The 5ft 8" simmons for charity

 Dan Johnston from Blind Dog Surfboards has been building a special board. "This board, 5'8" Mini-Simmons, will be raffled off in May to help support a family who's was father to two great kids, wonderful husband, and great friend to all surfers (groms to pros) who had the wonderful opportunity to meet Chris. He died at 37 on November 2011. This is the second annual surf-off that last year raised over $4,000. Our board raffle contributed $780. This year we hope to double that for this board."

 "All Western (US) Cedar, custom made fins, 4 oz glass top and bottom with epoxy. Built with concave running from 1/3 front to rear. "

 A great looking board with special meaning.

www.BlindDogSurfboards.blogspot.com

Wooden board classes in the UK and Europe this year.

 Paul Reisberg builds wooden beautiful boards and holds classes in the UK and Europe. He has just sent me details of his upcoming plans for the year.

"I can also announce the next UK date for such a three day board building jam. the weekend 26/27/28 April 2013. I have space for 4 builders at the Bridge Boathouses in Richmond / London / UK.
There is more information on arbosurfboards.blogspot.com and people interested should get in touch via email: paulitspaul@gmx.net"

 "I will be based at the Underfall yard in Bristol for the year and like last year in the Basque Country, I open up my workshop to people who want to learn how to build hollow wooden surfboards with the strip-and-feather method. Apart from the intense three day workshops with four participants I can offer one-on-one weekends and evenings. dates can be arranged individually."

 "For past participants who still haven't glassed their boards I will organise a glassing/laminating weekend where I will show my way of glassing hollow wooden surfboards with entropy resin. When exactly I would arrange with those interested.  Everyone who still fears the task of glassing a board can contact me so we can start settling on a date."

 "Anyone who wants a hollow wooden surfboard in paulownia but is not interested in the process and only the final product can order a custom board with me. I will build one board per month this year. "

 Paul has some great designs that he has come up with and offers a wide range of boards which is great to see. The finished boards look like some of the best out there.

A happy crew who will remember their time together for the rest of their lives. These won't be their last boards either I can bet.So if you can take the time and are able to I would suggest you are in the best of hands with Paul teaching you he ropes and you will end up with a board you can be very proud of.

Beautiful Peter Walker board

The is a new hollow 7'6" Paulownia board built by Peter Walker with Stephen Bowers artwork. Currently on exhibition at the Museum of Fine Art Boston, USA from Feb 20 to July 14 2013 as part of the "New Blue and White" exhibition. Beautiful board and great talent.

Vinnies latest board in Ireland

Vinnies new board is -  6' 08" x 18 .5" x 2.5"
rails - standard shortboard , rocker - standard shortboard
single into double concave
bottom shape - pretty much flat with some slight vee

"Leyland Cypress deck and bottom skin
reclaimed Cedar - rails and internal structure Iroko - nose strengthers ( four small pieces of wood left overs )
fins - unknown hardwood from skip
leashplug - that yellow wood again Berberis I think
brass - air vent "

"Standard wood glue and it's finished with many layers of water based varnish inside and out - low voc's"

 " This board is by and large petrochemical free , a small bit of epoxy was used and rovings where the fins join the board . the fins are glued into the structure of the board so are strongly connected to the board yet they have flex themselves . I went for the quad setup because I love surfing this fin setup . Also a small bit of flexible tec7 type stuff is used to join the brass valve to the wooden skin ."

 " The Leyland Cypress was grown here where I live , I had a chunk of it put by and it dried out and I thought Id see could I get some timber out of it . "

" It turned out well , its a really strong wood yet light when fully dried , and easy enough to work with . It takes a bend along the grain easy but a bit fussier being bent across the grain .
So this board is super strong , it wont ever snap in my opinion , strong enough not to need glass and cloth . This is a true eco board yet because it is varnished its not going to take as much abuse as a harder fiberglass would in terms of scratching . A bit of care is needed in loading unloading , avoiding rocks when paddling out , etc etc "

The beauty of the varnish though is that it can be sanded back and given a couple of coats every few years . If cared for these boards will last a long time .
I wont go on about the air volume here as I have ranted on about it already in the past  -  suffice to say these boards are really good to surf , this board in particular feels really sweet and nicely balanced weight wise to me . If I was going somewhere like Indo this would be the board I'd bring with me ."


Check out what else  has been up to at :  ohalloranboards.blogspot.ie

Rrecreating history in Brasil

 " My name is Guilherme Pallerosi, and I´m from Brazil. I have a blog about the wooden boards and surf history, and I’ve show a hollow board here, almost a year ago.  So, I’ve made by my self a new alaia board, trying to follow the 30’s projects. It’s not exactly the same, but the shape and processes is similar or inspirited on!

" To end the board, we put a Costa Rica coin to fix the lashing. The coin photo is not good, but its very style! We made some kind of launch before to put the board in the sea. The surf was little hard in the beginning, but its work very good at north of São Paulo coast."

" To make the board softer we hollow the central plank (and to compensate the extra resin weight). The complex whole were put together with epoxy glue and dowels. The board is 6’6 ft tall, not big as the old 30’s, but a hybrid of a modern alaia."

" I have a help of a specialist friend, the slow-woods-worker Murilo Marcondes. We decided to use two Brazilian woods: the caixeta, and the fabulous red cedar (or pink cedar as we use to call). Both woods are soft, but caixeta is not good for water uses, so we have to glass it with epoxy resin."

 The plans and inspiration

To watch the processes you can access my blog link (its Portuguese write):   http://madeiraeagua.blogspot.com.br/2013/02/construindo-moderna-alaia-1930.html

The wooden nugget

 This is Torten Koflers current project, a 7’6” x 22 1/2” x 3 1/4” big guy nugget. HWS method with solid rails. Designed on AKU Shaper using Hollow Board Template Maker for the templates.

 6mm paulownia for ribs, stringer, deck and hull. 5mm paulownia for rail bands. 4mm paulownia for the inner rail band as it’s easy to steam and bend.

 The steam iron at work.

 Stringer and ribs are laminated with 4oz glass and epoxy resin for extra strength and to avoid splitting.

 Taking shape and looking good.

 Frame complete and ready for skins

"Next step is the deck and hull skins. Feeling a bit more experienced since I destroyed my first board with the vacuum bag. Learning heaps particularly the upper limits of my character."

Building a wooden board is a great learning experience for anyone. Very character building for most of us .

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