Date of Birth: December 23rd, 1958
Home Town: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Years Surfing: 38
Years Shaping: 30
Years with Rusty: 18
Approx. # of Boards Shaped: 40,000+
Best Surf Trip: San Carlos to go sailboarding, but there was no wind and the suf was going off!
Previous Labels: My own, “Hot Stick”
Hobbies: Jiu-jitsu
Favorite Type of Board to Shape: High performance shortboards
Least Favorite Board to Shape: Longboards
Favorite Boards from the Past: Twin Fins
Favorite Local Wave: Wind N’ Sea
Favorite Wave in the World: Tavarua
Travels: Peru, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Mexico, South Africa, Indonesia, Fiji, Australia, Mentawais
Future Travel Plans: Europe, Maldives, Galapagos
Something Interesting: Used to shape boards for Rusty at G&S until 1971
How Did You Get Into Shaping? In Australia I started as a helper for Emerald Surfboards in Cronulla, Sydney
If I Wasn’t a Shaper: I would be teaching jiu-jitsu
Ten Year Plan: A farm in Costa Rica Beach Front...
Rick Hamon Hand Shaping
Ray Hamon (Rick's Son) Machine Shaping
This is the burning question that seems to be firing up board builders world wide; here is what Rusty and a few of our other shapers had to say...
"As the body wears out the romance with the planer cools off. It's really the concept that matters; master your tools and bring good ideas to life. Computers definitely bring consistency to the equation."
-Rusty
"The Computer is just another tool, but, I think something is lost if someone has no hand shaping experience."
-Rick Hamon
"One completes the other- you can't design a board on the computer if you can't hand shape one."
-Pedro Battaglin
"Consistency is a plus. Great for keeping track of subtle design changes."
- Hoy Runnels
"At first I was down on computer shaping. I know that it is just another tool, but, it just isn't shaping. But, I guess maybe it has redefined what shaping is, for better or for worse? I don't know. I do know that shapers should be able to hand shape anything and do a good job on it, or you are not a shaper."
-Michael Russo
Photos: Brody
