A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Handheld, rotary-blade, belt-driven power tool used by shapers to sculpt a board from a blank. Originally used by carpenters for tasks like trimming doors to fit into doorjambs, planers were first used on surfboards in 1951 by Southern California boardmaking pioneer Dale Velzy. Previously, boards had been shaped with axes, knives, hand planers, Surforms, and sandpaper.

The shoe-box-sized power planer is held in both hands and run along the length of the surfboard blank, removing layers of foam in a series of "cuts," with the depth of each cut determined by adjusting the planer's blade setting. Sandpaper is then used to smooth out the flats and angles left by the planer. Since the late '90s, with the advent of machine-shaped boards, the planer has been used less and less, particularly for first-pass "rough shaping."

While Velzy maintained his original chain-driven Mall planer was both "the first and the best," pretty much all contemporary shapers agree that the belt-driven Skil 100 is tops—despite the fact that it was discontinued in the mid-'80s.

planer

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews