Don’t want to rain on your parade since the work you’re doing is really nice, but why did you choose to make a hollow alaia using plywood?
It would be easier to get pieces of 1" thick lumber and make a solid board. I bought a piece of pine that was already laminated to be 17" x 7/8" x 6’ and with a jig saw and a belt sander cut the board out in a day. If I used a planer, I could have saved a lot of time.
Even with a resin coating to seal it, the board is very light. The only down side is it is made from cheap knotty pine.
Another beauty of the solid design is that I can make changes to the bottom shape and outline until I’m happy with the end product.
I think that was one of the things Tom Wegener mentioned when he first started making these boards. You can fine tune them endlessly. I don’t think a hollow board will allow that.
Because of weight, and because I want to try something different. I’m aware of the lack of tuneability of a hollow board, but anyway, the waves I use to surf don’t need “special” equipment.
I made some calculations in excel, and the apparent density of this board will be 0.3, very close to paulownia wood. Also, yesterday glued one of the skins and the board seems to flex -nicely until now- and solid pine doesn’t…
Well, that’s just me, I still have my doubts about this boards, but let’s see what happens. After all it’s a 50 dlls experiment, and it’s funny too
I have to applaud your effort. That’s a lot of work to go through.
The pine alaia I made will flex quite a bit, and it is extremely light. It only cost me $18.00 USD and it was already the right width. The maximum thickness is less than an inch, and it tapers down to about 1/4" or 3/8" at the rails. What I did was draw 2 lines down the board from nose to tail. The lines separate the board into 3 equal sections. I created a roll on the bottom from the line to the rail. The middle section has a very slight concave. The nose has as much roll as I could get into a one inch thick board. The top has a very slight amount of roll compared to the bottom. The outline is very traditional old Hawaiian style.
I have a couple of photos at home, I will post them tonight when I get home.
This was made as a test. With other boards made from nicer woods later when I get the hang of what they should be.
Good luck on your board. I know the fun part is in the work, but it’s also cool when you get down to the beach and people ask where you got that board from.
Top and bottom skins are glued in the 8’ board, and trimmed the excess. Will shape rails of both boards as soon as I finish glueing the shorter board skins.
The wood for the skins is luan/meranti 1/8" plywood, the stuff the doors are made of (nothing special) but for some reason the “bad” face of the plywood sheet had a darker and richer color.
Finished the 8 footer 2 days ago, and been trying to surf it since then (the thing surfs, but it’s too DAMN HARD!) I feel like a newbie again, with a big and funny challenge in front of me.
About the board. I don’t know what the final weight is, but way lighter than my previous HWS. Looks and feels tough under my feet, even being glass-free. I decided to only shape the rails from the bottom of the board, I don’t know if it’s ok, but has worked (sort of) for me.
Being the newbie I am, and being too lazy to swim for my board after every fall, also decided to install a “leash hole” which I made from a bic pen, epoxied to a previously drilled hole in the tail of the board. Has worked fine until now.
My brother in law also built his own alaias, and handed me a 6 footer to test it. I found easier to catch waves in this board, and also slides less than my longer board.
I’ll finish the 6 footer tonight, and I’m seriously considering cuting a foot, maybe a foot and a half from the 8 footer, I really liked the shorter one.
Any pics of the final product? A guy we sold some Paulownia wood to is using it to make a wave ski…another cool hollow wood oceancraft project. Here’s a pic of the last one he made:
