Caro

px:jaywatson/edfladung

"You have to ask yourself, “Why do you shape?” Do you want to be someone who makes replicas or someone who makes originals? There was a point at which I was so slammed with orders that I tried the machine. I did it, but it was the most unsatisfying experience. It was utterly boring. It was kind of like getting handed a coloring book and being told, “This is what you make, so make it.” It didn’t provide any room for breakthroughs because if you wanted to change something you would have to go and talk with the computer guy and pay them to make a little change. Those types of changes are instantaneous and intuitive in the shaping room.

If you’re looking at the blank you envision the board first and adapt to whatever is happening with the foam. I am the machine. The handmade boards are special. It’s kind of unquantifiable. And you know, people can tell it was made by hand. I think it is a choice people make when they call me up. Just this morning I chatted with a customer who wants the board for a specific wave, his body type, his surfing, and what he wants the board to do. So I offered him a suggestion that would work. That’s the kind of thing I am really attracted to, being able to steer the ship wherever it needs to go at any moment. I take a great deal of pride in what I do. I want to make boards that become family heirlooms, not boards that have a planned obsolescence."