The rise of the Precision Shaper Machine. A reflection

Surfboard Shaping Machines  typically are very expensive and there is a ton of mis-information and confusion circulating in the market about what is needed to achieve the successful milling of surf, sail, wake and kiteboards.

In this article I would like to share the inception story of the now Precision Shaper system.

I would like to start by giving you some background about me.  I started shaping surfboards in college back in 1991 to be exact. I attended the University of Washington and quickly learned the Pacific Northwest had excellent, uncrowded surf when the conditions permitted.. I shaped boards for friends and family back in Hawaii, Implant Students from other states and my own personal boards.  I also shaped boards for some of the more popular surf shops in the Northwest territory during the late 90's..

I was very familiar with CNC machines and was part of a group of shapers in the NW that was looking to purchase a machine from Brazil.  I seriously considered building my own machine with the help of a few of my engineer buddy's but after much thought and planning decided it would cost a significant amount in materials and the time it would take was hard to determine. I had a decent understanding of business and how to create a product  thanks to the  University of Washington and knew the potential issues with any first attempt or start up would cause un-planned for time and money.  It's pretty obvious that making and supporting a product is difficult, you really can't fake it especially if you are to sell a product on the open market.

After a few months of debating with the organized partners over business practice, investment amounts and which machine to choose I decided to go off on my own and start Precision Shapes NW.  The partnership just didn't pencil out on paper and there were to many sketchy agreements amongst our partnership. Instead of the Brazillian DSD machine I selected to purchase an APS3000 from Australia.. At the time this was the newest machine on the market and had a very unique cutting technology.. After making some phone calls and asking some very respected shapers whom I had a relationship with confirming they felt this was the best value for the money.

I put my deposit in and was told to expect a 3-4 month delivery window.. Month after month I waited and almost a full year later my APS3000 arrived.  Instead of real shop space for my new APS3000 I was forced to put it in a outbuilding on my property as I had been making payments on it for 10 months to the bank..  I got her up and runnin and I started producing my quirky short, fat winged swallow quad and twin fin designs that you will find everywhere on shop racks today..

Working with the APS3000 was interesting I quickly learned about things that really didn't make sense for me.. I wanted to move the machine but she is very big which meant lots of shop space needed. Clean up was the act of going into a dust piled room with a snow shovel coming out looking like a ghost and the machine consistently due to its design created certain directional forces moving the blank during cutting and caused 4-8mm difference cutting from side to side.  This really became irritating and I eventually got fed up and started retro fitting my APS3000.  After working over all the issues which cost alot of time and money.

 I decided on building my own machine in my spare time.

You can see the history of my progress here  http://www.precisionshaper.com/About.html if you scroll down to the bottom and work your way up you quickly learn how committed I'am to the system I call Precision Shaper.

Building a machine is one thing but you need a software to run it.. At first I used Shape3d a french software that has a big following.. It was a good software program for users that were PC literate.. This is where I felt it necesary to develop a homogenous software that was quick, easy to understand, user-friendly yet powerful enough to satisfy demanding board designers and above average machinists.  The PSD-3d project was born.. There was and is the option to use more open source programs that cost no money.. The reason I chose not to do this is the support.. If you were to supply serious board builders a hardware/software package both sides needed to be supported real time.. This is near impossible to pull off in a open-source environment.. There was to many what ifs so I asked myself the simple question. If I were to start a company and spend on the low low end even $20,000 of my money on a system could I accept the concept of open source support? The easy answer was no way!  To many risks that things could change out of my own control and with no real time support well you get my drift.. What was most important is that if I was to look at a global picture and have a growing amount of users  it would be a nightmare for me to support my customers as there would be no standardization of OS, Software etc.. At that point I might as well throw in the towel..

My PSD-3d software is considered really good by all of our users,  most have experience using all the other software SurfCad, Shape3D, AKU Shaper, APS3000 and Boardcad.  PSD3d was developed to be very direct and stable while I can manage supporting it and can provide my customers immediate support that they appreciate..

Today my machines are used around the world by craftsmen of all different levels.. We have made great progress and really operate via word of mouth. The only constant negative I hear is that some are skeptical of the price of our system.. I always say we will take more money if you want to pay us however just ask our users and they will tell you how good our machine and software is. How easy it is to quickly master and how we pride ourselves on fast and knowledgeable service..

We take great pride in what we do and are not limited to surfboards.  Our system has made signs, hot wires blanks, makes stringers, skateboards, Architectural products and even drone parts. We have extensive knowledge with multiple motors, drive components and structural material design. 

We are passionate about what we do and believe in our capabilities as do our customers.. 

Mike  

The mystery of the cantilever

Cantilever designs can be challenging to engineer however if you truly understand the forces and velocity that a machine will encounter it becomes a very advantageous design..

We moved to a cantilever design with V5.. It's more about creating a user-friendly interface from a loading, registering, maintenance perspective while working toward saving shop space "$$$$" and international shipping costs.

Our system maximizes the advantages of the cantilever due to our software abilities and experience across vast machine builds and mediums.  The secret is really managing all aspects of the design leveraging both positive and negative attributes.  The result is something that works extremely well and has become a dependable and predictable work horse..

Mike 

Precision Shaper Design 3d software

 PSD-3D is a software package designed to be simple, flexible and fast.  I made this software after my experiences running different machines using the available software on the market and becoming frustrated with the results.. 

PSD-3D is very stable and has a focus on not only designing boards in a digital environment I took special attention to the operator interface. This in my opinion will make or break a system.. The tools we provide our operators are not found in any other program on the market. This is just one of the advantages we provide our users.  Next we add "APO" or adaptive path optimization making our system auto-pilot enabled.  To sweeten the pie we have a very very special algorithm that was designed specific to the drive components I created providing very smooth transitions and traverses

Our software can open Shape 3d, AKU "yuck" and APS3000 files as long as you learn the simple rules of our program.. If you do so all transfers with ease and we even can locate design errors in your native files..

Last I must mention the most important.  When you decide to become our customer you are buying not only a great system you get excellent hardware and software support.. Why? Because we designed both from the ground up to work together in harmony..

That's the difference. Thoughtfully designed, proven, well supported, and pound for pound will beat its competition hands down.  The fastest return on investment, the best supported, the most easy to use, low affordable maintenance and deadly accurate mills..

Because of our capabilities we control our own destiny providing our customers stability..

Construction material Aluminum vs Steel

PSV5.II 2010

 Which is better? What is heavy duty? What will last? What makes sense?

ALUMINUM VS STEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unlike the "one hit wonder" surfboard machine builders here at Precision Shapes we have created a plethora of different machines from both a design and material stand point.  If you do some homework on us you will learn that we utilized different frame materials, different drives,  linear rail systems and finally both servo, stepper and encoded stepper motors creating quality working machines that are found world wide. We do extensive testing on all our products before we release them for sale..

Why?  Because I learned back in college the only way to be sustainable is to have a wide variety of experience in whatever you do.  You need not only be able to design a product and execute a build with your primary product selection, you really should know and understand what your competitions using understanding strength and weakness in order to find and position our product in the market place. Components and vendors change and you must always be ready to integrate new technologies without introducing risks for PSNW and its customer base.

First realize that the below paragraphs are really directed at Surfboard machines specific.  

Steel: Its heavy!  However this has nothing to do with being heavy duty. It does have excellent vibration dampening property's.  I will say that if you look at most the big bad steel machines they usually have aluminum board holding fixtures. So the vibration is still in play.. Also due to the weight of the machines gantry/car you need to use much larger motors to push and pull all that weight back and fourth. Is this heavy duty? Or just Heavy? lol.  Some of our competitors like to use the old Thermal Expansion scare tactic. " Aluminum will expand and contract".  Well lets see the truth is all metals face potential Thermal Expansion or the act of the metal increasing and decreasing in size during temperature change. Steel does this roughly 1/2 the amount of Aluminum. You would need to have a significant temperature change for this to come into play at all.. We are talking micro-inches of change through a major and fast temperature change. Our users just don't have this issue.  Is it our construction method? Maybe strategic leverage of design? Or maybe anyone who owns a machine  should provide a proper stable environment that coincides with protecting electronics and motor drives which quickly eliminates the micro-inch thermal expansion possibility?

In the end if you put your machine in the space shuttle traveled to the sun then back to the moon at warp speed after the machine expanded and contracted it would take minutes to make some adjustments getting her back to true.  HMMMMM??..   Besides even the steel machines have aluminum plates in critical area's they even use aluminum to hold their boards.. Tah Dah thermal expansion!! LOL.

Steel to me is just a hassle and really gives you no advantage. Lining up linears on a steel machine is a real hassle and unless you mill the frame and can control powder coating thickness binding or sticky spots is inevitable.. That's ok most hacks solve this by slapping some bigger motors on their machines to fight through the lack of precise build execution.

 I laugh harder when I hear my machine is "Heavy Duty" only to look at the machines design and understanding the designer fell into the excessive weight abyss.

 I wonder did anyone ever measure the amount of true cutting force needed per medium?? Guess what?  I know exactly how much force is seen at variable velocitys at different depth of pass on my system.  You see others may be forced to use steel due to the fact they hang a 5hp -60lb spindle on their z axis and in order to support that they have another 100+lbs of mass.

 Do they have the ability to code a software to create smarter tool paths that work within the machines traverse forces?? The answer is usually NO.

So IMHO steel just seems like a waste of time and weight causing no real advantage. More weight= bigger motors= more money and expensive repairs not to mention greater power consumption and adding upgrades is a major costly overhaul.

I really like working with Aluminum for most board related machines.  Balance and structure of design is really the key to using aluminum framing. Its easy to just start adding power and weight. The magic is designing and building efficient and as lean as possible while providing predictable performance.

  So remember bigger is not always better..

So to those building machines or may attempt to build their own machine remember the rule of "HEAVY DUTY".  Is your machine really heavy duty?  Or is it just heavy fighting to perform with all the excess weight you have added. Do you even know what forces and tolerances you are dealing with?   I suggest you learn those first before you break out the pencil and paper.. 


Good luck and have fun..

Why??

The answer is a bit complex and has multiple reasons.  I grew up with the ocean as my playground.  Mom took me to the beach everyday as we lived 2 blocks away from the very spot that was the birth place of the sport.  Since a very young age I had a fascination with surfboards, canoes really anything that appeared to glide or fly across the ocean.   This passion grew and eventually started making my own boards.  I rode some of the best boards made by some of the greatest shapers but nothing was like making and riding my own..  The more boards I made the more respect I had for shapers.  Shaping is truly a craft that is very technical and complex.  I became addicted to the study and theory of board design and certain shapers had very intriguing methodology. These shapers I idolized. In fact I have much respect for anyone that takes any part in the art of board building as since 1991 I have had my hands on foam, cloth and resins lol..

 I have always been a tinkerer and if you know anything about me my passion is to create things that make life better, more efficient or to simply improve on a pre-existing product that in my opinion is not yet at it's full potential.

 With my board building background and being a tech tinkerer  I decided to create the Precision Shaper System.

1. To aid small to medium hand shapers, giving them a way to save their joints and  learn a new modern way of doing things if they care to.  

2. In the hopes to ensure in the future more boards are still made by those that care to in a more efficient manner.

3. To satisfy the "I" generation. Kids these days are part computer it is like an extension of their minds and so to help relate and bridge that gap I went my own way.

4. To provide a competitive edge for the small and medium shaper's against over seas manufacturing giants and big marketing dollar surf mag brands.

5. To empower shapers by providing the ability to own their own machine eliminating cutting center dramas and putting that money back in their own pockets.

6.  I'm passionate about CNC motion systems and developing stable and very specialized software

7.  Because I could

Whatever the future holds, wherever we take it, however you want to get there.  GO YOUR OWN WAY!!!!!!!

Open Source softwares and Surfboard Shaping Machines

This is a topic that can be a double edged sword.  Open source is a great way to develop software for some applications.  The idea is to have a group of developers lending their individual expertise to a particular project/software  that will be distributed for free to the masses..

The idea is not new and while teamwork is always a great way to accomplish our goals I have to take a few moments and list some of the issues relying on open source software in a cnc Business environment..

 Lets call it what it is..

1.  Open source software is really geared toward the hobbyist user.. These users have little to no real expectations as the software is free. They also have very little production needs or time frame requirements. This is the perfect user for an open source style software. I like to believe these types really do not need the assistance of CNC equipment.

2. This means that the user himself is most likely responsible for building his or her own CNC machine which will be used for his own personal use. In this case it works. Again no real expectations, low barrier of entry and no responsibility.  This does not mean this individual cannot find some amount of success using open source software.

3. The integrator:  This is a small company that produces a product or machine to sell on the open market based on open source software.. Why you ask? Well its free!  It relinquishes the responsibility of the machine builder when things go wrong.  It also opens up the machine owner to a host of risk in my opinion.

Such as:

1. No real time support
2. constant bug fixes do to multiple coders working free lance
3. Never ending version issues
4. No real way to consistently manage customers using different versions
5. Hardware vs software integration issues
6. Longer more difficult setup times
7. No true stable environment
8. Potential nightmares
9. Lost revenues

This goes on and on you get my point. I hope.

In a nut shell with my 12 years of experience dealing with CNC surfboard machines these issues boil down to who you are as a individual, what type of business you want to have, how serious you are about your business and if you will try to cut corners relying on a freeware.

So either...:

1. You use an open source software relying on multiple coders who are not getting paid to perform or will ever be held accountable where and when the shit hits the fan.  Think about it you pay thousands of dollars for a machine and then leave the brains of your operation to a separate group who really has no interest in your business aspirations.

2. You find a software that has been developed by machine builders, professional software developers that get paid to support a specific software created for a specific purpose. This paid for software comes with guaranteed support, stable delivery and maintenance. This option looks at paying customers and will upgrade based on their real world business needs all the while ensuring it is bug free and if so they move like lightning to correct any mistakes.

In my honest opinion anyone looking to buy a machine needs to really understand what they are buying. The devils in the details and unless you are the hobby type attempting to build your own machine I would stay clear of the open source option.

Look at any serious systems builder and you will find they either use a premium 3rd party software with support or they have coded their own refusing to leave their company's destiny in the hands of non paid  developers that could have any agenda..

Precision Shaper has used open source software.  Actually we have a copy of a very popular os available software and through testing and trials really could never feel right putting any of our machine customers at risk. It was frustrating enough navigating in the design to G-code module, and the tool paths in our opinion pretty generic and archaic.   Our customers have real expectations, they demand support and appreciate how we look out for their business and their best interest. There is nothing wrong with Open source software.. I just would not recommend making a large monetary investment on a machine and trying to run a legitimate business based on it..

This is why we created PSD-3D surf design software. The most affordable and well supported CAD/CAM Surf software available. It runs not only our machine but any 3 axis cnc surfboard machine.

Sorry its not free but very quickly you will learn its worth every cent.. ;)

Mike 

Machine vs. Man

This is really an age old topic and one that I have lost steam for over the years so I decided to blog my thoughts. These thought have been made up over time with real life experience from both sides of the fence. Like everything this article is my though on this topic as of 11/10/2012 I rerserve the right to change my mind at anytime as the future may show a path most unexpected.

I  have hand shaped, glassed, designed, sold, distributed, repaired, dealt with really good surfers that know surfboards, some surfers who think they know surfboards "which usually can't barely surf", designed machines and software/manufactured machines/software and finally supported the products I have created

What is intriguing is the amount of truly uneducated opinions on both sides.  I really am now biased but easily ride the fence on the topic as I understand the importance of both disciplines. YES! I said disciplines!  Both hand shaping and to successfully use a shaping system have value.  Lets take a deep breath and commit to understand and reflect on the below. 


1. Hand shaping. What is it "To me"?

* This is the art of creating a sculptured functioning shape for a determined application out of typically a like crude form or surfboard blank.  The craftsmen will remove sections of the blank using typically a power tool or power tools that "ASSIST" him at the task until he is satisfied with the outcome.

***Power tools

 Here is the issue I have.. Using a powered tool is this really a hand shape?  The ancient Hawaiians climbed steep mountains looking for just the right Wili, Koa tree to drop with a handmade stone or bone tool. They prayed and drug the giant tree to a place they could carve down the fallen timber into a Ol'o or Ala'ia Hawaiian sliding board or surfboard. To me this is a true hand shape and when this art was lost so was the hand shape "to me".  Man making a man powered tool for true man powered work or shaping. In fact most of the surfboards made today or created with materials by machines and chemicals man made during World War I,  not a natural giant tree grown from the soil of earth.  So even if we decide to fire up the old Skil 100, Hitachi and walk back and fourth hacking away at blanks a powered "USING ELECTRICITY" tool is used that assists man in his efforts. 

*** Concept and Inception of a surf craft.

     More important  lets consider where the base of the board design is conceived?  Well that my friend starts in your Cranium that's right your brain. Hopefully being a shaper you still get to surf and ride/test the designs you create for others.  This is the nucleus of designing surf craft or any product.

Your experience on a particular design vs changing surf and wind conditions. Even your physical ability and health vs time and space matter.. Let's face it most of us in our later years don't surf like we did when we were 16 LOL.. Not saying its impossible to create good boards if you don't surf but having that experience first hand is priceless. So if we use our brains to conjure up how a board design should work and what attributes should be carved into a blank,  we have ourselves a little issue here. Don't we?

Do we throw our beloved planers in the trash?? By using the power planer does this make our work have no soul?  After all it's a power tool! What really the difference between using a power planer or a CNC machine?  I will tell you my opinion later.

  Maybe at some point us humans will reach an age of enlightenment where we can use more then 10% of our brain,  wave our hands around a blank and make magic shapes appear "kinda like using the force".  Now that would be the ultimate Soul made board man... Far out maaaannnn!


*** Machines and surfboards 

      Machines are created to assist ones brilliant mind.  They were made to save ones aging body the  same reason  power planers were introduced.  They were made to help speed the manufacturing process so its master could spend more time exercising his or her brain on further pushing the limits of their craft,  having time to grow and serve their customer base.  

 Machines are designed and made by man usually men that exercise their brains to a higher level that understand the advantage the machine is as a tool. It takes mans hands to build the machine.  The machine is controlled by you similar to a power planer by using your mind and hands which are always tied to your soul.

 Design good boards or bad boards its up to you. The machine only acts as your power planer does removing material.  Before you walk out and start hacking and sanding at foam with a machine system you sit back,  take time and use your brain to design a board from the inside out.

Most important to understand is most machines take the blank to a specified level of finish which then the shaper has to fine tunes edges, convex, concaves and the overall flow of the design (BY HAND)..  So you still have to scrub the pre-shape to achieve the desired end result.. Yes Hands still are used.

     
*** CNC Machining the art of the craft

     Like everything worth anything mastering something takes time  dedication and skill. A good example is mastering the use of a power planer to shape boards.

There are good hand shapers and bad hand  shapers "is there such a thing anymore? see above if your lost"  There are good board designers and bad board designers. There are good machine operators and bad machine operators.  This is the soul,  the core value that cannot be faked.

Most humans have  always strived to get better at whatever road we choose, is it to hand shape, machine shape or no shape our will, dedication, effort and discipline decides who we are and what we become in our own eyes and the opinions of others.

 Designing boards digitally and operating a machine take a whole lot of skill, patience and intelligence. I have train lots of shapers with different skill levels. Some are fast learners and some take extra work and time to train.  In the end where they decide to take this knowledge and skill I teach them either makes them successful or not.  Just because they have access to a machine doens't make their boards great. Some have a natural gift and others have to work hard at it this is a standard issue whatever industry you are in.

    Whats interesting to me a few times I heard someone complaining about machines in my presence.  "Machines are taking away business from all the hand shapers!" "Machines are the reason for all these off-shore boards!" "Machines are the reason I can't make any money!" This shaper looked like a cave man, his board designs I inspected were pretty stiff for the most part and I immediately decided not to even try to educate this PLANER using shaper as he was older then me and most likely happy building the same old boards off the same old templates, making the same amount of money.  His words made it appear he had some real struggles not only in his business but in life.  I have a athletic background and my coach had a saying "Do you have the will to win or will you give the effort to endure", "If it is to be its up to me".  Pretty smart huh? See we create our own beds and lie in them. No machine or man can dictate how I live or what I do, my life is my responsibility and refuse to make excuses when I have hurdles to overcome. No disrespect if this is who you are and want to be great go fourth.

 Not all the of the designated "hand" shapers are like this.. In fact I know very reputable and highly intelligent shapers that respect machines, understand them and have mastered the art of using them, but just enjoy and are content using their power planers to shape boards. Some even use cutting centers to aid their production when needed.

 So if you are a individuals that believes using machines creates a "Souless" product.  Please save it for when you are around other caveman like individuals who probably don't own cell phones and get to work via horse and buggy. It really comes off as ignorant and makes you look like your stuck in a toilet bowl time warp.  My god man it's 2013  these machines have been around forever and they are not going away. Have pride and deal with it.

 I also understand they are expensive for most and are hard to justify if you make 20 boards or less a year so if this is what drives your insecurity fair enough.  If you choose to never work with a machine that is up to you, maybe you should ditch the power planer too..

  Having tons of machines around only can boost the viability and profitbility of your handshape.  In essence your hand shape abilities should justify a higher price tag on your retail/wholesale product as true Hand crafted products warrant higher margins. Take a look at some of the high end import sport cars like Bugatti a $1,000,000 hand crafted masterpiece. Your board marketed as a hand shaped product even though you most likely got help from a powered tool or planer should fetch you top dollar!! :)


*** How can a small shaper justify a machine

The hard facts.  You need to make a decision what you want out of your craft. Do you want to make it a business, are you already an established business, do you plan on growing your business? Do you want to be leading edge working toward the future and what I consider the I generation (I-phone-Ipad etc.)? What is your philosophy and aspirations?

  For me if I do anything I want to do it very well and give myself every advantage I can to compete in a very competitive market.

What does the machine do for a small shaper? It allows him faster and more predictable manufacturing while giving him or her the time to do the not so fun things about starting/owning a business. Material management, vendor relations, accounting, marketing, distribution and service.. Thats right these six "and their are many more" will destroy a business fast and actually take up more time then producing boards.. Ask anyone doing 150 hand shaped boards a year. That's right only 150 sometimes less if he glasses and sands his own.. Then try to balance the six mentioned above and  your personal life and whammo you quickly seek assistance.  Machines can help you with this if used appropriately.

My philosophy with the Precision Shaper Surfboard shaping machine was always to empower the small and medium shapers. I never was really interested in working with the large surfboard manufacturer as I really dislike marketing built monopoly.  To assist new shapers that have passion for board building.  Remember no one lives forever and as time passes so do torches.  It is important to encourage anyone interested in board building if we in America are to regain the production lost to Asia.. This is the reason we have always tried to make the most affordable machine on the market without sacrificing quality, performance and support.. Believe me this is not an easy task but it's my passion and therefore I'm committed to further developing the system into the future with the hopes to help small and medium craftsmen around the world.. 


***** The Evils of Asia and the role of the machine

Hmmmmm. Shall we think a bit together?  Why have we lost production to over seas manufacturing? Is it because of machines?? Hell no!  It's because the surf industry at one point could not keep up with its own production needs.. As surfing stumbled into the limelight a new consumer market was opened. The I want it right now, for less and I have a credit card.  This consumer forced manufacturers to seek faster production while at the same time a larger margin per part was desired for both the manufacturer and retailers.

 In walks China, Thailand etc. etc and what I call the easy way out. Shapers also got hit over the head by retailers. Retailers wanted to make more money for a product that takes up a whole lot of space. They also get tired of late deliveries, damaged boards with a too bad "well I can fix it" policy.  This is what really hurt the machine complaining Shapers in my opinion, the inability to deliver, support, deal with attrition of their own product while the ever greedy, squeezing retailer forced them into exile. All the while with arms wide open for Asian consignment term boards they could make 2.5 x the amount of profit on..

The decision made is based on simple business principle.. We want to make more money but don't want to invest in ourselves to do so at this point.  Why? Because investing in ones self means,  more real estate (super expensive), more employees ( but where to find quality dependable craftsmen that don't aspire to have their own label) etc. etc.   Ahhh hell let's just ship and send some production overseas to make a line of pop outs for the masses who really only surf on 4th of July weekend and their birthday. We can sell the general public these pop-outs as they won't know any better. It will keep our custom production manageable for the real dedicated surfers and our margins will be better on the overseas boards allowing us to continue our core value bro deals and sponsorship attempts all the while supporting a slack work environment where actual surfing is of most importance.


**** My final thoughts ( Take it or throw it over your shoulder like cow crap)

     As humans we have always advanced ourselves with knowledge and the ability to create things that enrich our lives.  This is why we run planet earth at least for now ;)  When we decide to settle the earth will stand still and that day as humans we no longer are special.  The desire to learn is inherently built into our DNA.  Why deny yourself the ability to be better educated to step into the future with open arms while having the ability to apply the knowledge and know how from the past.. I'm not saying hand shaping should go away, I believe that true hand shapes should be held in high regard especially by those who have worked to become and are recognized as master craftsmen.  These master craftsmen hand shapes should in turn be offered at premium prices. Like anything more hands on more money!

In turn true hand shapers should respect those who have mastered the art of machining products.  You have good designers/operators and bad just like everything.. One thing I have said since building my first machine was that it seemed easier to teach someone how to hand shape.  Some watch video's, bug shapers their senior, read books all on how to shape a surfboard.  They in general very quickly can make something that looks like a surfboard. I challenge the most heralded hand shaper in the world to sit in front of the machine I designed, hand built, programmed and created software for,  to try making just one board with little to no assistance designing or attempting to run mine or any machine.. As simple as we have designed the Precision Shaper without the training we provide it is near impossible to have much success without blowing through blank after blank..

So in essence my point is both disciplines deserve respect as each inherently take skill.  Whatever you decide there is one truth machines are here to stay and they will continue to aquire shaper market share.  The younger generation has grown up with computers and are very comfortable with machines.. Hell they carry pc's in their pockets and have integrated their whole life into these devices.. More and more machine shaped boards will be the norm and will become the vw of the surfboard industry.  This will open the door for those deserving craftsmen to finally get paid for what they deserve as their life dedicated to the amazing art and craft they consider shaping..

So choose a side.. Like Fleetwood mac "Go your own way" but respect and educate yourself before you go poppin off because you may find yourself lookin like a "hodad/kook" in the eyes of potential customers.

Again just my opinions on the topic.  I don't consider myself a great shaper, even if I was I would never admit to it. I can make a nice lookin surfboard using my power planer that rides extremely well "I have been told".

I also made my own cnc shaping system that is now being used by shapers around the globe both novice and experienced all of which to date have increased their business and revenues supporting their local surf community.

You may think I'm an A-hole, my opinions incorrect and I don't know anything about this topic maybe so.  I have spent about an hour to jot down this blog and will forever hold my peace but in the darkest corner of my lab will continue on my path of creating more affordable, dependable and highly accurate tools for those with the aptitude to use them.

 Before you make up your mind I ask you to close your eyes and really think it through whichever side of the fence you sit.

I just love surfing and the art of board building regardless of how it gets done.. One thing is true.. Surfing is always FUN and should always stay the main focus of this debate.

Wow if you read all this you must be bored!!! LOL Good Luck, Stay Healthy, Be positive...

Mike