Joe Larkins night

Joe was the first surfboard shaper on the Gold Coast and had a thriving business in Miles Street Kirra in the early 60's

Joe surfing Noosa National Park  1963

Joe was the go to man for boards for a long time and had great team working with him.

 Johnny Charlton who grew up in Coolangatta was the MC on the night and kept things rolling. Joe is a character to say the least and there were many stories to be told and yarns to surface on the night.

 Phil Jarratt well known author / writer and surf mag editor had a few tales to share and probing questions to put to Joe. There were many well known faces there and Joe's life has certainly touched a lot of people. I am not great on surf history myself. But it is great to be in a room filled with people who were part of these great stories and hear them first hand.

Joe is a great guy who has had a very full and interesting life .

Joe is well known for his wooden boards of which he is a great craftsman .

PT was on hand to give Joe a fair ribbing and tell some tales on his good mate. PT worked for him in his younger days and Joe was his first sponsor , they go back a long way.

Joe was an avid photographer and film maker who shot the first footage of guys surfing large waves on the northern beaches of Sydney in the late 50's. These and others were picked up and used by the ABC on news reels in the early days. He later sold all his camera gear to Jack Evans for 300 pounds when he moved to the Gold Coast in the early 60's. Jack went on to be one of the great early surf photographers in Australia.

Joe Larkin this Wednesday night

Surf World Gold Coast is hosting a ‘Roast’ night on the 4th April to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of legendary surf pioneer and board manufacturer Joe Larkin’s move to the Gold Coast. 
 Already a well known surfer/shaper in Sydney Joe opened his factory at Miles Street, Kirra in early 1962 and in doing so became the first commercial manufacturer of surf boards on the coast. Noted for his craftsmanship his factory quickly became the hang-out for budding surfers and later in the 60s’ a think tank in the short board revolution.


Always one for a good time some of Joe’s exploits are the stuff of legends and with the event hosted (toasted) by long time friend John JC Charlton it is expected that the roasting will be severe. This event promises to be one of the highlights of Surf World’s calendar

The skinny on hand planes from Danny Hess

   

The Flama Surf Simmons

Here is a great email I have just in from Sergi Galano that I would like to share with you.

  "Remember last time I told you I was into making a wooden Simmons? Well, it's been a tough work, but we did it!
I'm not sure if I told you we joined forces with Montjuich Surfboards (specialized in surfboard replicas from the 1960-1972 period). We moved into a bigger workshop and now we're sharing facilities, which brings us the possibility to face some interesting projects as the one I'm presenting you. It all started with a single question thrown at Dídac (Montjuich's shaper): "would have you ever used foam, resin and volan to make your surfboards if Bob Simmons had known paulownia back in 1948?".

The final answer to that question is this amazing board. Flama designed and build a custom 8' blank so Dídac could shape his own interpretation of a Simmons surfboard. The final result is a board 8' x 23" x 3" that weights 9'8 kg, wich is almost half the weight of Simmons' lightest boards. And, rather than taking off and go straight to the soulder (as we predicted), this board is cappable of drawing clean lines in nice sized faces, and in small crappy surf it's the funniest board ever! "

Simmons Project: Montjuich Vs Flama from Flama Surf on Vimeo.


Flama Surf      and      montjuichboards.com

The Vans design team and Grain

A FLY ON THE WALL from Joe Carter on Vimeo.

Kun_tiqi Balsa boards in action

If you think Balsa Wood Surfboards are for old, classic surfers ? They are slow, mellow, hard to turn and only surfable in ankle high waves ? Check the "Old Men Show" staring team riders Xabi Lafitte and Olivier Eudes in Guethary and La Fitenia.

 For more info check out : www.kuntiqi.com

Gerard's pintail

This is the 7’ 3” pintail to be auctioned at the annual Hunter Business Boardriders Surfest Breakfast with the proceeds to go to Surfaid International.

Gerard Hatton is a graduate of the Paul Jensen board building class held here on the Gold Coast prior to the first wooden board day. Since then the lawyer from the New Castle area has built many fine boards which he surfs regularly. And this is a very generous offer from Gerard for a very worthy cause.

Wooden board building classes in Victoria

This type of Workshop was first pioneered by Rich Blundell of the Tree 2 Sea fame and his philosophy is simple, share the knowledge.

Rich came to Australia in March 2011 and we ran the first Workshop in Mount Eliza Victoria. Since then we have developed the techniques further and made a few changes to Rich`s build method to keep the overall construction costs down and keep it within the reach of more people. This means that the boards you will build do not need to be fibreglassed when finished, as traditionally most board do. This is a saving of about one third of the overall build cost. 

There are no high tech machines or advanced skills required to build your own Wooden Surfboard at one our Workshops. These courses are designed at a grass roots level to enable anybody who has the desire to build their own board achieve just that!

At the completion of the 3 Day Workshop you will have learned the basic skills required to build future boards at home with minimal tools. All materials,tools and equipment are supplied, however if you prefer to use your own tools, you are welcome to bring them along.

If your interested in completing one of our Wooden Surfboard Workshops, email us on: hwsurfboards@gmail.com

First Workshop to be held on 16,17 & 18 of APRIL 2012
(depending on participant numbers, other workshop dates to follow)

Contact: Robert Ivers   0409 211 751  
or  Gary Miller   0423 804 975

Wooden board building classes in London

 Paul Reisberg is planning to do another hollow wooden surfboard workshop in the UK, before he heads off to France and Spain.

The Date will be 30th of March 2012   to 1st of April 2012

The location will be the Bridge Boathouse in Richmond near London where he had a nice board building session in January : http://www.richmondbridgeboathouses.co.uk

In the workshop he will guide the participants through the process of constructing a hollow wooden surfboard with the Rich Blundell Strip-and-  Feather-Method.

He calculates the price as £250+£35 / foot and that includes tuition and all the material you need to construct the shape of your choice (Plywood stringer + Frames, Paulownia, Cedar, Glues, Epoxy). After the three days of workshop you'll have a board that only needs final sanding and laminating.

Have a look here for well tested shapes: http://treetosea.org/richs-template-shop/

Or here for pictures from past workshops: http://arbosurfboards.blogspot.com

For questions or to sign up get in touch.

Paul and Sarah

http://arbosurfboards.blogspot.com

The legend Joe Larkin honoured

Surf World Gold Coast is hosting a ‘Roast’ night on the 4th April to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of legendary surf pioneer and board manufacturer Joe Larkin’s move to the Gold Coast. Already a well known surfer/shaper in Sydney Joe opened his factory at Miles Street, Kirra in early 1962 and in doing so became the first commercial manufacturer of surf boards on the coast. Noted for his craftsmanship his factory quickly became the hang-out for budding surfers and later in the 60s’ a think tank in the short board revolution.

Always one for a good time some of Joe’s exploits are the stuff of legends and with the event hosted (toasted) by long time friend John JC Charlton it is expected that the roasting will be severe. This event promises to be one of the highlights of Surf World’s calendar

Hanging the Bush Pig

 Mike Connor's 9ft hollow wooden Bush Pig is now complete and hanging in the new Lennox Heads surf museum.

http://michealconnorwoodwork.com.au

Grain kits in the UK now

Grain Surfboards partners with Fyne Boat Kits to offer Home Grown Surfboard Kits in the UK   

Grain Surfboards is proud to announce its new UK manufacturing partner, Fyne Boat Kits.  For a limited time, Grain Home Grown Surfboard Kits produced by Fyne Boat Kits are 10% off.

As part of Grain's ongoing efforts in sustainability and reducing their carbon foot-print, this partnership not only allows European customers to buy surfboard kits produced with responsibly managed local woods, it also allows European customers to save on shipping.

Co-owner of Grain Surfboards, Mike LaVecchia explains, "Grain began a similar arrangement several years ago with Cape Boat Works in Australia and now we're excited to be able to help builders from all over Europe get the experience of building and surfing a board built with their own two hands."


Based in the United Kingdom, Fyne has been providing DIY wooden boat kits since 1998. Phil Smith, owner of Fyne, states,  "We are very excited to be Grain's European manufacturing partner.  All of the kits use locally grown wood and sensibly sourced materials from this side of the Atlantic."


Each kit produced at Fyne embodies the same values and standards applied at Grain's U.S. headquarters. Every Home Grown Surfboard kit is backed by all the usual advice and technical support that have helped over a thousand surfers to build their own at home. Fyne is offering a wide selection of Grain's kits, ranging from a 5'6" biscut to a 10' longboard and are currently available online.

Grain Surfboards continues to push the surf industry limits with new ways to share the craft of board-building along with forward thinking principles and the simple environmental act of making things that last.

Grain Surfboards continues to push the surf industry limits with new ways to share the craft of board-building along with forward thinking principles and the simple environmental act of making things that last.

For more info go to : http://www.fyneboatkits.co.uk  or  http://www.grainsurfboards.com

And here in Australia : http://capeboatworks.com.au

Vinny's new single fin

 A couple of Vinny's boards all ready for some testing.

 Good looking board on a nice looking Irish day.

Shape 3D night

Many people use different software to help design and render surfboards prior to building them. Shape 3D is a high end software to design boards with and used by many well known shapers world wide. Thomas is French national who created the software and will be on the Gold Coast in Australia to promote his latest version Shape 3DX. The new version I believe has many new features that will be of interest to existing designers and those looking to upgrade. Enabling such things a foot and knee wells in the deck of paddle boards and advanced contours in SUP's.

So if you would like to find out more or network with other users , this is a great opportunity to get together and ask all the questions you want.

When : Monday March 19th 2012

Time : 6.00pm for BBQ and drinks
           6.30pm presentation start

Where : The Gold Coast Surf Museum , 35 Tomewin Street , Currumbin.
              Opposite the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.
              Phone : 5525 6380
              www.surfworldgoldcoast.com

Cost : A Gold Coin donation

You could also email Thomas direct at : thomas@shape3d.com

Snow surfer

9 plys pressed together then  a ptex base added. No bindings , just Eva foam grip and a leash. Not to different from surfing.

For more details check out -
www.decembersnowskates.blogspot.com

As simple as it gets

The chambered simmons

 Kiwi , Mike Grobelny has been at it agin , pushing the boundries with his CNC router . This is his latest offering. He even left a window in the deck so you can see what is happening.

 4ft 10" x 22" x 2 3/4" with bamboo deck and bottom , Paulownia rails , Cedar and Rimu tail details finished in varnish.

 It is Bio - Foam ( PLA / Corn Starch )

Check out what else he has been doing at : www.mikegrobelny.blogspot.com

The Jelly Bean

 Beautiful emerald green resin tint over Paulownia

 Andrew Wells for Grown Surfboards at Lennox Heads with another great looking board to share with us. It is hollow wood and a frame construction.

Another beautiful wooden Pig by Mike

Mike Connor has just finished this 9ft Bush Pig that will grace the walls of the new Lennox Heads Surf Museum. Check out other projects that Mike is on at : www.michealconnorwoodwork.com.au

Guilherme's wooden board from Brazil

 Guilherme Pallerosi lives in Brasil.  He likes to surf on and to make ancients boards. He has started a blog to tell surf history and research techniques to build the old wooden surfboards. " Its in the beginnings, but you can see at: http://madeiraeagua.blogspot.com/ (its Portuguese)
I would like to post in your blog my blog address and the photos of a board I´ve made. (I have more photos on the blog )"

 Guilherme has a different approach to building his boards , as it appears he laminates the ply to achieve the rocker in his boards and then shapes and foils it to achieve the final shape.A very interesting way of doing things.

The finished board has quite a different look. It may be a little heavy depending on the ply used and the amount of timber left. It would be good to hear from him on this. There are many ways to build a wooden board and it is great to see the different approaches people use depending on their experience and tools or situation they have to work with.