Surfboard Shaping Mentor 3 Day Program

Price: $499 Total / $250 Deposit Required at Registration

3 Day Surfboard Shaping Mentor Program

Build Your Own Custom Board for Less than Buying a Common Stock "Pro Model" from a Shop.

Private lessons include:

Surfboard Materials & Consumables*

Your Own Professional Custom Logo Lamination

Professional Tool Usage

1-on-1 Instruction from Start to Finish with an Experienced Shaper

Only $499 to completely build a board 7'6" long and below,
$650 for a Longboard

*Our Surfboard Shaping Mentor Programs are currently booked through July. Sign up now for August/Sept/Oct Sessions

Schedule time in our Shaper's Sancutary room whenever's convenient for you to work on your board. After work or school, during the day or on the weekends...
Note: Weekends are very popular and time slots book quickly. Weekdays are more open if you have the time.

Registration for the Mentor Program requires a deposit to schedule your first shaping session timeslot, the balance is due when you start shaping.

Contact us for available times. Email or call the shop at (732) 528-8400

* Your choice of any blank we have in stock, any glassing schedule, and any number of fins you want. Paints, Fins, Leash, and Traction pads not included.

About the program:

Our 3 Day Surfboard Shaping Mentor program saves you trips to our shop and still provides all the education we share in the Deluxe Program in half the time.
It only takes 3 trips to the shop instead of 5 or 6 to complete your new board.

You shape the board with us and since the glassing process is the same thing top and bottom (4 times) with a considerable amount of resin curing between each process, we teach you to glass one side and we do the other side for you - saving you 2 days and 2 trips to the shop.

Here's how it goes:

Session 1: You shape your board with us (about 4 hours). Bring your template or use one of ours.**

Session 2: You laminate the top of your board with us (about 1.5 hours), take a 2 hour break for food or surfing while the resin cures, and then hotcoat the deck with us (about 45 minutes)

Session 3: You install your fin boxes with us (45 minutes), 2 hour eat/surf break for the resin to cure, then sand your board with us (1.5 hours), take it home and surf it!!!

Shaping

Shortboards can be shaped from your choice of Greenlight EPS foam blanks (lightweight) or US Blanks Polyurethane foam (standard weight).
Longboards are shaped with US Blanks Polyurethane foam.

**We require you to bring your template with you to start shaping. This will save you 1-2 hours in the shaping room. Check out the 'how to make templates' section in our Surfboard Building Guide A-Z. You can go all out and make a masonite or plywood template for yourself or simply make a cardboard template which is sufficient. Up to you. We also have templates at the shop if you want to use one of ours but your shape will be limited to what the template is designed for.

Logos:
Email us your jpeg logo to scale and we'll print it on logo paper for you before glassing. You can do up to 2 logos on your board.

Glassing:
We glass boards with top quality fiberglass and Resin Research Epoxy. Epoxy is non-toxic, doesn't smell, you have plenty of working time, and 5X stronger than Polyester resins! You're not making an 'Epoxy Board', you're glassing with epoxy resin! It's superior in so many ways...

Fins:
We offer Futures, FCS Fusion, or ProBox Fin Systems. FCS & ProBox systems use FCS fins and provide fin adjustability to allow you to dial in how well your board surfs. Longboards receive a 10.5" centerfin box and sidebite boxes if you wish...

Sanding:
We sand the board for you to an 80 grit finish to prevent 'burn throughs' in the fiberglass which let water in. We provide sheets of 120, 150, and 220 grit sandpaper for you to complete sanding at home. You can sand outside or in your garage. It's up to you how shiny you want to make it. Sanding to 220 grit is standard.

Deposit required at registration and balance due when you start.

Questions? We're great at answering them. Call the shop at 732-528-8400 or stop in anytime.

Note:
The first rule of Greenlight's Shaping Philosophies is KEEP IT SIMPLE! We will teach you to shape anything you want within reason which includes shallow concaves and Vee bottoms. The mentor program is not intended to build advanced designs like Mini-Simmons and Bonzer type boards. Additional fees will apply for additional time in the shaping room.

After registering for the class, you must:
1. Call or email to schedule your shaping session with us
2. Tell us what size board you want to make
3. Tell us what type of foam you want to use, EPS or Polyurethane
4. Pay the balance of the mentor program at the shop when you arrive for the shaping session
5. Email a JPEG or PDF image of your logo(s) scaled to the size you want. Must fit within a 7" x 10" footprint.

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Product Reviews

(10 Ratings, 5 Reviews)

Average Rating:

shaping program

Steven Sultan (New York, NY) 7/6/2011 4:42 PM

This fall I worked with a local shaper to design a board that I'd had in my head for some time. Shortly after I got that one from him I found out about greenlight's shaping mentor program. I decided that even though I didn't need a board I really wanted to learn to shape my own. Brian and Kevin were awesome to work with and really knowledgable. I had a blast shaping board #1 and have since taken over my parents garage and set up my own shaping bay. I definitely feel confident working by myself after having done the first one with the guys at Greenlight. I've done 3 more at home, and counting...

My First Self-Shaped Surfboard

Liam Mahony (Belmar, NJ) 7/6/2011 4:41 PM

This winter in NJ was very hard to deal with. There was nothing to do; no waves, and it was extremely cold. So I tried to find something else to do that would be worth wild. This February a friend of mine told me about Green Light and I the second I heard that you could shape your own board, there was no changing my mind that I wanted to shape a Board. I went to GL and asked about details. They employees were very helpful and nice in answering my question. I found out that you could any shape you want, any foam, oz. of glass, fin boxes, your own logos, any art work you want to do, for the same flat price from start to finish. A week later I was shaping. I shaped a 5'3 swallow. I met great people and mentors, and the whole time they will help you achieve any type of board you want. The whole thing is that I did not just make a self shaped surfboard I made a great self-shaped surfboard that actually works really well, and the time that I spent making the board was a great learning experience that I will never forget and I am so thankful that I was able to experience the awesome feeling of shaping, and riding your own surfboard! This board came out so good that I am actually going to make another surfboard next month and i am going to bring both the boards I made here at Green Light to California with me for the High School National Championships. To sum it up, I highly recommend Green Light to the place to buy boards from experienced shapers, and the place to make your self shaped surfboard with the help of some great experienced shapers also.

Thanks Brian and Kevin

John (annapolis, MD) 7/6/2011 4:41 PM

I just finished shaping and glassing my board with Brian and Kevin and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. Both guys are extremely knowledgable and patient and the whole process was completely beginner friendly - anyone can do it. Next time you're thinking about buying a new board, stop and consider the Shaping Mentor program. If you're into surfing, you really have to try it.

New addiction

Tony Crisafulli (Hillsboro, NJ) 7/6/2011 4:40 PM

Since the class with Brian and Kevin, I have become addicted to Greenlight. Not only was the class perfect, the supply store has everything you could possibly need to shape your own board. Brian is definitely the MacGyver of the shaping world and has a tremendous amount of knowledge and patience. Kevin was super patient, and equally as knowledgable. Right after I shaped with them, I bought their shaping videos, and started shaping at my house. I consider those guys my friends and mentors now, and will be a loyal customer of theirs for as long as my hands will let me shape. I will give the shop, the guys and the class the highest recommendation that I could possibly give.

Do This!

Traynor Fritsch (Red Bank, NJ) 7/6/2011 4:39 PM

THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO DO THIS! It’s something fun to do and you get to learn a lot. Why go out and buy a board that you might like, when you can build a board you love? Everything is included in the price, blank, glassing, leasing plug, fin boxes, etc. So for the same price, you can have an experience you won’t forget. I was probably there 6 times maybe 8 hours total, so it’s a pretty quick process. I took about a month to get it done due to my work schedule, but you could probably get it done in a couple weeks. They have flexible hours and I had no problem scheduling sessions. I signed up for Greenlight’s mentor program over the winter and it was a fantastic experience, I would highly recommend it to anyone that surfs. I’ve always been interested in shaping my own boards but didn’t want to try it on my own because it would most likely end up as an expensive mess that I would never finish. So I found Greenlight online, called up the shop and talked to Brian (the owner) and started shaping within two weeks. I worked with either Brian or his employee Kevin along the way. Both of them were really good at explaining the process every step of the way, they are really laid-back, knowledgeable, and willing to answer any questions I had. To start, I didn’t have a template but I had a general idea of what I wanted to do. Kevin helped me draw out an outline on a blank board with one of their templates, and began shaping within 30 minutes of our first session. Within an hour, it started looking like a surfboard. Basically, they would show me how to do a step, and then I’d do it. If it looked like I’d had a handle on that step, they’d let me work at my own pace, checking in every once in a while. Further along the process when things start getting more detailed, they were always there to keep an eye on my work. Definitely do this if you have interest in shaping boards. Get off the couch and do something! It’s also a great gift idea. -Tray