Aluminum Surfboards

Has anybody seen, made, ridden one? How do you make 'em? Should they be chambered? …ribbed? How are the fins attached? How do they ride?

As I recall the only thing aluminium in a W.A.V.E. Hollow board was the drain plug and fin screw. The actual honeycomb was some kind of non-metalic material.

Has anybody seen, made, ridden one?>>> How do you make 'em? Should they be chambered? …ribbed?>>> How are the fins attached?>>> How do they ride? How about aluminum stringers???

Dang, Noodle! are these things supposed to exist? for surfing? i could see it for paddle out bass fishing maybe.>>> Has anybody seen, made, ridden one?>>> How do you make 'em? Should they be chambered? …ribbed?>>> How are the fins attached?>>> How do they ride?

Dang, Noodle! are these things supposed to exist? for surfing? i could see > it for paddle out bass fishing maybe. Sirs: It is true that aluminum does not float, but we have found a way. DongShin Engineering Corp. Address DongShin Building, 93-2 NonHyun Dong, KangNam Gu, Seoul, Korea Tel 82-2-511-0898 Fax 82-2-511-0897

It dents when you breathe on it, is way to heavy, has very little memory and poor flexiblity properties, and is structually too weak to consider as a usable material. Best, Halcyon

Nels,There was a couple generations of the Hollow Wave boards,with several types of cores used,including ,honeycombcardboard,honeycombfiberglass,and a combo type using aluminum ribbing/stringers.I saw one off the fwy in the desert,and stopped to check it out.It seems that the breather valve you mentioned was rusted closed,which caused the gases in side the HOLIEO to over expand,and blow-up/explode.It was one of the newer models with the aluminum ribbing. The best example of a aluminum board would be the 60s “JET BOARD”.It was a overly heavy motorized board that at top speeds traveled @ 6 er 8 knots? A buddy of mine has one fairly intact in his backyard(probably rotting away)with the motor still in it(not working)and original paint(ugly orange,and blue).I told him that it’s probably worth some money ,but that’s not a big concern for him.Herb.

Nels,There was a couple generations of the Hollow Wave boards,with several > types of cores used,including ,honeycombcardboard,honeycombfiberglass,and > a combo type using aluminum ribbing/stringers.I saw one off the fwy in the > desert,and stopped to check it out.It seems that the breather valve you > mentioned was rusted closed,which caused the gases in side the HOLIEO to > over expand,and blow-up/explode.It was one of the newer models with the > aluminum ribbing. Herb, The aluminium bit is news to me, but mine was an earlier generation 6’9". I knew a number of guys who worked at the factory for maybe the last year they were open, including after Karl Pope sold it. I know at the end they were making kneeboards and some kind of waterski…it would make sense they branched out. Wish I could remember who the final owners were; seems like it was some big corporation of the era. I moved on off the Hollows after getting the factory word on repairing a deck crack (Fairgrounds before leashes, eh?). Fit a chunk of regular foam in and glass it, grind it, like any other ding. This seemed to be the logical end for that material/method for me. They were strong railed buggers though. Blinky at William Dennis used to whack the rails with a broom stick of something. And I spent about 6 weeks in the summer of 73 riding Number 3’s on that board…it rode as well as anything.

Sirs:>>> It is true that aluminum does not float, but we have found a way.>>> DongShin Engineering Corp.>>> Address DongShin Building, 93-2 NonHyun Dong, KangNam Gu, Seoul, Korea>>> Tel 82-2-511-0898 Fax 82-2-511-0897 Ferro cement and steel don’t float, either, but boats are made out of them. Wouldn’t want to have to carry one down to the beach, however. Nels

I bought a WAVE in the 70’s in Santa Cruz. It was 6’6" almost egg shaped was easy to stand on. I learned to surf bigger waves with this board. An old man in the parking lot of “The Hook” backed over this board with a Chevy truck and it dented the tail. The seam of this board was cracked open and I was never able to keep water out. An interesting design but many flaws. I eventually chopped it in two (out of curiosity), it looked like honeycombed aloy to me. My question: Is there any technology like this being used for surfing today? Or: what ever happend to this idea?

Nels,Was it the Brunswick Corp.? For some reason this rings a bell.Herb

Nels,Was it the Brunswick Corp.? For some reason this rings a bell.Herb Herb and Chris, Might have been Brunswick…haven’t heard that name in a long time. Been so long that it will take me a bit, but I’ll track down one of the guys who used to work there. The only one I can locate for sure is frequently at sea, so that may take a while. Running strictly off aged memory I think they went down as a losing subsidary of a big corporation, after not much time being owned. Gotta make that invenstment pay, or otherwise it might make more economic sense to use it as a total loss write off. To the best of my knowledge nobody is using similar materials in surfboard construction today. Nels

It was an expencive construction method dedicated to a molded pop-out. And a molded pop-out, is a molded pop-out, is a molded pop-out…

It was an expencive construction method dedicated to a molded pop-out. And > a molded pop-out, is a molded pop-out, is a molded pop-out… Well, yes, but let’s remember the context of the times. They were developed just before the surf leash, when board durability was really important, especially to rock lined point wave people. The rail strength question, also maligned in earlier “molded board” posts, can be deceiving. My personal guess is rail strength is about 50/50 important between in water and out of water protection. Certainly back then the notion of disposable surfboards wasn’t popular among anyone without a drug money pipeline :wink: (not throwing stones here) or born with a silver spoon. A ding is a ding, if from rocks or racks. Strong rails don’t insure strong decks, of course, but that isn’t the whole point. I tossed mine is a sleeping bag and duct taped it closed, and no airline ever damaged it…not even the finish. You did have to take out that drain plug thing, though. I look at your fish, with all the labor, craft, and art put into them, and cringe when I think about tossing one to the whims of an airline today. Ouch! I don’t even think a ding repair guy could enjoy salvage work like that. As for Hollows being molded board pop-outs, they had designs by hot shapers of the day and area: (from memory) Brewer, Moret, Blinky, Aipa, Bradbury, Becker I think, and maybe some others. These were made to be cutting edge, not to sell at department stores. In the end, the corporate monkeyshines, the leash, and some material limitations are probably what did them in. A cautionary tale against selling control of something, of the pitfalls of heavily tooling dependent manufacturing in a market which can see rapid change, and maybe more …but not some cheesy lame Third World sweatshop churning out totems. Nels

I borrowed a really nice custom polyurester board from a friend who owed me big time, you know, like in the 70’s in Santa Cruz. It was 7’6" almost like spear-shaped and was really easy to stand on, and when I took it into the water, I learned to surf the waves with this board. Right after I hooked up with this dude for some righteous fungus at Moss landing, we backed over my board in his VW van and it like totally crushed the tail. I said stop, man, but no. Anyway the rail of my board still cracked open and after that I was always able to keep water inside it. I didnt repair it, either. Such a cool design but too many flaws, I guess. One day everything seemed sort of like tight and scary indoors with all the different colors and shapes, so I went out to the backyard and cut (I dont remember with what or why) that board into several pieces (easier for storage, yeah that was it!), wow it sure looked like some kind of foam in there to me. I sat there looking at it for a long time. My next question: is there any technology like this being used for surfboards today? Or: whatever? Dharmon, just kickin it.

It dents when you breathe on it, is way to heavy, has very little memory > and poor flexiblity properties, and is structually too weak to consider as > a usable material. How about aluminium honeycomb or any other honeycomb structure, like nomex? It’s lightweight, have excelent strength properties, can be used in flexing constructions(used extensivly in expensive skies/snowboards) and are already being used in saillboard. It’s WAY expensive tho’. regards, Håvard

Well, yes, but let’s remember the context of the times. They were > developed just before the surf leash, when board durability was really > important, especially to rock lined point wave people. The rail strength > question, also maligned in earlier “molded board” posts, can be > deceiving. My personal guess is rail strength is about 50/50 important > between in water and out of water protection. Certainly back then the > notion of disposable surfboards wasn’t popular among anyone without a drug > money pipeline :wink: (not throwing stones here) or born with a silver spoon. > A ding is a ding, if from rocks or racks. Strong rails don’t insure strong > decks, of course, but that isn’t the whole point.>>> I tossed mine is a sleeping bag and duct taped it closed, and no airline > ever damaged it…not even the finish. You did have to take out that drain > plug thing, though. I look at your fish, with all the labor, craft, and > art put into them, and cringe when I think about tossing one to the whims > of an airline today. Ouch! I don’t even think a ding repair guy could > enjoy salvage work like that.>>> As for Hollows being molded board pop-outs, they had designs by hot > shapers of the day and area: (from memory) Brewer, Moret, Blinky, Aipa, > Bradbury, Becker I think, and maybe some others. These were made to be > cutting edge, not to sell at department stores. In the end, the corporate > monkeyshines, the leash, and some material limitations are probably what > did them in. A cautionary tale against selling control of something, of > the pitfalls of heavily tooling dependent manufacturing in a market which > can see rapid change, and maybe more …but not some cheesy lame Third > World sweatshop churning out totems.>>> Nels Thanks Nels for all that info, I think mine was a Brewer. Surfed mine almost every morning through mid70’s for about 5 yrs.