PRO SHAPER INTERVIEW with Mike Minchinton by Grant Ramey

Recently I had the privilege to sit down with long time Huntington Beach shaper Mike Minchinton. Mike is a pretty legendary dude who has worked with some notable guys like the late Chris Hawk, Carl Hayward, and Robert August just to name a few. I remember being eleven years old and going into the old Roberts August shop on the corner of 5th st. in Huntington Beach and seeing the Minchinton Model board. At that time I had a beat up old mini long board that paled in comparison to a gloss polished, air brushed beauty. I had a little ritual that lasted about a year that went like this, surf, go to Robert August Surf Shop, stare at boards, eat, surf, and then go back to R.A. to look at the Minchinton Model. That's my little bit of history in regards to Mike. I'm sure it's a familiar story, just insert your name and the shaper's name and you have your own experience.

Listen to the interview:

Nice Article in the Daily Pilot - Newport Beach newspaper

Dawn Patrol: Foam E-Z eases shaping experience

By John Burton

Updated: Friday, January 8, 2010 12:10 AM PST
My friend Kathy Escher has a teenage son, Kole, who surfs and she tells me about interesting things like a place where you can shape your own surfboard.

Foam E-Z near the Westminster Mall is a one-stop shop for any and all materials needed to make or repair surfboards. For professionals or do-it-yourselfers they have everything, including a shaping bay with all the tools, accessories, and help required to make your own board.

I had to check that out so I dropped by and was greeted by Grant Ramey. I introduced myself and explained why I was there.

“So, do you want to shape a board and write about it? he asked.

“Err, uh, me? Shape a surfboard?” I stuttered.

I hadn’t considered that. There are some things you inherently know just aren’t your strong suit and for me that includes making things with tools.

“Yeah, that would be cool,” I heard myself say.

So the game was on. It’s a busy place and Grant had customers so I cruised around the shop. A few minutes later, Foam E-Z’s proprietor, Brad Nadell, arrived and we talked for a while.

He started the business in 1993 as an alternative source of foam blanks for shops that had a hard time meeting the minimum orders required by Clark Foam, which for many years held a virtual monopoly.

Clark’s stunning decision to abruptly close up shop, and the repercussions still felt throughout the surfing industry is a story in itself, but Nadell had to adapt and change the business dynamic. Today their focus is more toward the hobbyist and outstanding customer service is their edge.

Brad helped me pick out a blank for my first effort. He steered me toward a “second” which works just fine but has a cosmetic flaw. They cost a lot less and are a good idea for novices.

He and Grant told me that coming up with a template for drawing the outline on the blank is an important first step. I went home and flailed unsuccessfully, so when I returned for my shaping session I used one of my boards and their templates to make the outline.

Then I had to cut out the shape with a hand saw. I did an OK job although there were a couple of wrinkles.

The next step was truing things up using a Surform plane. Luckily I had Grant as a consultant or it would have been a disaster.

I started removing material from the top and bottom using a planer. None of this is easy if you’re not used to it and the planer can do some damage so I went back to the Surform and some heavy sand paper.

That’s as far as I got during my first session. I came away with something that looks more like a surfboard than a coffee table so I’m calling it a success. There’s a lot more shaping to be done so we’ll see how it turns out.

I have a new appreciation for the skill that went into my custom made boards. My Foam E-Z experience was great — drop by or look up www.foamez.com.

Daily Pilot article

Black Friday: Shape ‘til you drop!

Attention!!!

Black Friday is near and we will be here so don’t fret!! Yes we will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 26^th but we'll be open on Black Friday November 27th, from 11-4pm. The shop will be stocked and ready to accommodate your surfboard building needs.

Word on the street is that there are going to be some in store specials on some luxurious items such as the E-Z Finish Shaping Pad regularly $8.95 will be on sale for only $5.00! Resin Research Epoxy single and three gallon board kits will be 10% off. We also have the world famous E-Z Square on sale right now for only $24.95 marked down from $33.95 as well as the E-Z Calipers with Gauge marked down to $74.95. In addition, the CF Planer will be on sale for $379.95 ($20 off). So cruise on by, take advantage of the savings, and stock up on goodies for yourself or for the board builder in the family.

Look forward to spending Black Friday with you!!!

Japanese Curved Planers are BACK!!!

Back by popular demand!!! The Japanese Curved Planer has not been around since Clark Foam went down in Dec 2005, but we've got them back in stock. Get them while they last!

Shapers love these little guys as they make it easy to cut the stringer in tight curved nose rockers. This plane fits perfect in the shapers hand and in the curve of the rocker. Extremely hard wood base with a high quality blade that can be sharpened many times. 1-1/8” X 3-3/4”; Imported from Japan.

Foam E-Z does Sacred Craft 2009!

If you missed Sacred Craft this year then you missed out. This years tribute was to legendary shaper Dick Brewer who also released his shaping DVD and the buzz was huge. His DVD covers template making, wood board shaping as well as standard blank shaping and yeah, we got ‘em!! He even gives Foam E-Z a shout out in the video. Back to Sacred Craft, it was only 5 bucks to get in and check out the latest shapes and designs from the big guys like Rusty and Merrick to the gurus like Karl Ekstrom and some throwback shapes from the hipsters at Gato Heroi. There were boards made out of all kinds of materials from epoxy to poly, Alaias, carbon fiber, you name it and it was there.

Not only are there cutting edge shapes and designs but at the show the shapers themselves are there to talk shop with the consumers and sign autographs. Check out some of the pics and you’ll see that everyone was in good spirits and really feeding off of the energy of the show.

We also participated in an epoxy glassing demo with Dave Daum from Kings stand up paddle and raffled off some shirts, hats, and even a single board epoxy kit and 10 yards of cloth! I was honored to be involved with such a great guy as Dave who has 30 + years of experience in the industry. We laminated the deck and bottom of an EPS blank to a packed room and it was a great lesson from a seasoned pro.

After that we cruised around to schmooze with some other dudes like Jeff Clark, the dudes at Marko, and even Dick Brewer. Brewer made several appearances in the two shape rooms while other shapers such as Gary Linden, Pat Rawson, and Dennis Murphy exhibited their shaping wizardry to large crowds packed around the clear shaping booths.

It was awesome to see the way a master craftsman like these guys move around the board and turn a blank into magic in only one hour.

Two days of talking shop and soaking up knowledge from an elite crew of legendary shapers, and looking at thousands of new shapes is enough to get anyone amped on shaping and frothing to get back in a shape room. Happy shaping.

Grizzley

FLEXPAD INTRODUCES NEW SANDING PAD FOR 2009!

FLEXPAD INTRODUCES NEW SANDING PAD FOR 2009!
POWERS, OR (July 27, 2009) –FLEXPAD INTRODUCES NEWSANDING PAD FOR 2009!

With the introduction of this new FLEXPAD comes a change in surfboard sanding tools for 2009. If you've
sanded using a FLEXPAD in the past, you know how true they run. The challenge has been to make them last longer
under heavier workloads and varying RPM levels.



Last winter, I developed a multi-layer foam combination. Using high pressure molding and a new hard shell
foam that I formulated, to solve that issue. The hard shell white foam on top of the Orange Hard and the
Red Medium FLEXPAD transfers the cutting edge and the flex point more towards the outside of the pad.
This results in less stress on the center area and it extends the life of the pad. After 7 months of testing in
all kinds of applications, it's ready to go! With very positive feedback, I guarantee you won't be disappointed
with it's performance.

“As with all my FLEXPAD products they are tested with experience and constructed with quality. KEEP SANDING.”-
Jerry Mowe.

All FlexPad products are available exclusively here at Foam E-Z http://www.foamez.com/glassing-surfboards-sanding-pads-c-3_74.html

Legendary Hobie Shaper, Terry Martin Shapes it up on video!

TSJ | POV - "Terry Martin and the perfect 40-minute board" from The Surfer's Journal on Vimeo.

This is a great viewing of legendary Hobie shaper Terry Martin shaping up a traditional longboard. He starts with a US Blanks 9-3Y as his canvas and works his Skil 100 planer over the blank. Those old planers just eat up the foam like no other.

Having started shaping wood as a lad in '50s San Diego, on through to shaping sleek Phil Edwards Models, to the now - where he finds himself an in-demand builder of boards of all denominations for Hobie- Terry Martin is the consummate craftsman. In this short video, Terry shapes a perfect traditional noserider, talking us through his philosophy and technique as he works.

Enjoy the video, we hope it provides some insight to your shaping experience.

Brad

A Guided Tour Through Foam E-Z's Shop!

We put this video together to try to give everyone a better idea of what our shop looks and feels like. In addition, we wanted to put some faces with the voices and emails for the Guys at the shop (Grant and RadRob). Foam E-Z is housed in a 1200sq foot retail shop/warehouse here in North Orange County, Southern California.

Aloha Glassing is a large professional glass shop just adjacent to our shop that can meet all your glassing needs, if that's what you desire. There are a number of professional shapers (Minchinton, Bettis, Stamps, and more) making surfboards in our business complex and they are always more than courteous to give advice or answer some shaping questions. Ding Repair is another service available at our location.

So as you can see we are full service providing all the tools, materials, knowledge, and a professional shaping room to build your own board (B.Y.O.B.) all under one roof. For more information on the EZ Shaping Box view the video in the blog. If you decide that you only want to shape your own board (S.Y.O.B.) and want it professionally glassed we can provide that service for you right next door.

If you haven't been to our shop and are in the area please stop by and check us out. For all of you that haven't visited Foam E-Z, we hope the video tour gives you a good picture of our committment to providing the best in board building supplies that are available.

Look forward to seeing you soon-

Brad