Hollow Wooden surf board weight

General Discussion
1

Hey guys, I have a question. I am in the middle of building a hollow wooden surfboard, and it’s my first one. Now I got some plans off the internet and am almost to the glassing stage. It’s going ok, with a few minor flaws, but like I said it’s my first one, and if it becomes a wall hanger,and an expensive one at that, that’s just fine with me. My only question is how much should this thing weigh, now my nest board will weigh much less, because I dove into this just wanting to get my feet wet in the idea of building a hws. I learned already alot from you guys and the gentleman that sold me the plans. The only thing is that I have yet to put the rails on, the nose, only 6" of wood and a little bit more wood for the tail, and it is weighing in at 17lbs., and it’s only going to be about a 6.5’ board, will this thing even be rideable, I made it pretty hard core, like an elephant could ride it. Any thoughts from you guys would be great, as I respect all of you and have actually learned quite a bit from you guys and this website, even if you don’t know it.

Thanks—

Phinnie

Oh yeah, and do any of you know how I could do pyrography on my board, like burn in a design or emblom.–thanks

2

Hey Phinnie,

My first one was 8’ long 21"wide and ended up weighing 28lbs, thats with 2x6oz all over and epoxy.

17lbs for a 6’5" without glassing or rails seems a bit on the heavy side but it’ll be fine. You might still be able to reduce the weight a little.

Who did you get the plans off, what did they cost, got any piccies of it so far?

3

hey Phinnie,

yeah it does seem slightly heavy for a short board pre rails but who cares? just build your board and ride that baby!

of course it will be rideable, have you seen what some guys have ridden on before? doors , guitar cases etc…!

and if all else fails do what I will do if my first hws doesn’t turn out to ride all that well: build a better lighter one and make the other one a wall hanger/occasional rider.

good luck and keep at it!

ps. I’ll measure mine now

4

just weighed my board which I had never done and it was 18.2lb (8.3kg) which is what I expected, it is 9"6’, with nose blocks and tail block, rails completed.

5

howdy phza,

I’m going to be in the same boar as you, I fear. Especially after reading about Robbo’s tragedy tonight I’m going to lean towards over engineering on my first go. As to burning in a design, I used to do it with a soldering gun on some of my woodwork. You would need a really heavy duty gun though, not the little ones. Or they make tools just for that purpose.

Pat