LOS ANGELES — Well into his 70s, Terry Martin could be found most days in his workshop in Dana Point sanding blocks of polyurethane foam into precision-shaped surfboards. With his big white beard and barrel chest, he looked like Santa riding out a blizzard of swirling white dust.

Over a nearly six-decade career, Martin is said to have shaped more boards than anyone — some 80,000, though the exact number is unknowable. (He said he stopped counting after 50,000.) His output and perfectionism made him an icon among the tight-knit fraternity of surfing’s best shapers, one of a dwindling number of craftsmen who earn a living making boards by hand.

Martin, 74, died May 12 at his home in Capistrano Beach after a battle with melanoma. His death was announced by the Hobie Surf Shop in Dana Point, where he worked off and on for 40 years.

“He wanted to get out there and make another board up until the day he died,” said his wife of 43 years, Candy. “He was at his happiest when he was making people happy in the water.”

Martin’s career spanned surfing’s transformation from a fringe sport to a global business. As its popularity has surged, the custom boards by hand-shapers who infuse their creations with the “soul” of experience have been largely replaced by factory-made products, primarily from Asia.