Appeal to build a recycled board

Kevin Cunningham wants to let you know about a new project he has launched to shape a series of wood boards that use found drift wood and plastic debris that washes up on the beaches. He is going to be using the drift wood in the skins of his boards for inlays and the plastic debris to make fins and also for inlays. He plans to show these boards in galleries and other venues.

" To make this happen I launched a funding campaign on Kickstarter.com. I am hoping to raise $3200. As an incentive for people to back my project I am offering rewards of t-shirts, stickers, tote bags, hand planes, and more."

Here is the link to the project site: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/408559255/spirare-sustainable-surf-craft

Not a surfboard but a great looking stick.

It's still wood on water...

Really enjoy your blog, thought that these powder surfboards could fit in there... I make them out of maple veneers and press them in a big mold I made...Next ... pack out channels with balsa wood and vacuum bag a piece of ptex onto the base... Boards have deck concave, tail kick, and zero camber, just like a traditional skateboard... Super fun to make and tons more fun to ride in steep powder .. No bindings, or straps, just deck grip, and surfboard leash...

More info at www.decembersnowskates.blogspot.com If interested ..

Thanks for your time

Kevin

Grain Surfboards announce 3 new classes for the coming year

Grain Surfboards is pleased to announce three new additions to their 2011 class schedule, which include Jon Wegener and Cyrus Sutton as visiting instructors.

For the past two years, Grain Surfboards has been inviting virgin board builders into their workshop to learn how to build their own wooden board from scratch. This year, the schedule includes three brand new classes expanding Grain’s offerings: early Hawaiian surf craft, body surfing hand-planes and a rapid-fire 3-day board-building workshop.

In the fall of 2011 Grain hosts Alaia pioneer Jon Wegener at their York-based workshop. For this unique workshop, students will have the privilege of spending two-and-a-half days with Jon Wegener learning about the traditional Hawaiian finless board known as an “alaia” (ah-lie-yuh). Students will be provided with the fast-growing “paulownia” wood to glue up their own blanks, cut their outlines, and under Jon’s skilled eye, shape the delicate arcs that create the magic of a simple, finless plank. On day three, each board will be oiled and ready for a one-of-a-kind surf session with the Wegeners who will bring their own personal quiver of alaias to try out. The class is scheduled for September 8th-10th, 2011.

After a day off, Grain will welcome the King of hand-made, Cyrus Sutton. Cyrus is the force behind Korduroy.tv, that other place on the web to learn how to make your own surf-craft. "Maine is such a pristine place and the guys at Grain are doing such great stuff,” said Cyrus who visited Maine last summer, “I'm really excited about this." In this one-day class, Cyrus will guide students through the process of cutting and shaping their own hand-plane. Use of edge tools, sanding and sealing will be covered as well as an in the water demo showing how hand planes can maximize your body surfing experience. The class is scheduled for September 11th.


“Jon and Cyrus both have the same passion as we do for helping surfers to build their own. Hosting them at our shop is another way to welcome new people to the experience while celebrating our collective passion for sharing, for surfing, and for craftsmanship,” said Brad Anderson, one of Grain's co-owners.

Starting in February of 2011, Grain gives “team-building” a whole new meaning. Teams of two students together build a single board with a Grain board builder directly helping as needed to keep on schedule. This class is designed as an affordable way to teach board building to anyone who either wants tips that will help in building a HomeGrown Kit at home, or is merely curious about how it’s done, whether they surf or not. This class is a great opportunity for couples, buddies, and family members. The 3-day Board Blitz will be offered twice in 2011, June 3rd-5th and August 5th - 7th. All the boards built in the class will be sold for the cost of materials which is around 20% of the cost of a new surfboard.

Grain will continue to offer their popular 7-day intensive workshop throughout 2011. The workshops include all materials, tools, and instruction as well as a near-gourmet breakfast and lunch. Each student leaves at the end of the week with a beautiful surfboard that they built with their own hands.


For the complete 2011 class schedule and more information, please contact:

Tyler Briggs
Grain Surfboards
60 Brixham Road
York, Maine
207-951-1820
pr@grainsurfboards.com

Nathan Grey has been busy...

" What started off as a 6’4” Alaia fish hybrid, now 6ft long. made from Paulownia scraps I had left over.Which I chambered and vented and then finished it with 100% Tung oil. I made the small keels with Solomon island black wood{ queen ebony}."

"10ft stand up paddle board built in paulownia and balsa and a bit of cedar."

" A couple of my hand planes for bombing shore break barrels, small one made in Balsa and the big one in Paulownia."

" They both have deep 3/4” inch concave through them."

Nathan is a great craftsman and an innovative guy who build furniture and wooden boards.You can check out what else he has been up to at : www.nathanielgrey.com.au

Rob Machado on a very small piece of wood.

Machado Peanut Cardiff h264 from rook productions media on Vimeo.

New board coming to life

Peter Mo applying the gloss coat to Tony Crimmins latest board. That sure makes the colour pop in the timber. Great looking board Tony. He will be glad he got it finished before Christmas as Tony is flat out in Brisbane with the floods in his roll of police logistics. He has plenty of long days ahead of him.