4ft 2" x 21" Mini Simmons / and body board for Glenn deep in Victoria.

A bit of a challenge hand shaping this little puppy , but it turned out to be lots of fun. Glenn wants to be able to ride it finless as a body board or put a set of keel fins in and ride it as a Mini Simmons.It has a full length concave that sneaks out through the nose between the rolled shoulders and a full width one out the back. Fast and full of lift. Also a slight concave deck to lay into.

 3mm rail band going on

 4mm and 3mm skins cut and ready for bagging

 Setting up the rocker table , as simple as it can be and all that is needed to hold the rocker

 Sucking it down onto the foam so that the foam is encapsulated in wood now

Simple and 2 hours later it will be all done.

All trimmed up and ready for the rail bands to be laminated

3 laminates of 5mm thick rail bands put on one at a time

 You will be amazed at the hold you can get with good quality masking tape

 

Cleaned up and trimmed up once again

 

Then nose and tail blocks laminated aon all at once

 Cleaning up with the hand plane once again

All ready to go off and have the fin boxes routed in and set in epoxy. Plus Glenn wants to be able to use it as a body board as well as a stand up Mini Simmons, so it will have a leash plug each end.

I like to use Futures boxes and fins as I have faith in the method I use to install them is strong and reliable. Because the board is so small and most fins too big I have taken a pair of these solid glass K2's and have the guys at Alkali Fins in Ballina re shape and foil them to a simmons inspired design I gave them. It will bring the area and size of the fin down a lot to suit the board.Plus the rounded profile will be way more fun and forgiving , as this is a powerful design as it currently is.

They did a great job and suit the board very well.

Oiled up with 4 coats of lanolin brings out the colour

A great little project that should give Glenn heaps fo fun.

A couple of rare classics looking for some tlc.

 

Lee Kearney from Evans Head has been carrying around a couple of old balsa boards for quite a while now in hope of someday restoring them but has realised he will probably never do it and is keen to get rid of them and was wondering if I could help him out by getting the word out there. One is a Gordon Woods and the other was striped back before he got it but was apparently a Wallace. They would both be full restorations. The woods also has the registration sticker on it. 

"If you no anyone that would be interested he woulkd like to hear from you."

 

Contact Lee on : 0428 283 855  or l.kearney.11@student.scu.edu.au

If you didn't get to this years Byron Bay Surf Festival - This is what you missed.

Three days of music, art, crafts, film, lifestyle, tipi markets, shaper displays and a whole array of activities from woodwork fin and hand plane workshops to free beach yoga & pilates classes, health and fitness presentations, indigo tie dye board bag making and surf literature talks, book launches, discussion panels, interviews, short film comps and freestyle surf sessions proved delectably exhausting. There was a hell-of-a-lot going on which created a buzz in town that lasted well beyond the festival weekend.

The 2014 Byron Bay Surf Festival received high praise of surf industry veterans, including Tom & Nick Carroll, Nat Young, Jack McCoy and Albe Falzon describing the surf culture festivities as a very unique one of a kind gathering.

Keep your eyes on all the creative and innovative developments for BBSF 2015 -byronbaysurffestival.com

Mark Riley has your Balsa Wood supplies covered

  Super light in weight and super clean and dressed ready for your new longboard. These can be delivered anywhere around Australia. These range from 80kgs/m3 and no heavier than 140kg/m3. If you compare this to paulownia its about half the weight and its easier to work and resin sticks to balsa. To have a board thats going to last a life time you need to glass a board to get a really nice polish and durable board.

 If you wanted to buy some balsa per stick
85mm X 150mm X 1800mm $70.00
85mm X 150mm X 2100mm $90.00
85mm x 150mm x 2400mm $110.00
85mm X 150mm X 2700mm $120.00
85mm X 150mm X 3000mm $150.00
85mm x 150mm x 3300mm $170.00
85mm X 150mm X 3600mm $180.00
85mm x 150mm x 3800mm $190.00
If you spend over $500 you will get another 10% off.

If you have any questions then send Mark an email -  mark@riley.com.au 

 Or check out the site for more details - shop.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au

The Duke replica

Deon Rowe decided to make himself a copy of the Duke surfboard that is in the Freshwater Surf Club. And with next year being the 100th year celebration of Duke Kahanamoku coming to Australia it seems like a great tribute and project.He had no prior experience in doing something like this, but had access to the original board to take photos and measurements.He got hold of me to ask some advice of glue and timber and how to go about it.The board is 8ft 8" and built from solid Paulownia. The original id made from solid Cedar I believe.

This is Deon sorting the Paulownia for the build.

 The original

 I think this board would be a test for Kelly to ride as well

Getting close to finishing 

 These are a couple of shots of The Duke with the original board 99 years ago.

It looks like it has been a great project and Deon will have himself a piece of history to share with his kids some day. I will post more pics and info when he sends them. I am looking forward to his ride report.

 The christening

Not sure how this ended.Deon said it was not the easiest board to ride but lots of fun.