Hollow timber boards

Metal and Wood show

Make sure you have a free day from the 7th to the 10th of March to come and visit Mark in a purpose built glass shaping bay. This is the first time that anyone has built a balsa board at a show or expo in Australia (maybe in the world)!

Mark will be building 2 boards - a foam core balsa and a solid balsa. How would you like to be watching Mark over the 4 days built this just for you. Send him an email to make an enquiry -mark@riley.com.au .

So come and ask questions take photos, video and grab yourself some balsa.

There will be a 10% discount off for all orders placed at the show - even the boards that he custom builds will be a 10% off.

Treehouse launch

"Customers, suppliers, family and friends,

I'd like to extend a personal invitation to an event we are holding in Thirroul on Saturday March the 2nd at 5pm at Finbox Surfshop.  I thank you for your support of Treehouse Surfboards over the last six years and would like to introduce our new concept and branding as 'Treehouse Landscapes & Handshapes'.  The event will feature a range of handcrafted surfboards, vertical garden installation, board raffle, film presentation, art by Simon Perini and Matt Johnson and music by rockabilly/surf rock band 'Mother and Son'.  A flyer is attached with further details.
Would love to see you there for a fun and relaxed evening."
Kind regards,
Dave
www.treehousescapeandshapes.com

Grain looking to get mobile with Kick Starter

"As you know, sharing the experience of building your own board with surfers is something that's really important to all of us here at Grain. We've taught our week-long surfboard building classes to hundreds of people from all over the world, and with our kits that people use to build their own boards at home, thousands have enjoyed the process.
Most of our classes are here in our shop in Maine, but we've been trying to get out on the road and share this with people that have trouble making it here. With our Kickstarter, we're hoping to raise enough funds to be able to buy and outfit a mobile classroom (truck and trailer), so we can travel anywhere and share this experience of building your own surfboard from local sustainable materials with everyone.

You can visit our Kickstarter project by following this link, www.grainsurfboards.com/kickstarter. There are some great videos on there that help explain what our goals are. We need to raise a total of $38,500 to make this project possible and we have a long way to go. "

" Our goal? To share what we do with more people. To make opportunities to reach out to youth and talk with them about sustainability, craftsmanship, and the tremendous rewards we’ve gained from pursuing the values Grain has been built on. We’ve got plans for the west…and we’re inviting you to be part of it. So if you like the idea, check out the project and all the cool rewards we set up for it. Or, just pass the word along on your Facebook or social-net of choice. If you just want to watch the progress of the project, that’s cool too – stay in touch by checking the periodic updates we’ll be posting on Kickstarter and in Facebook. And, to all of you: thanks for everything.

So guys if you help Mike and the Grain team get this off the ground it will enable them to get out there and bring wooden boards to the people on the road.I think it is a great idea and if you can help the boys will be mighty pleased.

The Feb workshop

Left to Right is  Gary, Graeme, Darren, Jonathan, Skye, Wally, Dion, Gretta, Rob

"The first Workshop for 2013 was held in February over 3 very hot and humid days. 8 great looking boards where made including a few new models. With our New and Improved rail system which is not only quicker to lay up, but achieves a stronger board with more flexibility of rail shape.
Also introducing our new instructor Darren (3rd from the left hiding behind his board) we will be able to increase the amount of Workshops to meet the demand."

So if you are interested in attending one of their Workshops drop them a line at info@treetosea.com.au

 

 

 

The Basla Simmons

Kun_tiqi  «surfriders who care»
barrio la cardosa 11                                      
39160 loredo                                               
españa
movil: +34 622 420 641
email: stefan@kuntiqi.com
www.kuntiqi.com

Looking for Balsa

A board called Suzie

This is the latest boards from Duncan FitzGerald who I helped into wooden boards a few years ago. 
 

 "This board was the 4th I've shaped (3rd wooden one / 2nd hollow design) and I'm still learning heaps about what works for me and what doesn't. The deck, base and internal stringer are all paulownia. The ribs are 3 ply and the rails are balsa."

" As with my 1st board, I've inlayed into the deck 3 little strips of wood from the old Wilderness Surf Factory house in Yamba (featured in Morning of the Earth). I guess I get a kick out of having a little piece of history placed into a board like this."

  "Both the hollow boards I have made have been while my wife has been pregnant with each of our children so each board is for each child (our latest child is due this week). My daughter insists we call our new child Suzie (be it a boy or girl) so I figured that can be the name of this board."

" Building boards is a lot like surfing itself, a lesson in patience and persistence. Each build becomes that little bit more efficient and the results improve with practise. Can't wait to surf this one."

 "Will try to bring all the boards down to the Fish Fry this weekend if not, definitely the wooden board day later this year."

Cheers
Duncan

Wooden board workshops and custon boards.

Stephen Halpin has moved to Pomona onto 5 acres and has set himself up to offer workshops to anyone interested in building their own wood surfboard. He can be contacted through his website woodensurfboardsshapesbysteveo.com.au
Or direct email woodensurfboardsshapesbysteveo@gmail.com
Or on Mobile 0421522503

The cut away twinnie

This cutaway Paulownia twin made by Nick Brauer, 5'4'' x 20'' And poker work by Gerry Wedd for an exhibition of craftspeople working with makers of wooden vessels (Boats and boards)

Sharing their journey

Grain Surfboards Releases First Look at Hurricane Sandy Relief Raffle Board

Grain Surfboards is excited to release the first look at their community built 7' Pandan Surfboard being raffled to support Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts.

Inspired by outpouring of volunteers that have put their own lives aside to help their neighbors, Grain decided to join in the best way they knew how.

Mike LaVecchia states, "All of this has inspired us to bring our community together to do something good. We have been building the board at our store, The Wood Shop in Portsmouth, and giving visitors to the store a chance to lend a hand."

Once glassed, the board was painted by NJ native and artist Joe Hodnicki. Hodnicki traveled to Grain's HQ in York, Maine last week to create a one-of-a-kind mural on the board. "Being born and raised in NJ, I pulled from inspiration: the beaches we all love.   Myself and many others from around the world have put forth amazing efforts in fundraising, awareness, and volunteering, so when GRAIN approached me about a painting on a custom hand-built board, I was honored and stoked." Hodnicki explains while in Maine.

The winner will be taking home this community built Pandan 7' model. A low-rocker board designed with the help of seven-time world champion Layne Beachley, the Pandan has the full outline fun-shape surfers want, but with performance elements that pros look for.

Tickets will continue to be on sale through March 1st.  The winner will be announced at Grain's Woodshop in Portsmouth, NH with 100% of the the proceeds being donated to Waves4Water.

To Purchase Tickets: grainsurfboards.com/SandyRaffle
Click here to view a short film on the creation of the board

The " Slimmons"

 This is the Slimmons , one of my simmons designs thinned out and slimmed down to 5ft x 19" x 2" and set up as my first ever thruster.

 A full length of the board concave that enters through the nose between the rolled entry to the outside. Full with concave in the middle of the board that then tapers to a chine that runs down the sides where the fins sit as seen below. The centre fin is 5mm lower the the tapering concave out through the tail.

 Paulownia vacuum bagged over EPS and lanolin finish

 The concave through the nose , contained by the hull entry.

Continuous rocker the whole length of the board

Fire Wire Techno Grain boards

Fire wire have picked up my Paulownia skin approach to building boards and blended it with their building method to come up with a range of boards they will market under the Techno Grain range. It gives them a far greener product to their range of high tech and high performance boards. It has been great to be a part of this step forward in their surfboards.

This is a piece from the Surf Rider Foundation by Jim Moriarty

This is what innovation looks like.  

"I wrote a blog post a few months back about glassing a surfboard in the middle of a party (to drive home a message of sustainability). What I didn't share in that post was far from the glassing process a board captured the attention of, literally, everyone who saw it. It was a Paulownia-encased Firewire.

It looked like one of the boards to the left and I'm not exagerating to say that it stopped everyone in their tracks.
Let me set this up a bit... we've all seen our fair share of plastic and foam floating in the ocean. I've written a few blogs on the simple idea that EPS blanks can be made from recycled tv-packing trash and the fact that the use of non-toxic Super Sap resin for surfboard glassing is "ready for prime time."
Still, the Pawlonia-encased board I saw that evening seemed to nod to all of those concepts and take the dialog a few steps further. It seemed to be a logical extension of what my blogs have been saying... surfers should seek ways to minimize their impact on the environment that that includes the equipment under their feet.
It was heartening to see another entrant in this space, complementing Danny Hess's boards and the hands-on aesthetic connected to Grain surfboards.
Rather than try and encapsulate this innovation I thought I'd reach out to Firewire's CEO Mark Price and have him explain this innovation via a quick interview.

Jim: Your new boards look and feel radically different than pretty much anything I've seen. My experience is that literally every person that sees them stops and walks over to check them out. In a few words can you tell us about the construction?

Mark: Perhaps the biggest difference aside from the overall wood-look, is the fact that, except for very narrow strips of cloth to cover the seams on the rails, there is NO external lamination, just a hotcoat to seal the wood. In addition, by using Entropy Super Sap bio resin for the hot coats and in the sandwich, we've dramatically reduced the toxicity of the small amount of resin we actually use.

J: The second question I found myself asking (after being drawn in visually) is how do they ride? Firewire is known for being perhaps the first company with an alternative/modern construction board used by pros on Tour. Are these wood boards a niche Firewire product or will we see pros on these?

M: That is the best part. They still incorporate sandwich construction and parabolic rail technology so the flex is there, and by removing the external lamination cloth and resin, they are even lighter than our regular boards. Chuy Reyna believes Technograin performance is on par with any tech we offer, and Timmy Reyes just re-ordered his entire quiver in Technograin after riding one. We've also built Filipe Toledo and Michel Bourez boards as well which they'll receive shortly, so we'll see how they like them.

J: Nice. Tell us more about the construction, I found myself wondering how thick that wood is. Also, are these a part of the Sustainable Surf's Ecoboard Project?

M: Yes, they are and we're big fans of what Sustainable Surf is doing. The wood deck skin is actually 3mm thick, so it's is not a thin veneer. As a result it has tremendous structural integrity, and you also do away with all those minor dings and shatters because these is no cloth. Repairing them is a breeze as you can use any epoxy resin and cloth if needed, or even wood putty if its a small ding.

J: Ok, let me ask you a question about the eco-side of this equation. Everything I've heard is wild… from the foam to the paulownia wood deck to the distinctly different approach to glassing. Tell us how that all works together? Was it your goal to have such an emphasis on environmental footprint or did you arrive at that endpoint via another path?

M: We're always trying to make as green a surfboard as possible and still maintain a commercially viable product that also does not sacrifice performance, and costs the same at retail. We believe that for an Eco surfboard to succeeded beyond a cool niche, those parameters must to be met. We actually exceeded our expectations with Technograin and these are only the Version 1.0 recipes. The Paulownia wood is sustainably grown and we're reviewed the suppliers certificates to verify that.  And by removing the exterior cloth and lamination resin while using bio resin hot coats, the toxicity is a fraction of a traditional surfboard. Version 2.0 will have recycled EPS cores, but we're not quite there yet.

J: Great, any last comments or thoughts?

M: I do want to mention Grant Newby, a talented Australian craftsman who first turned us on to the potential of this construction, and our internal R&D and production crew who worked tirelessly to make this tech possible in a production setting. Building one-offs or small quantities is one thing (and not to be discounted), but it also took a tremendous effort to overcome all the issues that arose as we tweaked the original recipe to increase performance and build reasonable quantities. Of course having our own vertical factory was a huge help."

J: Thanks Mark. For more info check out their site here.

Miguel Aragao is a passionate wooden board builder

 " Hello "wooden" surf dreamers
An old friend came to me demanding a wooden surfboard for a Christmas present to his lady. He would like to start her on this activitys of surf."

" And after an "abracadabra"(should be a Santa Claus hohoho) a malibu, 7`1`` singlefin came to live. The "ForFun"(course it has a name!) is a beginers good padler & easy takeoff, but at the same time it has all the features to ride with performance in a big range of wave conditions and sizes. "

 "All my friends were like... "A singlefin for starting to surf?!".  Yes, a singlefin! And why the hell not?! In my idea is the simplest and easier configuration for gaining speed and power, in a turn, just by leaning on rail. No need of a pivotal body moves around like on "thrusters" or with "stabilisers"(am I right?)."

" The fin is made of oak, a very well dried oak I got from some old drawers. The rail go from roundfat in the front midle to well balanced downsmooth edgy in the tail. On the bottomside you can find a rollvee going softly from the front third to more foreshadowed(???) in the back(tail)."

" This `board is a "step up" on size and on the finishing quality of my agave projects, I think I`m getting the hand of the fiberglass job in such wood cores.
Ok,ok... Enough talk!
Have fun!"
                                Miguel  (miguelaragao@live.com.pt)

Christmas wood

 These are a couple of boards that I started in the lead up to Christmas and finished over the break.

 They are all Paulownia vacuum bagged over polystyrene and finished in lanolin

 This pintail is 9ft 6" x 23 1/2" x 3 1/2" - with a 6mm thick deck skin and 4mm on the bottom. the only resin is holding the fin box in.

 It came out pretty nice and I have another one to start.

2 x 5ft x 22 1/2" x 2 3/4" @ 40 litres -  2 x 4ft 8" x 22" x 2 1/2" @ 34 litres and 1 x 4ft 4" x 22" x 2 1/4" @ 26 litres

Andy Longs Flinders Pig

Andy Long is from Flinders in Victoria and got hold of me to help him with a board. He wanted to build a hollow wooden board but I talked him round to building one vacuum bagged over styrene. So I bagged the top and bottom skins on for him and sent him the timber ready to laminate the rails himself. Then some templates to help shape the rails. This is the result ...

Andy adding the first rail bands to the board.

 He wanted it to be a little piggy and it looks great.

  " Bit of a test, but with the info you gave me, took my time & really happy with result. I do like the old boards so decided to glass this one ( covers up my stuff ups, gives it some weight for glide & hopefully protects her from the local reefs to)  with poly which really brings out the beauty in the timber. Dan & Choc Oke from Oke surfboards did the glasswork, finbox & shine. Fin from Byron's Wizz. Bit timid about putting wax on her, but dying to have a wave."

"The other board is a timber  kookbox with rails & fin, I rescued from the dumpmaster. Guy throwing it says his uncle made it in the late 50's & used it on the local beaches @ Flinders, Pt Leo & Shoreham. Been stored under the family holiday house since the 70/80's. Fair bit of work to bring her back, but she's come up a treat. Thanks again for your assistance & guidance. Really happy with the result & will give you a ride report when she gets wet."

Nice job Andy, I am sure you will have some sweet waves on her.

Tasmainia :the birthplace of Australian surfing

Mark Burgin sent me this story to pass on as it is an interesting piece to share.

Tasmania may well be the first home of surfing in Australia. The common theory is that surfing started at Freshwater Beach in Sydney with the arrival of Duke Kahanamoku and his exhibition of surfing during the summer of 1915. My grandfather was among the many people who went to watch the Duke surf after his much publicised arrival from Hawaii. A recent interview with David Montgomery (my chiropractor!) revealed that there were Australian surfers out in the water when the Duke gave his demonstration. Not to say that the Duke wasn't a big influence on surfing in Australia but it appears he was not the first to surf in Australia.
American whaling ships were turning up in Hobart for provisions from the very early days of the colony. Many early convicts’ only chance of leaving the colony was aboard an American whaler, whose crews were very sympathetic to their plight. Whaling ships were always short of crew as the work was extremely hard in very trying conditions and they were often at sea for up to five years. Mostly the crew were under twenty-five as the work was so tough anyone older could rarely keep up the pace of sailing the tall ship, chasing the whales in rowing boats and then processing the carcasses into oil.
Whaling ships were the space ships of their day, exploring areas of the world that no westerner had ever seen, in their relentless pursuit of whales for their precious oil. These ships stopped at many islands well before the missionaries brought their message and the custom of wearing clothes.
One of the first stops for whaling ships out of America was Hawaii. One of the activities that the young crew participated in was surfing. Surfing was a common recreation in the Hawaiian Islands with both men and women participating, usually with out wearing clothes! It is easy to see why crew though this was a good sport to get into, with girls riding the waves.
Early Hawaiian body boards were called "paipo", were only around 5' long and were made of solid wood. There are reports of surfing in Hawaii from the early 1830’s, about the same time that whalers were arriving in Hobart. There is probably little doubt that whaler crews would have carried boards with them when they arrived in Hobart. Bellerive beach was close to the anchorage, and has a long history of surfing. So it seems there was surfing in Tasmania from very early days.
Huon pine was used to build early surfboards in Hobart by Risby brothers. Risby brothers were a milling company established in 1844 and soon moved into hardware and shipbuilding. The time they started to make surfboards is unclear, but the model owned by David Montgomery dates from around 1930, when they were being advertised in the Mercury. David said the elderly gentleman he bought the board from in 1997 told him it belonged to his grandfather, which gives some substance to the early reports.
Whilst it is not certain where the Huon pine was sourced it is a good bet to say it came from the Huon Valley. The Maritime Museum in Hobart is holding an exhibition soon of early surfing equipment and the board from Risby brothers will be on display.

 This is the Rigby board  3ft 6" long x 13 1/2" inches wide x 5/8" thick with 3" of nose lift and note the little Rigsby Bros bronze name plate on the deck.

There is also an interesting connection between Hawaii and Franklin (Tasmania) from very early days.Lady Jane Franklin was a regular visitor to Hawaii, perhaps when her husband John Franklin was off trying to discover the North West passage.
Lady Franklin was a guest of Queen Liliuokalani at the royal palace in Honolulu on Oahu in the late 1800's, before the annexation by battleship of Hawaii by America in 1898.
 Lady Franklin assisted the queen in designing the Hawaiian flag. The Hawaiian flag is the only state flag in the U.S. to have the union jack as part of the design. Did the remarkable Lady Franklin play some part in its presence in their flag? We will probably never know.