I thought I would do a quick piece on Stewart Surf Shop, where I am employed on a part-time basis.
These are pictures of Geoff Madsen, the main shaper at Stewart's. He probably shapes 90-95% of all boards that we sell. Stewart Surfboards has distributors all over the USA, as well as a global presence. I believe we have 18 different models, from short boards to longboards, funboards, fishes, cruisers, starter boards, and every conceivable type of in-between board that will work in almost any condition that Mother Nature can dish up. Geoff's an excellent shaper and can average a board every 30 mins. Geoff was also a member of the Echo Beach Crew in Newport Beach back in the early 80's. So, needless to say...he's a really good surfer!!

This is how we receive the raw blanks. They come from a company called ProCam in Huntington Beach. They buy our basic uncut blanks from US Blanks in the city of Gardena. They then go to ProCam where each of our models has been scanned into a computer; then each model is cut on a CNC machine and shipped to us pre-shaped. Geoff or Bill then fine-tune the blanks, taking out all the ridges, refining the nose and tail, and expertly making the rails, bevels, and concaves to spec. There is always the option of buying the blank uncut, then having our shaper cut the blank by hand, plane, sand etc. This is a time consuming process, and costs around $100 extra. Definitely old school. Some older, crusty shapers only shape by hand. No machine for them! Kudos to those journeymen!!

 These are boards that have been shaped and are waiting for the fin boxes to be routed out by Ernesto, our Venezuelan router. He's a really cool guy, easy going, and pretty buff too. He is actually a personal trainer in his spare time.

These are blanks that are waiting for paint. They have already had their boxes routed. There are also some boards that have been shaped and glassed. The grey funboard also has had an acid resin wash done. Those particular boards have been glassed or hot coated, and are awaiting the painter, Tom, to paint pin lines on the hot coat. He can paint pin lines on the blank itself, but he told me that it isn't as clean and precise as doing it on the hot coat.

This is Tom, the resident Cuban and painter extraordinaire!! He lays down some cool designs, and has to be regarded as one of, if not, the best painter in the surf biz!! He also has to define a custom board order, which one of the salesmen writes up. As salesmen, we are required to draw out the design that the customer wants, with the appropriate Pantone color #'s, logos, artwork, and anything else they want, and take a deposit. I think the hardest part of Tom's job is extrapolating the information that we give him. There is so much information  each phase of the board requires, from fin location and boxes used, to which kind of leash plug to use, to the amount of glass that is used on the deck and the bottom, location of laminates for the glassers etc. The picture on the right is classic, because this guy is pretty stoic, cerebral, and efficient. So, for him to ham it up for my camera was pretty unusual. Not only that, he would make the members of the Geek Squad look silly. Tom is amazing with computers, software, and photoshop. His composites are legendary!! He also has many stories about surfboard factories he's worked at throughout his career, and it's fun to find out what some of the all-time greats were really like. Drugs, alcohol, dealing etc. Some of the stories are quite sobering.

This is Ernesto's bay, adjacent to Tom's bay. This is where the boards are routed, and the slurry is applied to the EPS boards. EPS are our epoxy boards, which are hand shaped, not molded plastic. Very light, strong, and buoyant. The polystyrene material is very, very porous. So, to fill in the gaps/holes, a puddy like material is spread over the board, almost like spackle. Once this is done, and the board is glassed, it looks pretty much like a polyurethane blank. I could go into the painting of EPS boards vs Poly U boards, but I won't at this time. The only task performed off site is the glassing of the surfboards. I may do a separate blog about Chelu Glassing. Needless to say, this is a soulful surf shop, and they are few and far between.  Until next time, stay stoked and keep surfing!!
Scooter Surfs