The unglassed hollow wooden fish

 Craig Carter from Northern New South Wales has just posted up on his blog his latest project to share with all.It is a very detailed explanation of his process and method of building this board.The following pics are just a sample of the detail and skill that has gone into building it.

 There is plenty of detail on how he has set up the build and the timbers he has used.

 You will see he is not short of clamps.

 Some very handy skills on display here. Nice.

 Full details on his mix of oils and the process

 He foiled and glassed his own fins for this project...

 A beautiful board with many hours of love and attention to detail having gone into it.

A big thanks to Craig for sharing his project and all the detail and knowledge he has put on his blog for us all to share. http://wollumbin-woodsticks.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/raw-fish-5-9-x-21.html

Silvio's Mini Simmons

 Silvio who hales from the Adriatic East Coast of Italy has just sent me these shots of his latest project which he has called the Bonsai. It is a hollow framed up Mini Simmons.

5ft 6" x 22 1/2" x 3 1/8"

To see more of his construction process check out his blog : http://bonsai-minisimmons.blogspot.it/

The Bush Pig

This surfboard that Micheal Connor has constructed is made from Paulownia with inlay strips of Red Cedar. It now hangs in the Lennox Head Cultural and Community Centre. Building surfboards has a lot in common with making other styles of watercraft. Like boats, surfboard designs vary enormously. The quest for the perfect ride has created surfboards of all different lengths and shapes. There is constant experimentation with a variation of materials and finishes. It depends very much on the individual designer and what kind of surfing experience they are trying to deliver their customer.

As his brand ‘Bush Pig’ suggests, Micheal Connor chooses to make a style of Malibu surfboard known as a ‘Pig’. This style of board was developed in the 1960s by a highly regarded surfer and board maker named Dale Velzy. It was originally made of Balsa wood. It had a long elegant shape with a square tail and has quite a following amongst collectors of old Malibu boards.

The core of the board is made up of a frame consisting of Paulownia strips that interlock together to form an inner frame, the contours of which determine the shape of the board. These frame components are cut using a CNC machine and are cut from a single 7mm Paulownia panel. 

The holes in the frame are to make it one connected air camber to allow the whole board to release it's pressure if it gets hot. Where needed, foam is added.

The glued frame is covered with a 5-8mm skin of Paulownia. Mike glues up a thick panel with a Red Cedar strip and cuts it up the middle on his large Wadkin bandsaw. This gives him a book-matched panel with converging Red Cedar stringers that will give the board a subtle but effective detail. The thickness of this deck, depends on the target weight of the design. The skin is glued to the frame using a vacuum bag. Once the bag is removed, the surface is hand planed using a smoothing plane and then fine sanded.

The sides are also planed so they are square, then several thin strips are machined to be laminated around the curved edges of the board.

 Once the nose and tail is glued on, Micheal creates the beautiful rounded curves that will feature in the finished surfboard using his custom made block plane.

The fin is a work of art in itself and feature the same converging Red Cedar lines as the board.

After the board is finished Mike sends the board off to be fibre-glassed to make it completely waterproof. One layer of 4oz fibreglass is applied to the whole board, followed by one gloss coat of resin.

www.michealconnorwoodwork.com.au
www.carbatec.com.au/micheal-connor

R.I.P. Terry Martin

We have lost a legend ...

A whole lot of fun on a simple piece of wood

A new fish from recycled skate boards

 Bjorn Holm lives in Larsmo on the Westcoast of Finland. He has been studying furniture design since 2008, and his studies are done now after four years.

 " I have been working on a hollow surfboard made from old broken skateboards the last 4 months.
 
 " The board I have made is a 6'4 hollow fishboard from old broken skateboards. I started from my own broken boards, then my friends donated their old boards. I have also collected old boards from all around finland. It's becoming pretty unique with the colors from the skateboards. it weights 10kg."

 He has done a great job of laminating all these pieces of ply together. A big exercise.

 It is great to see that people all over the world in what we may see as the most unlikely of places are experimenting and building wooden surfboards. It looks like he has gathered a serious number of skate decks for his project.

   For more details you can check out his site : www.boboholm.com

Your chance to learn the ropes the right way

Click on the link below to find out more or enroll now...!!!

http://gcit.edu.au/cis/?script_name=coursedetails&course_id=3626

This exciting short course is an introduction into the composites industry focusing on surf craft manufacture.You will learn how to work safely and efficiently as an operator with fibreglass and industrial chemicals with an emphasis on the surfing industry.  This course also includes hands on demonstrations in a working surf craft factory - DMS - Daniel MacDonald Surfboards. Leave the course and enter the water with your very own custom Hand Surfer that you will create throughout the duration of the course.

Please spread the word guys....we need to get a huge response for this course so we can keep getting the support needed to develop the full Cert 3 - Cert 4 course...This first short course starts on the 21st of this month and runs for 2 weeks on the Gold Coast at TAFE.....click on the link to find out all the details and please share the link on your social media channels...

 This is a great opportunity to learn all you need to get that start in the surfboard industry. At DMS you will be learning from one of the young innovators of the surfboard industry. If this is what you have had in mind but never knew how to get a start. THIS IS IT.

www.dmshapes.com

John White calls it a day

John White of Paulownia Timber Sales in Northern NSW as decided to call it a day. He has been a great source of quality Paulownia to many of us here on the Gold Coast and further afield.Very helpful and always willing to go the extra mile. Old school service and enthusiasm is always appreciated. We wish him well in his retirement and thank him for all his help in the past.

"Old age and the general state of my health has forced me into retirement.  I am nearly 75 so it is not unexpected.

I have been fortunate to get someone from the Gold Coast to take over my small business.  His name is Geoff Moase and besides being a chippy by trade he also makes hollow wooden surf boards under the name of Dovetail.

He will be sourcing his Paulownia from the same mill that I used so you can expect the same quality timber.  He will also use IPEC to send orders and the freight charges will be on the same scale as mine were.  In other words it will be as though Whitewood is still in business except that Geoff is better qualified to offer customers advice.

I would like to thank all my customers.  I have enjoyed communicating with you and will miss this aspect of the business now I have retired."

Regards
John

Geoff's contact details are :

Phone no                 0411 676 854
Business Address    3/8 Alex Fisher Drive Burleigh Heads Qld 4220
Email address          geoff@paulowniatimbersales.com.au
Web site                  paulowniatimbersales.com.au

Geoff is an accomplished wooden board builder here on the Gold Coast and has been to The Wooden Board Day with a great quiver of his light weight boards. He knows what it takes to build a nice board and that there are many and varied approaches to building one. So he is ideally suited to take over the reins from John.
He has always loved working with timber from a very young age. It had kind of a natural attraction to him and with his surfing it was exactly the same.He had always had a dream of making a surfboard out of wood but kept putting it off due to working many hours, having kids etc. So when he finally got around to it was like he'd found the perfect lifestyle combination.

" I also realised that I wasn't the only one drawn to the craft, that there were countless surfers all over the world hidden away in basements, garages and workshops passionately chipping and buzzing away. I feel wooden boards are a much better path for surfing to take."

"Many of you would know John White and know what a great bloke he is and how he goes right out of his way to get people what they need. I was flattered when he asked if I was interested in taking over his business and feel I've been handed an opportunity to get involved with what I love. The plantation, on the mid-north coast of NSW is run by a guy who is just like John and works with me to supply clients' specific needs."

Geoff plans to expand the business gradually and offer a wider range of products and services such as complete packages to build a board from. Machined and finished panels or talk to him for your needs. I think you will find him to be the go to guy you have been looking for. I look forward to working with him on some of my own upcoming projects. But a big thanks must go to John White for what he started and I wish you well.

Takashi's new Simmons

 Great looking board by Japanese wooden board builder, Takashi Watanabe.
For more details check it out on his site :
wavexing.a.la9.jp/m_simmons.html

A happy man with his completed project

Hand foiled fins - nice

Everything starts with a plan and the best way to nut it out is to put it on paper

There are always lots of clamps

Material: Japanese Akita Cedar (rail: add to cork) and white color of nose block is Balsa.

Far away from computers, cubicals and boardrooms sits Grain Surfboard's  home base; located on a small working farm just minutes from the beach in Maine - a perfect place for companies to bring their employees to re-connect or to decompress.  Early this year California-based company Vans did just that.

Grain welcomed Van's team of art directors to get "hands-on" in the cold Maine winter for a different kind of team-building retreat.  "Our company's ethos is based in individuality, authenticity and creativity," states Tait Hawes, Van's Manager of Art Directors who organized the trip.  "Our history lies in skateboarding and independent thinking.  In other words, we don't do trust falls."  Tait was looking for an uncommon experience to share with his co-workers and found that and more at Grain.

Grain offers a truly unique experience for a group of professionals who are looking for that out-of-the-box way to build confidence and a sense of cohesiveness among co-workers. Organized into groups of two, each pair builds a board from start to finish during a 3-day board blitz. "Hands-on work results in a great sense of satisfaction that lends itself well to any company's team-building objectives"  says Mike LaVecchia, co-owner of Grain. "Our shop is well equipped with everything a group of professionals would need; wi-fi, full kitchen, plenty of coffee and tons of fresh, locally prepared food daily."

Hawes continues, "I wanted to bring my team of art directors together to get inspired and build cohesiveness in a place that was as far away from computers and cubicles as possible. Grain Surfboards provided exactly what I was looking for in the best way possible. Building wooden surfboards by hand, in two person teams, in 20 degree weather in Maine. Done. The folks at Grain embody a perfect combination of creativity, craftsmanship and friendliness. The added bonus were the farm fresh meals that we still talk about today. This place is no joke. Bring your boardrooms to boardbuilding. It's time."

Grain continues to "bring the boardroom to boardbuilding" by welcoming small groups of professionals to an inspiring rural setting and a workshop where cooperative creativity is built in.

Read more about Van's trip to Grain's headquarters, or click below to watch a short film on Van's trip to Grain.


ABOUT GRAIN SURFBOARDS
 Grain Surfboards is committed to promoting the benefits of building and surfing wooden surfboards and believes that wooden surfboards can have more impact on the surfing experience and less impact on the environment. All of the wood products used in Grain surfboards and kits are sourced from local mills and forestlands in Maine that practice sustainable harvesting. All wood waste from the production of Grain's boards and kits is actively reduced and creatively recycled. Grain ships surfboards and complete surfboard kits worldwide and hosts week-long classes in which anyone can learn to handcraft their own wood surfboard. Grain is co-owned and managed by Mike LaVecchia and Brad Anderson.

When the rot sets in

Nice story by the boys at Grain on what they have done to preserve a little bit of history and show some respect for someones hard work in the past. Check it out here.

The Maljam

Okanui’s and Toothpicks by today’s standards they barely resemble a surfboard.The toothpick is an Australian designed and built craft originally designed for surf life saving. It’s made of timber, is hollow and has no fin. To turn them surfers used to drop the toes of their back foot into the water using their foot as a rudder. The hollow Okanui surfed from the late 40’s – 50’s until balsa was available.
Both are still handmade today by skilled craftsmen. At Maljam it’s a demonstration event that is sure to please the crowd...

 The Maljam is a celebration of the evolution of the longboard and is proud to have events on the day that reflect the progress from the toothpick through the okanui, Malibu ,foam “log” and the modern high performance hot dogger. The current World Champ, Taylor Jensen, will be competing along with  current Aussie Champ Josh Constable. Former World number one Haley Ingelby will also contest the prize money that was provided by major sponsor, Tim Riley of the 4 Elements Sporting Academy.

A host of local and interstate competitors will be in the mix for rewards that the richest one day surfing Event Australia has to offer.  Attending also will be members of the Barry Bennett family who will mingle with the crowd and explain some of the finer points of the longboard evolution.

Looking forward to seeing you all at North Curl Curl on April the 28th to enjoy the work of the world’s best longboarders, trade displays, great food and the company of the some of the icons of our sport.

 - Phil Nicol – President Curl Curl Longboarders

www.curlymaljampro.com

Simon Cox from Curl Curl Longboarders says: ‘We recognised that the modern day Single Fin Log riders were due the same recognition and rewards that the ‘performance’ guys get. The Maljam idea brings together the different longboarding styles, attitudes and riders for some serious fun at North Curly.” In 2011, Curly Maljam Pro was the first Australian event to support the ‘Single Fin Logger’ concept by awarding big prize money, which this year has paved the way for many other competitions to follow. All good for Longboarding.

Wood is good , but these guys are unreal

The 8ft simmons from Flama

It is great to have someone share their experience of riding a new wooden board and this is Aitor's ...

 "Some days ago I bought the first Flama Simmons surfboard, and Sergi from Flama  brought me home the surfboard (thanks Sergi), he stayed some days in Bilbao and we did some photos and some video recording."

" It's a perfect mix, an incredible vintage design and a new building system, old with new , the surfboard it is awesome, a lot of flow, ton of floating , so fast and easy to surf, and everything  made of wood with the perfect flama finish. "

" I send you some surprising pics of my first day with the surfboard, made with my gopro.

And a  a simple video of a foam wave of that day, just 40 seconds."

Aitor

www.flamasurf.com

The boys need your help

Mark Cruickshank of Crooked Blanks, Shawn Vecchione of Vec Surfboards, and Keith Natti of TwinLights Glassing have combined their efforts to make what they believe to be the most sustainable surfboard in the market.  But we need your help.  We want to get our surfboards out in front of people.  We want to show surf shop owners these surfboards.  We want to bring them to surf shows and let surfers touch and feel them.  And most importantly, we want to get surfers surfing them. So if you would like to assist the guys with their project check them out HERE