From A Father-Son Shaping Bay To Crafting Boards For Kelly Slater

Like many, Christiaan Bradley was exposed to shaping through family as a youngster; in his case, via his Dad in a Tasmanian shaping bay. 

A few years later Christiaan found himself on the sand strip that’s home to the Superbank, the Quiksilver Pro and the worst nightclubs you’ve ever witnessed, the Gold Coast.

He started off sanding boards and once he was well-equipped, decided it was time to pack up and take a trip to Europe; here he met Stephen Bell and ended up landing a spot as the Channel Islands ghost shaper in Europe. Work which undoubtedly contributed to his inclusion in Jed Smith’s top 10 Australian shapers who shaped the future of board design. 

Surely you didn’t think Al was single handedly churning out all the pro’s boards across the globe?

Here, Christiaan runs through a brief history of his time shaping for the King in his competitive prime, the origins of his most popular shape and working with Leo Fiovaranti on up to 100 boards a year. While those with with compulsive cleaning habits fret over the state of a well-used shaping and glassing bay.