Before you set out to liberate that vision of the ideal surfboard that's been festering in your mind, you'll need a workplace, tools and safety gear [see Video, Intro]. Most first-time shapers end up borrowing someone else's shaping bay. This would be the ideal situation for you, as most serious shapers have rooms with good light, climate control, an air compressor and the custom-made, padded shaping racks that you'll need.

As far as the tools go, don't expect anyone who shapes for a living to let you have free reign with their tools. If you're going to work in another shaper's bay, and have watched them work often enough that you think their routine will form the foundation of your approach, it would be best to go out and buy or borrow a similar set of tools.

If you are completely on your own and plan to outfit your own shaping bay, here is a list of the essential tools you will need:

Well, there are the bare bones of it. If you decide to pursue the craft of shaping regularly, you will find the need for other items, or you may decide to customize your own.

Assuming that you have a shaping room to use, we're almost ready to begin. If you don't have a good workspace, you'll need to at least check out someone's shaping bay so that you can jury rig something similar. If you are borrowing a shaping room, take care to ensure that everything is put back in the exact spot that you found them. Also, sweep up and bag your foam dust and cuttings. Temperaments among shapers vary; some are fastidious and others are slobs, but either way, they'll be fuming the next day when they're digging around in mounds of dust trying to unearth their T-square.

I can't work in clutter and chaos. I apprenticed under Rusty Preisendorfer, who set up his immaculate shaping room to be like a surgery bay. Everything had its place so you could find each tool immediately -- in the dark if need be. Rusty brought up the example of the well-known shaper who had once done an efficiency self-evaluation by videotaping himself as he shaped a board. He then played the tape in fast-forward mode and watched for wasted motion or inefficiency. What he found was that there was a fairly large chunk of time and movement spent shambling around in search of tools.

Last, but not least, we need to address the issue of safety equipment. You will need a good respirator, even if you think you are just going to shape one board. The paper filter masks are junk. If you have to use this type of mask, get one of the heavy-duty models with an exhale purge valve, so you won't have to breathe back in your own carbon dioxide or onion breath. Every serious shaper has his dearly held favorite. I've found the best, lightest and cheapest mask to be a 3M respirator, 6000 series used with the 3M 2040 model high efficiency filters. The face pieces come in different sizes and are super light with a good inhalation/exhalation exchange. Best of all, the filter cartridges are cheap and light -- yet rated for uses much nastier than the fine dust you'll encounter.

Do not skimp on or fail to use a respirator. All those photos or videos you see of shapers working sans mask are staged (or the guy is an idiot). Contrary to alarmist rumormonger, polyurethane foam dust is not toxic in any way. It's a fully reacted polymer well distanced from the initial witch's brew of chemicals. It's just sterile dust now, but any fine dust -- organic or inorganic -- poses a definite risk to your lungs. At the time of this writing, a new study has shown that airborne particulate matter may even affect heart rate, to the point where heart attacks, and not lung disease, may be the most serious health threat posed by air pollution. Be sure to wear your mask whenever you are shaping or handling blanks. The larger, visible bits of foam dust might be digested or booger-fied as they get trapped in your mucous membranes, but it is the almost invisibly fine particles that get sucked straight to your lungs. As the gang at Clark Foam say, "It can only go in; it can't come out".

Next in the Grandma finger-wagging department is eye and ear protection. Make it a habit to wear some sort of eyeglasses or goggles when using power tools on foam, or any time splinters or dust could possibly fly up and whack you in the face. Most glasses or goggles either don't fit over the respirator, or will often fog up if they do. I use tennis or racquetball glasses with the nosepiece removed so it can fit over the nose part of your mask. Novice shapers always seem to be immersed in far more dust than the expert, so heed this warning. Dust in the eyes is probably the single biggest reason that most would-be shapers never undertake another board.

The noise from power tools, and even screeching sandpaper, in an enclosed room can be horrendous. So, use a good set of headphones for ear protection. The best ones seems to be the types used on shooting ranges.

Now all that remains is choosing your blank, getting your templates together and barricading yourself in the shaping bay. Your first board will probably take you four to six hours on your own, or maybe three to four hours if you have an experienced shaper there to help you. It's a good idea to break it up into two sessions, giving your eyes a rest. You might want to get the board to the roughed-out stage (Step 4) and come back the next day refreshed, albeit with raw fingers and bloodshot eyes.