Luis Gasper from Portugal finishes his first paulownia over EPS board.

 "I started with an XPS blank, 2m x600mm x10mm"

 He made his own hot wire cutter

 "Previously, using 6 mm plywood, I’ve made two templates with the rocker (deck and bottom ) curves. Using some screws I attached the two plywood templates to each side of the XPS blank, and hotwired the same, creating the deck and bottom curves."

 "After that I’ve marked the outline and using a regular saw, I've cut the outline, following the line."

 "Using a sand paper (80 grit) I've shaped the surfboard."

"With a homemade jig, I marked a parallel outline, from 2 cm of the rails, and cutted this portion out from the blank creating the space needed for the solid rails." 

" The blank was ready to receive the wood."

 "I've ordered the paulownia wood from a company in Spain. And bought the polyurethane glue here in Portugal."

"Using your method as you do, I start gluing the parabolic stringer, with 5mm pawlonia stripes."

 "For the deck and bottom, I glued 5 mm paulownia with a little help of my homemade vacuum pump (created from an old refrigerator engine).

But the final result was perfect "

A happy man with his best friend 

Top and bottom skins now on and ready for the rails to go on.

 "For the rails, with another homemade “gadget”, my steam pump I bent the paulownia stripes for the rails, and glued all along the outline, at the end, I ‘ve used four x 5mm paaulownia stripes each side, and for the tail too."

 "I bought fcs fin boxes and a leash plug. Using epoxy resin, I glued all of them to the surfboard.

To give the right angle to the fins, another homemade gadget and the fin angle was perfect."

 "To seal the wood, after a long research, my option was to use a Portuguese marine varnish water based, appropriated for extreme water conditions."

 "And the final result is this amazing surfboard."

 It has been great to inspire Luis to experiment and try building a wooden board this way. The result speaks for itself.

Paulownia in Spain

I often get asked for a contact for Paulownia in Europe and to date there has not been a regular supply. But I have come across these guys and they have planted a plantation of trees and now have a good supply for you. They are in Spain and inland from Tarragona. They seem to have wide range of sizes and are setup to supply you what you need for building wooden boards either hollow or bagging skins on EPS.

For more information or to contact them : info@wood-alaia-surf.paulownia.ws
http://wood-alaia-surf.paulownia.ws/

Bernardo Sodre in Brazil

Bernardo is based in Rio de Janeiro and builds boards and experiments like the rest of us. We have been in contact over the years and worked through the processes together. It is great to see his results.

"Proudly present my second model of what I expect to be my future, not far away, in surfboards crafts. This is a board made with EPS core, skinned with Kiri (Paulownia) wood and sealed with naturals oils and waxes. Same weight as a normal Trusther, with a promising performance, however still in testing.
I would like to thank: Grant Newby, for introducing me part of your wonderful process, @tomwegenersurfboards for telling me several times there is no need to use resin and fiberglass in paulownia boards, @astridperkins and her husband Mathias Soriano for giving me the most natural and sustainable Lanolin wax and Thomas Scott, my great fellow worker who certanly has part in this whole process.
Next step: try to eliminate the EPS core for some organic material
The future is bright!!"

" The first one it´s a 5'8" with PU core, sealed with Tungue oil, and pure lanonin grease. The result was amazing, but the board was a little heavier than I expected
The second one it´s a 5'5" with EPS core, same sealing process. It´s very light! 2.8 kg

I would like to say thank you for sharing with me. These boards and its process to build really opened my mind! I hope I can contribute more and more with this journey to have a more sustainable and functional board"

 Bernardo Sodré
www.umbe.com.br

European Wooden surfboard meet today at Moy Hill Community Garden near Lahinch ,Ireland

We wish the boys well for a great day in the Emerald Isle and look forward to some pics.