Does anyone know where I can get some agave around San Diego?
Anyone know what it costs(besides free from neighbor’s front yards) to get enough to make a board?
-chris
drive around and cut em down, way too much work for what it’s worth. Dry them out, and have La Mesa lumber mill it down $80.00 per hour to mill it. Make sure you have enough to make it worth while, like about 8-10 stalks. If you cut it green, it will make your skin itch more than fiberglass, so wear long sleeves and gloves Also good luck getting close to the plant with all those spikes, best to protect you eyes…they always go for the eyes, why the eyes? Not for the weak of mind or heart. Look in the archives too, we did a whole thing on Agave about 2 years ago.
-jay
Contact Jim Phillips. He posts here as Jim the Genius. Jim has more Agave experience than anyone I know. He is simply the "go to guy’'.
Thanks for the replies, I read all the posts on Agave, but I just didn’t know where to get it. When I get enough money to do this, i’ll talk to Jim Phillips about milling it for sure.
thanks again
-chris
Interesting. How do you get anything big enough to make a board? I’ve used them to make earth horns/didjeridoos and its beautiful stuff, but milling it?? The outer shell is only 1/4" thick and the inside is all punky like a weed plant.
An pictures of a comleted board please?
I went through the archives and didn’t see anything but the fins that were cut out and refit with balsa and agave. Very nice BTW.
I think that would be even better looking than bamboo boards I’ve seen.
Thanks
Hafte
sweet…gotta try this one of these days…hey hafte, how do your dideridoos sound???circular breathing is soo hard…im building a lapslide guitar AND wanna get a didge …maybe you could tell me a little about making em…been playing alot of xavier rudd and ben harper latley…
late
Gary Linden has been making Agave boards recently, check them out on his website http://www.lindensurfboards.com/05_agave.html. Also, he had one on display at Pacific Surf Gallery in Cardiff.
That looks cool. Wish he had a clearer pic and one that has the resin applied. Still don’t see how you get anything out of one of those stocks? Bet they look beautiful finished.
Skamatt, I’ll send some info to your email.
Hafte
I was in his shop to buy a board and he showed me a glued up “blank” of agave. Basically it was a bunch of 4x4’s glued together, might have been a little thicker. You would have to do your rocker from scratch.
I think you might have your species of Agave mixed up. It’s the Century Plant that is used for surfboards. The stalks are about 30 ft long and 16-20" in dia. You cut the logs into 10 ft sections and have them milled down into 4x6 or 6x6 boards. The consistence of the wood is sometimes suspect. It all depends on the age of the wood, if you get old fallen stalks a lot of times they are split and cracked, this is where the wood begins to rot out. Also the wood gets softer towards the middle of the stalk. Like I said before, it’s kind of a pain in the butt to work with. You’ll spend more time messing with it, trying to get good pieces, milling it, driving around trying to harvest it etc. It’s cheaper to get balsa in the long run.
Could be, but I am pretty sure that I have agave stalks. These are pictures of what I was able to find. The one on the left in the group shot is a raw stalk ~12+ tall when it was alive. The largest and the smallest are part of the same plant, and it was about 20+ feet tall when it was alive.
One picture is of the end of the raw stalk showing the punky material in the core. That stalk was very old and has lots of bug damage. I may have been on the ground when I found it.
The largest was the most recently alive plant (maybe dead for 1-2 years) and the core was still very soft. Not woody at all. I was able to poke it through with a piece of wood. The others were cut length wise with a hand saw in about two minutes, scooped out and glued back together.
All of these, when alive, looked like the plant shown in the web site listed above. There were others nearby that were in bloom and growing. Large sharp spiny leaves about 20-24+ in. long. Evil to fall on while mountain biking or hiking.
I agree the balsa is easier/cheaper to find and use, but doesn’t have quit as much character as Agave.
Sorry about the crappy shots. Its just a phone cam… its all I have for quick pics.
Hafte
Let’s hear how you make these dijerydoos (not going to bother spelling that right).
CHeers
those didges look so sweet…ill be in baja alot this summer …do you think id find usable pieces???..like already dried and workable??
Yes.
Skamatt, I would think you would be able to find plenty of them in Baja. Just pick out the dead and dry ones.
Would there be any issue getting them back into the states?
Did you get the email I sent you?
Rhino, Skamatt check your PM. I just sent you some info.
Hafte
I would not cut anything down in Baja, unless you know for sure there are no policia around. You would proably get a night in jail and a big fine if you cut some down on the side of the road or something of that nature.
Cheers
ill be careful when im in baja…got the email hafte…thanks alot…really helpful…cut a couple conduit didges and they sound great!!!..my little brother is already sooooooo much better than i am…hes learning quicker and is doing practices with the circular breathing…i have a ways to go…