Well, I was in Ecuador and met a great balsa shaper down there, Rene Burgos. He has his own balsa plantation and sold me two balsa fish blanks made by the plank and rib method. The wood is beautiful. Both blanks have mahogany stringers. Pictures below.
I had planned to build my own blank but finding suitable wood was harder than I wanted to tackle. And this was strictly a vanity project, as no one wants a balsa board from an unknown garage guy.
This was my second balsa build. The first kicked my butt. Balsa shaping is really unforgiving. I tripped on the planner cord on the first one and took a chunk out of the rail. I had to put it aside for about a year. I thought many times I would put it in the trash. Or cut it up for stringer material. Or make a knee board out of it. But I salvaged it by gluing on some hobby store planks with white glue. You really cannot see the repair. Good thing I’m a genius. ha.
Aside from the difficulty of shaping balsa, the only really challenge was repairing a couple of holes the security people like to put in surfboards while checking for contraband. I am sure they take great delight in poking holes in expensive boards. I used sanding dust and white glue to make a paste anthen repaired the holes. You have to look hard to see the repairs. Good thing I stumbled on that trick in a wood working book.
I also made the fins from balsa and glassed them on. I hadn’t done glass on’s in years and had to search the archives here to remind myself of the key points. I got it right though.
The shape is from a template that Rooster sent me a few years ago. Thanks, Mike. It is an old Lis template and it looks killer in balsa.
A fine job Mr. Tate. Were you in Montananita? Is it Balsa Surf Camp? I will repeat an often stated phrase; " To be an artisan/craftsman doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes. It is how well you deal with them and cover them up without loss of integrity". Again, nice job. In your spare time, look up “dutchman” on the woodworking site you go on. A patch well done will just about disappear. All the Best to you.
Many thanks Grasshoper, Kayu and tblank. So good to get validated by the pro’s. Yep Mananita surf camp. Such a good guy. And such beautiful grained balsa. It was a privilege to shape it.
Mike, sadly I did not surf it. I had hoped to give it a whirl. It has a slight single concave bottom transitioning to a slight double and then vee. I was really intrigued to see how it would go but we are into our flat season now. No chance for several months
It’s funny, Greg, I don’t recall sending you a template. Glad to be a very small part of your project, though. Before everything in the universe went digital I used to send paper templates all over the US and world. Recieved a few, too. It was fun. Mike
Holy crap, Greg, how did I miss this. That is gorgeous.
Glad you had fun in Ecuador. Many moons ago I spent about a year just down the road from there. Rode my bike up the beach to surf Montanita all the time. Good times.
So this afternoon I popped into the Compound with my family to get my daughter a rash guard and lo-and-behold they have this lovely balsa fish adorning a display table full of clothes and stuff. Right at waist level where I could check it out up close and personal. She’s a beaut in real life, too, Greg. Love the character of the balsa. Way more interesting than hobby-shop material. And considering it’s no secret how you feel about fin-making, you deserve props for going the extra mile on them as well.
I’m keen to see what you do with that second blank.
Hahahahahahahaha. Thanks NSB. It was a labor of love. I appreciate your comments. ( there are only a handful of guys here anymore who remember that thread about how to not build fins ).
