Ventana Surf Santa Cruz

 Tyler Frome and Martijn Stiphout

makes some great boards in Santa Cruz at their Vetana Surf Co. 

 Born from a passion for surfing, the ocean and the environment, Martijn and Tyler started building their own boards to marry these elements together. They made a conscious choice to avoid toxic foam and polyester and started working with wood, experimenting with traditional and modern board shapes, fine-tuning construction methods and honing their wood-working and shaping techniques.

 Martijn and Tyler build hand-made custom boards, wooden hand-planes, and other wood products. Each product is unique and is built to last.

 Whilst the boards are still coated in Epoxy resin, the wooden construction method produces very little waste: almost every piece of scrap wood finds life elsewhere, the saw dust is collected and recycled and Martijn and Tyler are actively researching and testing less harmful cloths and resins. Recycled wood boards are in the works for the future and fortunately there are promising developments with bio-based resins so that an entirely environmentally safe production will be possible in the future.

 Check out what they are up to at : ventanasurfco.com

Unique M C Escher surfboard goes into the British surf museum art show

" David Forsyth of Driftwood Surfboards in Cornwall has kindly loaned a stunning hand-crafted longboard inspired by the work of renowned artist M.C. Escher.
It took David around three months to create this beauty, which is now the centrepiece of our 2012 exhibition ‘The Art of Surf‘, displaying 200 years of art in surfing.
The Escher board is hollow construction following the tradition of the late surf innovator Tom Blake, brought bang up-to-date using computer aided design (CAD) technology.
The deck features 2,000 individual reptiles cut out and pieced together like a jigsaw – each has 24 carat gold inlaid eyes! Paua and mother of pearl are used for the logos, with gold leaf pin lines. The surfboard is shaped from driftwood, giving this reclaimed timber a new life and the fins are hand foiled from lacewood.
David had to gain permission from the M.C. Escher Foundation to use the famous lizard design, and it is a truly unique and beautiful piece of art – as well as being a fully functional modern longboard. We really stoked to have it on display over the summer at the award-winning Museum of British Surfing in Braunton, North Devon."

Balsa boards for the wooden board day

 A sample of some Ecuadorian Balsa board that will be on display in a couple of weeks at the Wooden Board Day. These ones are from Shane Palethorpe from the Sunshine Coast.

The Jensen belly board

Paul Jensen just finished his latest board " Did the veneer bottom first…PSA it to the bottom ply…Built a stringerless frame…Hot glued the plain ply deck to the frame …Reinforced the inside plies with CF and glass tape…Poly U glued the bottom on…Rails per usual…"

 Materials: 1/8” Meranti ply frame and skins…Scrap veneer on the bottom…Store bought cork and 1/8” bending ply for the rails…Leftover glass and resin…

"Considered making it finless but sought advice and followed it…Plywood fins set up 7.5” toed in 0.5”…

Vented with a stainless underdeck vent…Nylon screw will seal vent…Leash plug is mounted from the bombproof inside…

The planhape is a combo Greenough / Parmenter …I made a thicker hollow balsa version six years ago and though I like that one, it felt too thick for my local waves…Thicker and not enough rocker for our mostly beachbreak waves…"

"So this board is significantly thinner with generous rocker…The float isn’t all that critical with a bellyboard using fins for getting around…maybe an advantage…As is the weight…Never gonna get vertical or bust-an-air, so the heavier  than foam weight should get me into waves easier and diminish the chop effects…

That’s the theory, can’t wait to ride it…"

 

To checkout what else Paul has been up to : hollowsurfboards.blogspot.com

SUP from the Great Lakes

 Morning Grant,
" Just wanted to drop you a quick line and let you know that I check out the wooden surfboards blog daily. What an awesome place to get the creative juices flowing. I also wanted to share some pics of my latest project with you. I just finished my 4th SUP for a friend here in Michigan.Keep up the good work sharing the stoke!"

Cheers from the great Lakes,
Ian Mortensen
www.honu-boards.blogspot.com.au

 It is great to see guys building boards all over the world and using them to enjoy the water where they live. Guys from all walks of life and backgrounds chipping away at a project for months on end through the winter to have a new toy for the up coming summer. A couple of mates doing it together. Or someone in a hi rise in the city building it the spare room or balcony. Thanks guys for sharing your project and story.

 Ian looks like he has done a nice job and having fun on the lakes.

Foam and wood

 

The tail end of a 9ft Hot Curl by Roger Hall in New Zealand. Roger won't make this years wooden board day unfortunately but who can forget his boards from past years.

www.surfline.co.nz

Wooden board building classes

The boys have a couple more classes on the go. Click on poster above for bigger view.
 If you are interested get in touch for more details.
Rob and Gary
Tree to Sea Australia
www.treetosea.com.au
info@treetosea.com.au
Ph. 0409 211751

The Dovetail longboard

Ribs don't need to be thick if you have lots of them and small spacing. They primarily only hold the shape and keep the top and bottom skins apart. You have that much contact surface that you have a lot of structural strength. This is a great demonstration of that theory in practice.

 Geoff Moase at Dovetail Surfboards here on the Gold Coast makes a nice board with lots of detail, care and attention to his workmanship. It is easy to see his skills here even in the frame detail which will never be seen by anyone except himself as he builds it.

Nice work, clean and simple when it all comes together.

 Plenty of clamps and a good thing that it is on a rocker bed to help take all that extra weight as he builds the board.

Nice outline.

 

 The butt , pre tail block and finishing.

 Nice detail work gives a board an edge.

 A sweet looking board that weighs in not much heavier than a foam version. It is very light for a wooden board of this construction method.

Check out Geoff's blog to see other projects he has on the go. dovetailsurfboards.blogspot.com

And remember if you are after Paulownia timber raw or milled into panels , rail bands or for framing
Geoff can help you there as well. paulowniatimbersales.com.au

The Jensen

 This is Paul Jensen's nephew Andrew with his first wooden board.

It still needs to be glassed and a fin.

www.hollowsurfboards.blogspot.com

Wooden boards illustrated by Paula Fdezf “Dudelsea”?

 

If you are looking for inspiration to dress up or personalise your latest board this might just get you started. Great work on Flama Surfboards. dudelsea.wordpress.com

Flama Surfboards

Cosmic Experience from Flama Surf on Vimeo.

Tom and the Paipo

Tom is enjoying experimenting and getting back to the roots of surfing with the Paipo and will be bringing a selection to the wooden Surfboard Day in a couple of weeks.

From Tom ..."If you ever are frustrated with crowds, the surfing scene, poor surf… I seriously recommend grabbing a paipo and finding the absolute joy of riding a little wave towards shore on a piece of wood. There is a good reason why this is the world’s oldest continuous sport. You will not be disappointed."
www.thepaiposociety.com

The process

 We all have different ways of building boards and it is always good to see how different people approach this. Here is Chris Cook's ideas ... " This is a recent experimental project I've been working on. The project combines some seldom used techniques that make certain parts of the HWS building process quicker and easier. "

" The rocker shape that follows the outline of the surfboard is cut out of a solid piece of wood and then ripped down to 1/4"-3/8" strips. These strips are then glued together, bent and clamped in a jig that will give them the shape of the outline of the surfboard. I install a nose and tail block which will also help hold the rail pieces in place."

" The rails are beveled and then the plywood deck skin is clamped tight to the angled rails which gives the deck a smooth natural curve throughout the length of the board."

  " I attached a diagram that shows how I install the deck first and then the internal framework."

" I attached some pictures of the rail pieces in the jig, and the deck having been attached to the rails.  On my site there are more pictures and I will have more soon of the finished project."

www.costanortesurfboards.com

Paipo Stokefest

This looks like a fun event to be involved in. Check it out. Torrey Pines State Beach Sunday 7am - noon 29th July 2012.

Peter "Mo" to speak at the wooden surfboard night

Peter " Mo " Moschogianis has a vast knowledge in laminating and building surfcraft of all kinds with a very interesting background working with a number of wellknown shapers through the years. This started with Tom Morey at Morey Pope Surfboards, Ventura, California in 1965. While working at Morey Pope he met and began to work with Bob Cooper, George Greenough, John Peck, Richard Deese, Michael Cundith and Richie West. It was at this time that he first met Bob McTavish, Nat Young, Darryl “Rooster” Dell and Russel Hughes. Mo then moved on to Wilderness Surfboards in Santa Barbara with the original crew of Greenough, Cundith, West.

 This is prior to them all migrating to Australia in the early 1970’s. Platt Surfboards in Noosa Heads was Mo's first stop followed by time working at Cooper Surfboards in Coffs Harbour and Sky Surfboards in Bryon Bay. He then moved to the Gold Coast in 1977 to work at the Burleigh Surf Co with Dick Van Straalen, Richard Harvey, and a passing parade of up and coming and established shapers. The following years included time glassing for Burfords, Surf More and Kirra Surf. At Kirra Surf in 1988 he set up a busy and successful surfcraft repair business. In 1992 Mo and Neil Decker opened Modek Surf Designs at Currumbin. To this day, Mo can still be found glassing at Modek.

His 47 years in the industry has obviously meant that he has seen it all and worked in all sorts of situations and with all sorts of materials and layups. All the progressions in resins, carbon fibre, kevlar, Inegra and working with PU, polystyrene and wood. A vast knowledge to say the least. He has a fondness for wooden boards himself and would like to share some of his experiences with you. Peter is one on the unsung masters of the surf industry working long days by himself to create beautiful boards by hand.

I am sure you will find that he has a wealth of knowledge to draw from to answer any of your questions regarding finishing you prized wooden board.