Grain reach a milestone...

Grain Surfboards Celebrates 1,000 Surfer-built Boards

Build-it, Surf-it: Grain Surfboards of York, Maine celebrates over 1000 Wooden Surfboards built by their customers and students, as Home Grown Surfboard Kits and during Grain Board-building Classes.

Grain Surfboards was founded when the owners had the inspiration to build their own surfboards rather than buy manufactured boards. Feeling that the fun and challenge of building-your-own was too good to keep to themselves, they began offering DIY kits in 2006, and to hold classes at their shop in Maine in 2008.

You could call it a DIY secret club of sorts. A group of people from all walks of life connected by one thing - the experience of building a wooden surfboard themselves, and the thrill of surfing it for the first time. Grain’s Home Grown Wooden Surfboard Kits are aimed at surfers of all skill levels, ages and backgrounds. “We don't think there is a typical customer,” Co-owner Brad Anderson says. “We've literally had brain surgeons and high-school seniors do it. Seasoned pro-surfers have build these boards and people that have never surfed a day, but love a challenging project that results in a gracefully shaped piece of functional art they can brag about building themselves.”

Each Home Grown Kit is put together by hand in Maine from locally grown, sustainably harvested northern white cedar. The kits come with all the materials you need to build your own board: board frame, cedar planks and rail strips, fin box, leash plug, glue, epoxy, fiberglass, rubber gloves and a very detailed instruction manual. They are available to purchase at online stores, as well as at Grain's headquarters in Maine. Each board takes approximately 50 hours to build, but will be around for a lifetime of waves.

Grain continues to support do-it-yourselfers by adding new surfboard kits and classes every season – all aimed at teaching like-minded others how to give wood its well-deserved place in the lineup.

To view the variety of boards available to build at home or in classes, please visit the U-Build-It section of their website. www.grainsurfboards.com

Tim's new project

This is Tim Staffords new 6’8” x 20 1/4” x 2 5/8” Cleanline EVO5 with oak parabolic rails, epoxy 6oz bottom and a wood/epoxy 4oz sandwich deck. He is aiming to achieve a superlight wood option with a more traditional flex pattern.

" Here we have the EPS core shaped last week… yesterday Jason glassed it in 6oz epoxy on the bottom with 4 oz cut rails all in a pastel olive green… and it looks amazing with its angular rails ready and waiting for next weeks 1.5mm wood deck and some 3/8” parabolic oak rails… then it comes back for a 4 oz clear epoxy deck and rail wrap before it gets its FCS bonzers in an EVO5 set-up. So it is half Glass Tiger half epoxy Cleanline for Indo… The shape has a little more rocker than I normally put in to fit the curvy faces we hope to be surfing, and to help control all that speed. Only reservation I have is I don’t want to get hit by those oak rails!"

6’7” x 20 1/4” x 2 5/8” finished shape


" Big thanks to Mark, Jason, Daz and Nigel for pushing this one through in time for the Mentwais trip, leaving this Thursday. Right now Daz is getting the FCS plugs in and fighting against the clock to have it hard enough to flip over, do the valve, the fin box + drill through, and then sand it before I go."
Well Tim is off on his trip so I hope the board was finished and dry enough to pack as it all seemed to be happening at the last minute.Looks like a pretty tidy package and can't wait to see the trip report Tim.Tim loves his bonzers and inventive hand crafted fins he builds. Check him out at : justbonzers.blogspot.com Also Glass Tiger Surfboards who he has collaborated with on a number of projects.

John Purnell's new project...

"I've used 12 paulownia lengths this time as I found I can get easier access when chambering & less waste, cons - more gluing up ."

" I used Purbond instead of epoxie as its much more user friendly (only time will tell if this was right decision) ."

Close up of the chambering

"It has a bees wax/gum oil finish, keeping in with the whole "Green Board" thing. I noticed a small ding/dint in one rail one day (as the wax doesn't have that hard finish) but continued to surf, then a few days later noticed it had self repaired."

" I used the pro box fin system so I can utilise glass fins (I find timber fins can be a little stiff & I wanted a little bit more flex performance).
Finished weight without fins is 5.1kg, also I am using board wax as its just that more forgiving & easier to surf than using no wax."

Hope you enjoy the shots
cheers John....

John you certainly built a beautiful board and have created a great looking quiver.

Yu-ki Hiratama's new fish

Yu-ki built this board in Japan last year at Paul Jensen's class.He likes the way it rides as well.

Food for thought on judging criteria for upcoming finless board contests

Tom Wegner has sent me this little clip to show the variety of moves , slides and spins that are possible on a finless board. Toms comments and ideas are only being put forward as a starting point for thought from others into what sort of points and judging can be attributed to this new sport. There will be a contest at the Noosa Longboard Festival next weekend , which I believe to be one of the first judged events for finless boards.So I am sure it is the start of something new that will start a whole new wave of ideas which is great.Post your thoughts here for others to read and lets see where it goes.

Mikes latest handplane

Mike Cunningham from New Zealand just finished this all Paulownia handplane with a little stain and linseed oil , all ready for a trip to the Gold Coast for some warm water and couple of waves at this weekends Alley Fish Fry.

New board by Paul Jensen

This is the new board that Paul has been working on in his warm and cosy garage . If you check his blog you will see the whole building process . Nice job , but way too cold for me.
www.hollowsurfboards.blogspot.com

Come along to The Alley Fish Fry in 2 weeks to check out boards like this

Check out : www.thealleyfishfry.blogspot.com for more info

Another great board by Andrew Wells from Lennox Heads

All Paulownia , fully chambered 5' 8" Mini Simmons with at by Shane Martin.

More new boards from Andrew Wells

6ft 2" round tail quad all built out of Paulownia

Andrew Wells from Grown Surfboards always busy building great looking boards

The "Jelly Bean" with Lennox Heads in the background

5ft 8" mini egg built from all Paulownia and a great looking resin tint.

www.grownsurfboards.com.au

Hand planes

Now these are fun things to make and surf. What to do with all those small scraps of wood and hone your shaping skill at the same time. A great project for the kids on holiday or while you are building something else as well.
Check out the last post...

Tha global hand plane tour hits Australia

Gary Murphy in California , well known for his Brownfish boards has spent the last 12 months just building and shaping handplanes. He makes a range of designs and they are beautifully finished.
Jason Hall a photographer with the support of Go Pro cameras has sent one of Garys' hand planes off around the world for a tour of surf spots globally. Well it is in Sydney now and then will be on it's way to the Gold Coast for The Alley Fish Fry which I also organise ,the first weekend in March.I am sure it will be wet most of the day as many people try it out and we capture a little film of the days activities in and out of the water.

Check it out at : www.brownfishhandplanes.com
www.thealleyfishfry.blogspot.com

Joe Larkin , still building boards

This is Joe Larkin glueing up the blank for an 8ft 1931 Waikiki chambered Balsa board. I am not sure what age Joe is these days but he has been doing it for ever and still going strong.He has built many a classic board . His craftsmanship is second to none.Will have some more shots as it comes together.

www.joelarkinsurfboards.com

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