he surfed very well on it.
I was very curious how people that had a custom board build (especially for wave riding) find their board compared to their production board. A mention of dimension, style and what production board you had would be interesting.
On one hand you could argue that the big companies have a large budget to trail and error etc. In favour of custom would be that it's build for your style, weight and wave size/type.
Is it worth the coin to have one build for you and was the shaper able to translate your wants and needs into a board.
How big is the shapers input. I can imagine you come out with some thing way different than you imagined at first?
I ride an LSD 8'10 115 liters mostly in beach brakes up to head high. I am 1.78, 74 kgs. I would say I am an intermediate wave rider but getting the hang of it.

bring on the stories!

cheers
Rene

RRK... great topic, I have been puzzling this question myself lately.

I am, by NO means well versed in custom boards? except this:
I stopped ordering customs when I realized that I never was happy with the shapers ?interpretation? of my ideas and dimensions.

The basic outline, rocker and primary thickness are pretty straight forward, but there are SO many variables when shaping a board, intricate bottom contours, foils and complexity of thickness throughout the board.

On SUP, I believe there is greater room for error.

A shaper with vision and touch will be able to shape a board as he sees it? but how do you get them to see it as YOU see it? My lengthy consultations with shapers, never accurately conveyed my vision in the past.

It seems like the best custom for me, would be to find a shaper that already makes boards that are pretty much what I want? then work out ?tweaks? of the shape with him.

Something I have been thinking lately, and I put it out more as a question?.
Is the following approach used?:

I have boards that I like, but would love to reproduce with my own ?tweaks?
I envision having a board scanned by a 3D scanner, make some CAD adjustments to specific parts of the board and load it into a CNC machine. Have a blank cut by the CNC and proceed from there. That way I know EXACTLY what I am getting, with alterations.

Is that done? I know nothing about the current state of custom board making? do custom shapers have access to that technology, or is it just for the big mass producers?

If so? I may give ?custom? another try? I know EXACTLY what I would make.

Hi RRK ,
I've had 4 factory boards , each one better than the last . The last was a fanatic 8'10 pro wave , a great board . After much consideration I went custom and found it to be a good move . After input with the shaper , he banged out a CAD design and shaped my board . It has been my most favourite board easily . It was cheaper than the production boards that l was looking at and has a better feel because its a fibreglass board . It is also tough enough to handle the everyday wear and tear .
I'll be calling on Dan at DTM for my next board , his service was fantastic . Unbeatable

Myself and a couple of mates went to a custom shaper in Torquay (Stonker) and demoed a couple of boards. We picked the one we liked the most, then the shaper 'tweaked' the shape to suit our height, weight, riding styles and local conditions.

Although I'm sure there are better shaped 'cookie-cutter' boards out there, the boards we had custom made are basically indestructible, and have our own individual artwork/paint jobs on them.

Can't beat a good custom imo.

With a custom you get the last update of progression of the sport of wave riding with SUP.
Files CAD store your knowledge in safe board after boards
The fast involving can't wait to be duplicate on production boards.
Fiberglass board never spoil and get cheaper than a tuflite

As Sailhack said Can't beat a good custom imo.

Thanks for the reaction guys. Funny to see you are based around the world. That made me wonder: how important is it that a shaper knows the local conditions?? Hence, is it always better to go for someone local if available??

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Sailhack said..

the boards we had custom made are basically indestructible,

Can't beat a good custom imo.

I had always assumed that the build quality of the factory produced board was superior to a hand glassed board. But after reading a few comments on here i'm guessing i may have got it the wrong way around?

How do hand glassed boards compare to the factory boards weight wise?

RRK, local knowledge is best... if the shaper SUP himself there also.

mrsdc78 only high-tech factories can produce better (stronger & lighter) composite materials than hand-made ones. But alas, most "production" boards are still basically hand made. I know only of Black Local in France using vacuum to pull resin into the fibers (a bit like upangs.com/ ) that ensures an optimal amount of resin (excess is vacuumed out), yielding boards that are lighter and stronger than hand-made ones but not too much expensive as all the fiberglass layers are resin-wetted in only one pass.

Note that the picture is different with paddles. production pre-preg shafts are better than what can be done by hand in a reasonable time (and thus price).

My best experiences have been when the shaper starts with a design that I already like and then tweaks it or copies it.

The theory about production boards having greater ability to test and tweak their designs due to larger budgets may be valid, but is counteracted by the fact that their designs have to suit a large population.

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mrsdc78 said...

Sailhack said..

the boards we had custom made are basically indestructible,

Can't beat a good custom imo.

I had always assumed that the build quality of the factory produced board was superior to a hand glassed board. But after reading a few comments on here i'm guessing i may have got it the wrong way around?

How do hand glassed boards compare to the factory boards weight wise?

Our customs are definitely a bit heavier, but we were made aware of that when we ordered them. From memory the conversation went along the lines of "I'd rather a board that won't snap or ding - even if it weighs a few extra grams."

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Sailhack said..
Our customs are definitely a bit heavier, but we were made aware of that when we ordered them. From memory the conversation went along the lines of "I'd rather a board that won't snap or ding - even if it weighs a few extra grams."

Yes, as JeanG said, that's one of the advantage of customs, being able to choose your personal priorities.