Balsa Board with Foam Stringer

General Discussion
1

I’d had this blank laying around for awhile. It was kind of heavy so I figured I’d just make a wall hanger since it had the nice t-band offsets.

After it was rough shaped it was looking really good. So good that I thought, hey, I’ll cut it apart and chamber it. Make a rider. But other projects took me away for a while and I never quite got around to it.

Then one day Bud Gardner was in the shop and I told him my idea and he said, “Hey, I’ll take it and cut it apart for you”. Well, cool, now I’m feeling like Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence.

So he brought the pieces back and then I just kind of cut some chambers when I got time. It took a few months, but by this time I’ve got a year into the project and I didn’t have a home for it so it kept getting put on the back burner.

Well, I got the chambers done and I made a center stringer from some of the crate wood that the last shipment of balsa came in, (Yes, they ship me the balsa in crates made from, you guessed it, balsa). The purpose of the small center stringer was to make up for the width lost in cutting it apart and planing it clean.

I then glued it all together using rubber bands and a strap clamps. Well, cranking down one of the strap clamps I put a dent in the rail. So I put the project aside for awhile.

Bill Bahne came in to town for a few days and stayed at the house. I showed him the project and told him my dilemma. I could re outline the board but then it would be just a little too narrow. It would have been ok (just under 22”) but not really what I wanted. So Bill said, “Hey, just wet it and hit it with a hair dryer, it’ll come right up.”

Well, I’d done that before with small dents in old vintage musical instruments but I had my doubts. This dent was pretty deep. But anyway I tried it and no go.

So I decide just to re outline it and finish it up. As I’m standing in the shaping room, I look up and there, up high on a rack in the ceiling is the center piece from a Clark blank. It was the last of the heavy pour classic weight blanks that we’d cut the piece out of the center and replaced with a wide piece of balsa for a board with a balsa stringer.

Bingo. I’ve got it. Cut the balsa board apart. Again. Glue in the foam piece in the center and voila! A balsa board with a foam stringer. A Clark classic pour foam stringer at that.

Then, as a finishing touch: What does a balsa board with a foam stringer need? A foam tailblock, of course.

Any way. Here it is. A year and a half to finish. And I’ll never do this again.

2

good on you

it looks lovely

i hope you get to surf it , too !

thanks for sharing this with us , i LOVE a photo thread !

cheers 



  ben
3

Damn Bill!!! I’m speachless…blownaway…

4

Bill!!!

The best use of old off-cut material that I’ve seen!!

Bravo for hanging in there with the project, it turned out

to be a beauty. I know it will surf as good as it looks.

Congrats.

5

Sweet looking board. I love the contrast between the balsa and foam. Sometimes patience is a virtue.

www.woodylogic.com

6

dude…

7

Wow.

8

Really pretty, Bill. Did Bud haul the pieces around in his GTO? That would have been something to see…

I’ve still got the blank that got glued up with the T-band made from your packing crate balsa (the customer

got tired of waiting for the glue-up guy to finish, so I shaped his board out of one of my remaining Clark blanks)

Maybe when I grow up I’ll shape myself an egg or something out of it. Thanks for the wood!

9
Quote:

I’d had this blank laying around for awhile. It was kind of heavy so I figured I’d just make a wall hanger since it had the nice t-band offsets.

After it was rough shaped it was looking really good. So good that I thought, hey, I’ll cut it apart and chamber it. Make a rider. But other projects took me away for a while and I never quite got around to it.

Then one day Bud Gardner was in the shop and I told him my idea and he said, “Hey, I’ll take it and cut it apart for you”. Well, cool, now I’m feeling like Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence.

So he brought the pieces back and then I just kind of cut some chambers when I got time. It took a few months, but by this time I’ve got a year into the project and I didn’t have a home for it so it kept getting put on the back burner.

Well, I got the chambers done and I made a center stringer from some of the crate wood that the last shipment of balsa came in, (Yes, they ship me the balsa in crates made from, you guessed it, balsa). The purpose of the small center stringer was to make up for the width lost in cutting it apart and planing it clean.

I then glued it all together using rubber bands and a strap clamps. Well, cranking down one of the strap clamps I put a dent in the rail. So I put the project aside for awhile.

Bill Bahne came in to town for a few days and stayed at the house. I showed him the project and told him my dilemma. I could re outline the board but then it would be just a little too narrow. It would have been ok (just under 22”) but not really what I wanted. So Bill said, “Hey, just wet it and hit it with a hair dryer, it’ll come right up.”

Well, I’d done that before with small dents in old vintage musical instruments but I had my doubts. This dent was pretty deep. But anyway I tried it and no go.

So I decide just to re outline it and finish it up. As I’m standing in the shaping room, I look up and there, up high on a rack in the ceiling is the center piece from a Clark blank. It was the last of the heavy pour classic weight blanks that we’d cut the piece out of the center and replaced with a wide piece of balsa for a board with a balsa stringer.

Bingo. I’ve got it. Cut the balsa board apart. Again. Glue in the foam piece in the center and voila! A balsa board with a foam stringer. A Clark classic pour foam stringer at that.

Then, as a finishing touch: What does a balsa board with a foam stringer need? A foam tailblock, of course.

Any way. Here it is. A year and a half to finish. And I’ll never do this again.

350×710 56 KB

I love the look! Great craftsmanship.

I too have a photo of a balsa w/ foam center on a gun by Yater. I’ll hunt it down.

10

Bitchin’.Sure hope you surf it at least once before hanging it on the wall!

11

I don’t really build wall hangers. All of the modifications to this were to make it a rider.

I’m already riding this one (noserider)

And a pintail that Jim Phillips made for me (fully chambered)

And a couple of foam boards with balsa stringers.

I’ll ride the balsa with foam stringer after I get to know these others a little better. That is, if someone doesn’t talk me out of it first.

12

glad to hear that,I don’t care for wall hangers,it’s like crafting a beautiful chair and never sitting on it!My good friend has a beautiful 9.2 balsa crafted by Bill"Ole"Olson,his bumblebee model,never even got wet,I wanna sneak into his home and take it out for a surf,know the feeling?Aloha

13

Yes I know the feeling too.

Duke Boyd has a balsa that Phil Edwards made for him.

Once I stayed at Duke’s place in San Clemente while he and Liz were out of town. He called to check up and see how things were going. I said, “Yeah, everything’s fine and I surfed this board you’ve got hanging in the living room at San-O this morning. It rides great. The guys I lent it to think so too.”

14

yeaaah,that’s what I gotta do,tell him I’ll house sit for him next time he goes on a trip,thanks for the idea!