http://liquiddreamssurf.bigcartel.com/category/grain-surfboard-kits
Thoughts? Experiences? Looks good, might order one and give it a go…
I am in the process of building the 6’5" Seed. Got the planks glued up, and I am getting ready to glue the frame to the planks. Its a lot of fun, and I think the next wood board I want to build will be something in the 9 foot range. The best part about about the Grain board other than they are great designs to begin with, is that they do all of the wood prep for you, and Mike is really great about getting back with any questions you have. They want you to succeed. They set you up for success. For a first time builder like myself, with little to no wood working experience, that is worth the price and then some.
The next board I hope to build all on my own design…cutting out the hangers and keel, finding the planks and resawing them to make the beautiful bottom and top patterns is no easy business. You have to have an accurate table saw, a band saw, and lots of other items, including a router and router table to cut the beads and coves. Finding the rail strips is not too hard, but for me (I live in Texas) finding northern white cedar is next to impossible. You have to find a lumber guy up north who is willing to work with your small order, and the diserning selections of boards. All clear vertical grain white cedar is not cheap either. You pretty much have to resaw your own boards to get to the correct thickness, becuse most suppliers won’t do it for a small order.
Don’t get me wrong, there are much more talented builders than me here that will say forget the kit, and just go for it. But I could see buying another Grain kit someday, because of the good design, and having the hangers and keel work done.
Hey brother, awesome stuff on the Grain kits–where do you surf in TX? South, I bet?
greg
…yamaslobber, can you put some detailed pictures? (kit, you re process)
I cant imagine the kit
and why cedar and not for ex poplar?
thanks
Well, I surf at JP Luby, and Bob Hall mostly, but I take about three trips a year, either in the Santa Cruz area (staying with friends) or, in three weeks its off to Costa Rica. Trying to get this 6’5" done before that trip. Not the perfect board for CR, but it will be fun to try it out on some waist high beach juice.
In all the research I have done, cedar suits hollow board building the most, becasue it is strong enough, but most of all, it is flexible and light weight. White cedar in particular is even a little more flexible, but red eastern red is very pretty if you mix some red planks in with the white.
I have been photographing the build, and I plan on doing a big post showing the whole build as soon as I start on the rails.
Cool. How can you get some more details about the board spec’s?
Hey Yamaslobber,
I just got the Seed kit as well, and I’m getting ready to start the build. I was wondering if you have any tips or tricks that you learned along the way, which aren’t in the notes provided?
Also, if you have any pics of your rocker table would you please share them?
check the tree to sea/grain forums…lots of goodies for rocker table ideas there…re: Grain service…that’s the old Maine work ethic!
I give Grain and their kits a full endorsement. I rode several of their boards this summer when their West Coast tour passed through Santa Cruz, and they ride! Mike runs a terrific company, and customer service is great. I toured their factory when I was in Maine a few years ago, and this is the grass roots real deal. I’m currently building an SUP board using the Grain method, and I have a lot of time and sweat into resawing and milling wood. The kits save a lot of time and labor, and for a first build are a good way to go. I bought a frame kit from them for the 9-0 root after riding one this summer.
if you have the tools and not the money or plan on making a few boards, I would recommend skipping the kit. If you can get an aps design, it can be converted to templates. If you have a table saw and planer you will be able to mill up your own lumber. you can use any reasonably light and strong wood, cedar is just one of the better options
If you plan on only making a single board and/or you DON’T have a woodshop with a tablesaw, router, jigsaw, sanders,
clamps and hand planes then the kit is a great solution.
If you feel that this is an entre in to ongoing board building AND you have the tools stated above then you may want
to consider checking out http://grainsurf.com/forum.
Another thing to consider is the availability of materials in your area, specifically marine ply and any of the standard
materials being used for decks and rails: cedar, basswood, balsa, paulownia, etc.
The advantage of the kit is that all the materials are shipped to you ready for assembly with good documentation.
The website referenced here and elsewhere is run by Rich Blundell (RichieB here on swaylocks). He was one of the
original founders of Grain and has since parted ways with the commercial operation and instead runs an open-source
community for folks using the bead and cove hollow wooden surfboard techniques.
You can get everything you need to make ANY shape you can imagine.
Search for .brd shapes here on the forums…lots of guys are sharing their shapes and designs.
Download AKU Shaper http://aps3000.com/software.php?p=software_download
Download JedAil’s AKU Shaper plugin available on the grainsurf.com/forum site in the ‘What’s Available’ section (I think).
You basically design/modify the board shape, then run it through JedAil’s plugin to export a PDF file.
Take the PDF file to kinkos, print it up fullsize on one of the large roll printers, take it home, glue it on to some 4mm
marine ply and start building…it creates cut-out templates for the interlocking keel and ribs…then you just build
your panels for the deck and hull, build up the rails, glass it and go.
Download AKU Shaper http://aps3000.com/software.php?p=software_download
Download JedAil’s AKU Shaper plugin available on the grainsurf.com/forum site in the ‘What’s Available’ section (I think).
You basically design/modify the board shape, then run it through JedAil’s plugin to export a PDF file.
Take the PDF file to kinkos, print it up fullsize on one of the large roll printers, take it home, glue it on to some 4mm
marine ply and start building…it creates cut-out templates for the interlocking keel and ribs…then you just build
your panels for the deck and hull, build up the rails, glass it and go.
sounds kinda difficult, but its not!
if a complete kook like me can do it then anybody can.
this is a shot of my last board doing exactly that…
had my second surf on it today and got a couple of cover ups on it. stoked!
Well, one thing they leave out of the manual is the importance of wrapping the rail strips all the way to each hanger, even the front and back ones. The rail strips twist when you do this, hence the need for a little steam. So every hanger is touching every strip with a little dab of glue. I screwed it up, and did some serious repair work to take off the first two strips.
Thanks for the tips!