Wooden Board Day 2017

This years Wooden Board Day was part of the Byron Bay Surf Festival and it was a long hot summers day in the park. But heaps of interest in what we do as a hobby and the quality of boards on display goes up each year. A big thanks to the guys who came along and those that travelled a long way, it was much appreciated. We had people who had flown in for the weekend just to catch up and see what we were doing and ask questions about wooden board building. It was interesting in that I had a number of boat builders and carpenters who surf and yet had not thought of building a wooden board until recently and the weekend was the catalyst for them making a commitment to make a start. Lots of us start with very few wood working skills or tools compared to these guys. As I tell people, if you love your surfing there is no better feeling than paddling in on your first wave on a board you made yourself. And of the millions of people who surf world wide, very few surf on a self made board, letter lone a wooden one. "We are a splinter group".

Amazing art by Gareth Smith from Wollongong

He was at it all day long. Great guy.

Flat bed router work by Mike Grobelny from New Zealand. Inspired by bees and lots of machine time. Hand painted and varnished board by Grant Newby.

A nice lineup of wooden craft

Wooden Anchor stand.

Some nice hand foiled wooden fins

Hollow framed raw wood waiting for rails

Wooden Anchor frame kits on show.

Andy from Wooden Anchor giving all his secrets away.

The talented James Robinson fro Bound By Sea getting quizzed on how an earth he does what he does.

Bound by Sea

The insides of a hollow fish

A lot of skill and hard work

A couple of clean boards by the " Wooden Buddha " Torsen Kofler

A nice selection of chambered boards by Tyron Morgan

Steve Hann from the Sunshine Coast with some very clean modern shapes.

School teacher Trent Palmer from Hillbrook school in Brisbane with a sample of the boards he has taught his students and parents to build. Helping set kids up with a sustainable outlook on life and surfing.

Some of Tom Wegener's Paulownia botton / cork topped ,very flexi boards he has been working on and developing.

Seeking shade on a hot day.

Fin Wegener holding the fort while Tom signs his book at the book launch.

Tom and his wife take sonme time out

Free hand and straight into it on the spot.

A lot of time and detail by Gareth Smith

A nice selection

Some of Tom's "Corkies"

Some very light weight hollow Balsa boards by Nathan Grey from Bondi.

Nice detail by Stuart Bywater

Tyron Morgan looking for shade on a hot day

Great finish on a couple of Stuart Bywater baoards

Here are a couple of great looking boards by Andy Wallace of Freedom Surfboards from Old Bar. 

He selects the wood for each board to give them each a different story and character.

Alaia slayer

Nobby came out from Japan to teach wooden fin making and pass on his skills and knowledge

The history of the belly board.

Nobby and local baord maker / wooden master craftsman Mike Connor

Nobby from Japan is a fine artist in wood craft.

Lots of interest from people from all walks of life and ages all day long.

Jun from Surfers Country had a couple of his new wooden wares on display

All shapes and sizes. Even a Paulownia canoe

Duke replica hand carved from one solid piece of Paulownia

Camphor Laurel board by Stuart Bywater just shone.

A great way to get to the beach

Nice finage

A couple of nice boards by Heath and local board builder

Tom Carroll dropped by to talk to Trent about the program he has created at the school for the kids to learn new skills and set them up for the future. "A huge wrap goes to Gabe Kelly, current year 10 student whose board caught the eye of Tom Carroll. He was impressed with his shaping skills and was wanting permission to take it for a spin at Wategos Beach!"

The art of wood / art on wood

So looking forward to checking out James Roberton of Bound By Sea as he is the master of his craft. He will be in the Wood Shed precinct with all the board builders at this weekends Byron Bay Surf Festival.

From sketch to the finished design hand burnt into the wood.

A true labour of love and so many hours burning these designs into the wood. The deft touch of the master.

Less than 4 weeks to this years Wooden Surfboard Day

This year the Wooden Surfboard Day will be hosted by the Byron Bay Surf Festival where you will find us and many other wooden board builders located in"The Woodshed" precinct. To those of you that plan on bringing boards and joining in on the days display, remember it is the same as other years that have been held in Currumbin. It is a non commercial and non competitive gathering and we have been given a space in the middle of the festival in Denning Park, with great exposure to all festival goers.The site is just to the East of the corner of Bay Street and Middelton Street in Denning Park just before the kids playground area (look for the "Woodshed" sign).

We need to be in the park and setup by 9am and the day finishes at 4.30pm.

Every board displayer will need to register on the day before laying out their boards.

We will have a great gathering of very talented board builders on the day and there will be lots to talk about and share. 

At 1.00 PM we will have a Wooden Board Open Forum in the Wood Shed precinct where Andy Ceglinski will take us through all things Paulownia and it's great attributes, from seedlings through to milling it for building boards. 

Tom Wegener will then talk about the history of wooden boards and the artisan side of board building from his recently published book. 

Stuart Bywater, a fine furniture maker that conducts wooden surfboard making classes in Brisbane,  will take us down the path of building hollow wooden surfboards with timber frames.

Then Tom Wegener and Grant Newby will talk about vacuum bagging Paulownia and Cork over EPS and other possibilities.

Trent Palmer, a school teacher from Hillbrook Anglican School in Brisbane will run through his program with the students, parents and staff building boards, while including and implementing the sustainable aspects of surfing.

There are always lots of questions to be asked and this will give you a great opportunity to ask as many as you like.

If you have any questions please contact me : GrantNewby@bigpond.com

It's hot in the shed this time of year

With the temperatures in the high 30's and humidity over 80 percent most of the time for the last 6 weeks it has been hard to get some work done on boards. Hit the fans and try not to drop sweat onto the wood. ( it turns Paulownia pink )

I have been pulling some big curves in the vacuum bag. This is a 5mm deck skin.

Christmas was a good time to have a big clean up and tidy the garage. Get rid of and sort out all my off cuts.

Wonderful waves in wood

These beautiful waves are hand carved by Gaston Bilobrowka and you can see more on his Instagram -  gaston_bilo

Handplane goodness

You don't need lots of wood, just creativity and passion to build a great looking handplane like this one from the guys at Ventana Surfboards from Santa Cruz. This could be a great little project to build in the next 4 weeks to bring along to this years Wooden Board Day in Byron Bay.

These guys have some cool T shirts

https://teespring.com/stores/woodworking-store?page=1

Wood and art at it's best

Our good friend James Robertson of  "Bound by Sea" is going to be part of a unique art collective that is inspired by the ocean, 4 artist will showcase their passion for the realm we are all drawn too.
The Bucket List is proud to present the “Bound by Sea :: Art Collective.”
Each one has a particular set of skills and a different vision, but all have a common theme, they are all “Bound by Sea.”
On Thursday 12th January 2017 the Bucket List will be transformed, it is famous for its views of Bondi, but for one night you will be immersed by the sights and sounds of the living ocean inside and out.
This collaboration will be the first of it’s kind at the Bucket List and we look forward to seeing you at the event.

 James Robinson :: Dolsen :: Bound by Sea
Bronte, Sydney Australia.
"Inspired by the ocean, I work on creating unique pieces of artwork that draw's you in and takes you to another place. Each piece is hand made, hand shaped, hand drawn in pencil then using a technique called "Pyrography", I basically burn the artwork into the woods fibres making the art part of the soul of the wood once sealed the artwork has a texture & tone like no other.
Alaia's & Paipo's :: I hand shaped from start to finish, each one unique, the raw slabs & blanks I work with are sourced from the NSW North Coast from a family owned plantation. I use only sustainable Australian Paulownia planted by the family, grown by the family & milled by the family.
"My passion is illustration & shaping, with a focus on the ocean, I like to create artwork & boards that take the viewer to another place, a dream, a realm that draws them in."
Join me for the ride."
:: Handmade, Hand drawn & One of a kind ::

 If you didn't get to see James and his amazing work at last years Wooden Board Day you can catch him this Thursday in Bondi at this exhibition. A truely talented guy with a heart of gold and a love of the ocean and all things in and on it. You will be blown away at the detail he puts into each piece.

Bar & Grill , The Bondi Pavilion,  1 Queen Elizabeth Drive , Bondi Beach  Phone (02) 9365 4122

 James will also be joining us at this years Wooden Board day at the Byron Bay Surf Festival 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas fellow board builders. I hope you all have a break from work and get some time with family and friends. But done forget to sneak in the shed when you can to glue some wood. And if you are able to make it to next years Wooden Board day at the Byron Bay Surf Festival, it would be great to see you there.Thanks for all your support and please send any project you would like to share for me to post up.

Next years Wooden Board Day will be part of the Byron Bay Surf Festival

It is great to be joining forces with the Byron Bay Surf Festival next year, as it is by far the best surf festival at one of Australia's iconic surf towns. A place we all love and where we have had great times and waves. With their support, we will be part of the "Woodshed" precinct.


"Australia's largest gathering of Wooden surfboards and those that make them!! We've dedicated a special area of the Surf Art Markets to the wood sniffers. Chat with master shaper and designer Tom Wegener, along with Joel Fitzgerald, Andy Ceglinski, Grant Newby and more. If you dig wood don’t miss this timber buffet, including workshops, demo's and the latest and greatest in innovation and  designs of wooden surfboards!"

 There will be lots of people and lots to do and see. Anything surf related with be on show once again.

 So guys save the date and get that latest project board finished to bring along to the Woodshed. Be part of what will be a great weekend to showcase your passion, your hobby and spend time surrounded by others that love it as much as you. It is the same format as what we have had at Currumbin for the last 8 years, in that it is non commercial, non competetive and a great chance to meet others that have dedicated the time and effort that goes into building a wooden board. There will be a diverse collection of people to answer all those questions that building wooden boards throws up at you.


Saturday we will be in the park from 9am to 4.30pm, with all the other markets and activities. Sunday you will be able to surf and swap boards at Wategos Beach at the " Freestyle and Stoke surf sessions".



"On Sunday we invite you to join a day of fun and unique surfing sessions hosted at Australia's most easterly point, Wategos Beach. Open to young and old, including finless, tandem, logs, mermaids, fish, soft, and the new surfer/shaper! Unlike other surf festivals this is not a competitive day, it's all about the pure stoke of freestyling your own creative way across the wave on a surf craft of your choice. Lots of cool happening, including $1000 for the winner of the Party Wave Dash - for Cash. A fun one to watch!" 


If you are thinking of being part of the day and have any question please feel free to contact me.
grantnewby@bigpond.com  and check out the www.byronbaysurffestival.com.au for updates and details of all that is happening at this great event.



Nice deck

What a great looking deck on this board in the foreground. This is a class of happy board builders after one of Stuart Bywaters board building classes. It is a great achievement and a very rewarding experience to build a board for yourself. If you love your surfing take it up a notch or two and build a board. And what better way of doing it than with a master craftsman such as Stuart. A great range of boards for one class but lots of smiles and high fives.
bywaterdesign.com.au/wooden-surfboard-classes

Kiwi Wood

 It has been a little shaky in New Zealand lately but that hasn't stopped Adam Lloyd from building his wooden boards. I helped him get started with the vacuum bagging and now he has done a couple of simmons style boards and this retro twin fin which is 5'7'' x 20 1/4 and 2 1/2 thick . He has another one on the go at the moment which is a 5ft 11" performance shortboard.  "Hopefully it turns out as well as this one. Got this one made just in time for the smaller summer months. "

Adam runs 'The TimberBoard Shop" in New Zealand and has a range of kits ,timber and all you need to build wooden baords. 
www.thetimberboardshop.co.nz       adam@thetimberboardshop.co.nz

Wooden surfboard classes, do it yourself or it makes a great gift.

4 Day Wooden Surfboard Class for 2017
March 23 - 26   2017   &   May 25 - 28      2017

Stuart Bywater is holding classes in the New Year, there are limited positions and they do sell fast, so this will be a first in first served basis. So if you are interested please let him know as soon as possible.
It is a 4 day course and each day is from 8am - 5pm. You will have all the materials and tools you need to fully assemble your board.
You will start with the full assembly and gluing of the frame. Gluing the top and bottom skins on. Vacuum bagging your board. shaping your rails. Fin placement. Sanding and getting the board ready for glassing.

Contact Stuart for all further information. This is a great experience for yourself or build a board with another member of the family. It is also a great gift for someone special. A lot of us surf, but not many of us surf on a board we built ourselves. It makes your time on the water pretty special.

Stuart Bywater  -  0414 283818  or  stuart@bywaterdesign.com.au 

Address : 182 Crockford Street,  Northgate, Queensland.
( Just north of the airport.)

New board by John Purnell

" Hi Grant ,
hope this E finds you well, I’ve sent a few pics of one of the 2 boards I’ve just finished, “The Key” I made it for a long time surf buddy’s 50th Bday,   8’1” x 21” x 3”  single,  6mm thick steamed Paulownia strips over ESP blank shaped by Dave Reeves Ocean Shapes in Newcastle."

 "The blank is "blue foam" from Dion/Bennett, the 3 stringer lines are Australian Red Cedar with the rail band pin lines Western Red Cedar,  Australian White Cedar nose tip."

"And a custom John Devereux fin. A tung oil finish with my special bees wax/lanolin polish. It tips the scales at 6kg.

"I'm very happy with the results although there’s always a few things to improve on,
cheers,  John"

John builds a nice board and I am sure his long time friend will be very happy with his gift. That's what mates are for, share the stoke of surfing something different made with love and soul. Nice one John and thanks for sharing.