wooden surfboard

[frosties]

Hi everyone, I've just joined forum and wanted to share how to make a hollow wooden surfboard. I've already started a thread but I think it got removed :roll: I might add I'm not trying to sell anything I'm just seeing if anyone would like to build their own board.

 

[Lowlife]

Very nice indeed, somehow a proper hollow board like that is so much nicer than the usual veneered foam core, if I hadn't had to give up stand-up surfing a few years ago due to a knee injury I'd be happy to ride a board like that. I've been thinking of trying paddleboarding next summer, if I find I can do it OK I might think about building a wooden board.

What timber are you using BTW?

 

[frosties]

Thanks Lowlife. I've used all kinds. Lighter material is obviously best. Western red cedar, redwood/sequoia. slow grown cedar is usually straighter grained, stronger and tighter grain. Balsa is lightest but not too strong.
I love paulownia also called foxglove tree,empress wood or kiri iri in nz/aus. ten times the strength of balsa, almost as light and looks lovely. heres a board from paulownia and reclaimed mahogany for accent

 

[frosties]

sorry this should work. The mahogany is an old conservatory. Been using it for lots of projects. Give me a shout if you want a hand with some plans. You could ask santa for a new knee It sure is a pain full injury

 

[frosties]

I love the mix of cnc but still having a great deal of hand finishing

 

[Lowlife]

I was thinking you might say WRC, I'm using it to build a boat at the moment, nice timber to work with and very light. A few years ago we built two identical canoes, one strip planked and one cold moulded, both in WRC, to compare the two methods.

You could ask santa for a new knee

The knee problem comes in the transition from lying to standing, it tends to give up on me and collapse, which is why I've been thinking of paddleboarding as I'd already be standing. I can still snowboard wearing a knee brace, trouble is saltwater is not friendly to the metal components!

 

[frosties]

WRC is lovely to work with and smells amazing. I'd love to make a strip planked canoe. I think I'd go with the bead and cove strips. I started drawing up the plans. My little workshop isnt quite big enough though.

 

[frosties]

Untitled by frostie's, on Flickr


Untitled by frostie's, on Flickr

new board

 

[jimi43]

I spent a very enjoyable summer on a beach in Cornwall in my youth...I used a huge red wooden rescue surf canoe....what a monster that was and quite heavy...but once you got used to it you could control it really well in surf and on flat calm.

I remember setting the sea to beach speed record one day as I was calmly paddling along it the sun and a huge basking shark surfaced just below and in front of me! I don't think I have ever paddled so fast in my life until I realised what it was...by which time I was half way up the beach!

There were some beautiful hollow wooden boards around...particularly over near Sennen.....it's great to see them back again after the plastic era!

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Jim

 

[frosties]

Cheers Jm, must have been scary the old basking shark. This time of the year they are being spotted at sennen everyday almost.

 

[Tomyjoiner]

nice boards!

 

[Kalimna]

Very nice boards indeed. Im afraid my experience of surfing is about one weeks total over a couple of years at a beach in North Devon.
Desperate to get down there again, but around here (Alloa) there isnt much call for surfing!
And so far, Ive only ridden the foam newbie boards, but seeing yours, I have a strange desire to have a go at making one - and would gladly take up your offer of plans.

An unexpected project on the forum here

Cheers,
Adam

 

[=Adam=]

Frosties these look awesome!

I want to get into surfing as I live in swansea and the gower is only a stones throw away!

I would love to build my own (as you have done)!

Are there guides or plans out there for doing so?

 

[frosties]

Theres a great forum called tree to sea.org. I post al my builds there and there are a wealth of knowledgable people happy to help out. If you would like I could send you a pdf file that you can take to a local printers and print out the templates for the internal frames. Its a great project and if you have the tools and space go for it. PM me with an email address and I'll send you a file. I am starting a tree planting scheme that I'll plant 50 trees every board I sell so you could send a small contribution if you like if not no problem I'll send you the file anyway. Good luck and check out tree to sea. I Will be there to help you along the way

 

[=Adam=]

thanks for the reply!

Do you cut all of the internal supports using a cnc machine or do you use routers etc?

I have got acess to all of the tools that I could possibly need for a build like this (minus a cnc machine).

Out of interest, how much do you charge for your boards?

Thanks again!

 

[frosties]

I started by using bandsaw with template glued onto the ply. I use cnc now and design the boards with solidworks. Each board takes about 40 to 100 hours depending on the process. Start around £1400 which is actually pretty cheap when you calculate, machinng time materials labour e.t.c e.t.c

 

[=Adam=]

Is tree to sea a forum or is it more of a blog?

What are the advantages to having a hollow board as opposed to a fibre glass one?

 

[L2wis]

wow these look amazing!

 

[frosties]

hi guys, thanks for the interest. more info on why wooden surfboards are better for people and planet over on my new website www.driftwoodsurfboards.co.uk

 

[LJM]

Loving your work, Frosties! I used to surf a bit (still got an old day-glow Roger Cooper somewhere), and always hankered after a wooden board; the paradox between the ethos of most surfers and all the plastic, rubber, fibre glass, nylon we consumed didn't escape me.

I'm sorely tempted to have a go at building one, and get back into sufring. But i'd have to make one for my daughter too...