All ready to pick up

 Peter "Mo" has just finished doing a great job of glassing Tony Crimmins latest board all ready for Tony to bring along to this years Wooden Board Day.

 Nice detail in the tail block

 Sweet finish on the vent plug

Tony should be very proud of his latest efforts. Looking forward to checking it out in the flesh next weekend

Board building classes in Prenzlauer Berg / Berlin / Germany

Paul, from ARBO Surfboards in the UK has another board building class coming up for three days. The board building workshop will be on the weekend 30/31 August 1 September 2013 in Prenzlauer Berg / Berlin / Germany in co operation with Langbrett.

The deal is as usual:
Price for the workshop is 300€+55€/ft board length.That includes tuition and all the materials to complete the shape of your choice (internal plywood structure, paulownia / cedar deck and bottom skins, bead and cove rail strips, glues,...) and the tools you need to work. You will also get a custom boardbag for your board made by salty buds.

As you can see Paul has a great range of boards for you to choose from to build in his classes or he can build you one himself as a custom order if you like. For more info check out his site or contact him. arbosurfboards.blogspot.com.au

Bonzi's Balsa Simmons

 Bonzi from Venezuela (Peninsula de PARIA) is about to start shaping his first Balsa board. Looks like it is a simmons.

 

Looks like he has a great spot to have a shaping bay

Bonzi, send us some pics of it when it is finished

Fresh tails

  It is always nice to get the final sanding done on your boards.From all the glue and odd bits of wood comes the finished shape. All smooth and clean.

 It really helps to have some lights to show up all the details as you shape the board, especially the rails when you are planing them down.

 Fin boxes in. I do this prior to final rail shaping and sanding, just in case any thing goes wrong or the wood gets knocked.

Ready for resin coating this time. 2 coats and a sanded finish.

Wooden boards on Creek to Coast

Just remember the Wooden Surfboard Day is Sunday the 4th of August not the 5th, that's Monday

Stavros finishes the simmons

 There not likely to be be many simmon,s in Greece , but this looks like a fun one

 A stripe of carbon on the wood looks great.

Balsa boards by Mark Riley

If you are looking for a project you could get hold of Mark Riley in Sydney and talk to him about kits to build your own Balsa wooden board. Or if you just want to get one ready to go he has stock boards on hand as well.

 Beautiful longboards

 He also builds great fins for your boards as well

Want to go large with a balsa SUP ?

Check out his latest news :www.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au

Making shavings

I hope there are a few more of you out there making shavings and building boards. It is a great time of year to build a board. Plenty of time in the morning before sunrise to glue something , tweek something before an early surf. It's cooler at night to get stuck into a bit of hand planing without cracking a sweat. So get into it.Or plan a new project.

On the home straight

Tony Crimmin's new board all glassed and in the final stages ready for polishing at Peter Mo's factory. Tony builds a beautiful board and this one is a fine example of his skills. It is of a hollow framed construction and skinned in Paulowina. The culmination of many hours in the shed. Peter is the master glasser and will bring it to life all ready for this years Wooden Board day on the 4th of August. Tony I think you will have it in time to slide a few waves before the day. Nice one mate.

 Nice tail block detail

Custom leg rope loop in clear glass ready to be finished on the tail

How to chamber a wooden board by John Purnell

A great little clip by John Purnell on how to go about building a solid wooden blank and then chambering it to lighten it up.

Beauty from raw wood

From this stack of fresh cut blanks can be crafted some hands full of fun in the form of hand planes.
Be inspired to craft some of these babies for yourself and mates.

 These are made right here on the Gold Coast

surf-brand.com

Dave Franks getting some boards ready for this years Wooden Board Day

Another great looking board from Dave Franks of Main Beach here on the Gold Coast.Dave and others like him will be there on the day with plenty to look at and lots of answers for all your questions. This is what the day is about. Bring what you have built and share your story and experience. We can learn heaps from each other.

Wooden Surf Board Day 2013

This years wooden surfboard day will be held on Sunday the 4th of August in the park across the road from Currumbin Alley Beach. A great outlook back up to the Gold Coast skyline and beaches. So come early and have a morning surf at the point and then settle in for the day at the park. Bring your boards , alaia's , hand planes, body boards, surfies or what ever you have been building and having fun on as long as it is made of wood. Just lay them out in the park and find a spot to have a picnic lunch and meet other like minded wooden board builders , craftsmen and enthusiasts. There will be people from all walks of life and just stoked to be riding something they have designed and built themselves. Plenty of people who have lots of questions just like you and stories to share. Check out what others are up to and swap boards and go for a surf.

Around lunchtime Tom Wegener , myself and a couple of others will get together and discuss boards and answer questions and share our experiences. There is always plenty to learn and share and this is a great forum to become more informed.

I look forward to seeing your projects and catching up. If you have any questions you can get hold of me at - grantnewby@bigpond.com

Keeping your mates stoked

 

This is Roy Meisels in front of his shop in the 60's in Byron Bay. He has built surfboards all his life and loves a wave. But a few problems with his back and what not has kept him off his board of late. So his good mate Keith " Tiki " Nevelee sorted things for him. "He said he was keen to body surf, so I made this as a surprise, it was finished off with an old legrope velcro and Roys report was he loved it, so it was good to get him passionate again ......5 more weeks and I'm retiring and on the pension, so will be mucho buisier with surfing toys...."

 It is nice to have mates who care. Thanks Tiki for sharing your story and with more time to build things I hope we see some more. Or catch up in August

The beginnings of surfing in Australia

The "Wood Buddha's" new build

Torsten Kofler (a.k.a. Wood Buddha) has been hard at work, finishing off his Big Guy Nugget and getting it ready for the Wooden Board Day in August.

The board is a hollow wooden incarnation based on a Geoff McCoy single fin design.

He’s been sneaking out of the house and down to his workshop at night to finish off his latest creation, which he’s named Fat Rick.

“I usually wait till Mrs. Wood Buddha settles down on the couch at night with a hot chocolate and a Tim-Tam to watch her weekly episodes of Offspring and Revenge. While she’s distracted I sneak out the back to do a bit of work on the board” he explained.

The board is constructed using plantation grown paulownia. It’s a hollow wooden design, with solid laminated rails, internally laminated with 4oz fibreglass and epoxy resin. The deck and hull are finished with epoxy resin. The board also sports an 8 inch camphor laurel fin.

 

Gluing and clamping the ribs, stringer and first inside rail band.

Soaking up some rays outside the ashram waiting for the deck skin to go on.

  Gluing the deck and hull skins to the frame in the vacuum bag

Gluing the rail bands to the sides.

Shaping the rails

A router and jig for the 10" fin box. A slightly nervous moment. Lots of meditation and measuring twice before I cut this slot.

Finished with two coats of epoxy (no glass) and a camphor laurel fin.

Outside the ashram enjoying the sunshine and waiting for a test ride.

Torsten has posted some great pics and lots of detail of his build on his blog. He has also shared his experiences and fixes for things as he has gone along. Where he got his vacuum bag from and how he went about it. All the details and pictures on the full board build are available at:

http://www.thewoodbuddha.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/hollow-wooden-surfboard-big-guy-nugget.html