Wrote a full on post last night but when I clicked ‘publish’ my browser timed out and I lost it all so here I go again
A friend and I just recently embarked on the Alaia quest. Ever since I first saw a few youtube videos on alaia’s, I thought it would be totally awesome to make one of my own! I then convinced a friend of mine that it was a good idea and he had all the practical skills, tools and contacts to make it happen. We struggle to find Paulownia in South Africa so rather decided to go with Obeche, which seems to have been used elsewhere with some success. We bought the planks and planed them down to the required thickness and then sandwiched them together with some walnut stringers. The dark, almost black, walnut contrasts beautifully with the buttery smooth Obeche! Stunning! We also put in some biscuit joins just to strengthen them up a bit, although I think this may have been a little overkill myself.
We used templates and the manual from surfinggreen, thanks Grant, which really helped a lot. Used hand plane’s for the rails and a bit of the nose, belt sander to finish off the nose and an orbital sander to finish off the rails and do the channel in the back. All in all wasn’t too difficult for a woodworking n00b like me but it definitely helped having a friend with skills Used a few coats of linseed oil to seal the wood.
Took them on their maiden voyage yesterday and it was awesome! Pretty tricky and only stood up a very few times and mainly only in the white-wash but still had a blast. Takes a lot of getting used to and hopefully after a few more sessions we will get the hang of it. When people say they are tricky to paddle, they aren’t kidding! One if the main issues for me is that the linseed oil pretty much prevented the wax from sticking so while paddling, the board would just dance all over the place! Highly frustrating. Going to do some adjustments this week and see what happens, see if a little bit of muscle memory and added skill combined with a few tweaks here and there and result in a more fruitful surf session!
In terms of sealing the board, the linseed oil seems to have all but dissipated after just one surf! Going to try out an alternative and wondering what you all suggest. I think the linseed oil and beeswax mix sounds good (not to sure where to get beeswax though) but I have also found this local, all natural product, which consists of various oils as well as gum resin. What do you guys think? Hoping to oil it up to a bit of tacky finish so that I either dont need wax or the wax sticks!
Anyways, here is a little pic for you. As soon as I have some better pics of the rails and tail, I will post those too.
“Legoman: Nice work! Can’t wait to hear about how it rides. Enjoy shaping the tail and the nose, that’s where I had the most fun!”
Thanks…When you say enjoy shaping the nose and the tail, what did you modify on the tail after you had done the rails? I know to round up the nose in a sort of spoon like fashion, but besides concave, I can’t think of what else I would modify on the tail. Am I over thinking your statement? If not could you elaborate please?
However, one of the secrets of the alaia type board is the ability to flex and those walnut stringers will likely eliminate or significantly reduce any noticable flexion. I doubt your board will flex like this....
Also "biscuits" are really for alignment purposes and offer next to no strength; and they are almost always made from beech which is very prone to rot. A decent glue joint will be stronger then the wood and is all you really need.
That concoction you linked to looks good.
I use this stuff on my un glassed wood boards.
It's easier to apply, gives a harder, longer lasting finish then Linseed oil and is still relatively safe.
Thanks for the advice and the great pics! We are busy planning our next iteration of the Obeche Alaia without stringers or biscuits as I type.
Forgot to mention in my post, we made 2 boards. First one is about 6’4" and the second one (pictured above) is 7’6". The 7’6" one seemed much easier to catch waves with but in terms of riding, we’re still not quite sure … only time will tell
Wondering whether making our current boards a little thinner would help with the flex. Don’t really want to throw them away. Would feel like such a waste of great wood and hard work. Although, I am sure we will make plenty more in time …
Nice lookin board! The stringers, while they might reduce flex, sure look amazing.
I councidentally made my first out of some knotty spruce just today, after some advice from Uncle Grumpy here (thanks again for some pointers). Trued the outline and did the rails with a hand plane, only have left to grind in some concave and round up the nose with the sander.
I’m extremely interested to see how it will ride and what the learning curve is like; I expect it to be very steep.
I agree with unclegrumpy. The biscuits are only needed for alignment and then usually for pre-dimensioned stock, like boards you thicknessed already or plywood.
Every time an alaia thread comes up I see the same things about finishing. Here's one take on it. Oils don't hold up on interior furniture. They might last one session if you slather paste or parrafin wax over top of them. I'm talking about true oils. The natural stuff. If you feel good about using them more power to you. You will be feeling good about that often if you want to preserve your board.
All the other oil finishes regardless of the name attached to them are wiping varnishes. They are still oleoresinous varnishes. That means they take good quality varnish and add to it an oil like linseed. Thinners and dryers are also added to allow you to wipe it on evenly without having to wait two weeks for it to dry. You can make your own too. I would rather use a good quality varnish though. It has the same resin and it will last longer. You can also look at the MSDS to see what major chemicals are in your finishes.
I don't put varnish on mine though. I figure that if i'm going to put a good finish on then I might as well use a coat of resin. It lasts longer than varnish. It's faster, and it sands better. I also like some boards with no finish at all.
Wow, thanks for all the advice. Left the board at work yesterday as it was pouring with rain and with essentially no seal left, I didn’t want to get it wet. Trying to get it bone dry before next coat. I will test the flex when I go to the office just now
Unclegrumpy: I see on your picture that the groove in the tail doesn’t look that deep. At the thickest point of the tail, our boards are about 24mm (just under an inch), how thick should they be at the thinnest point, at the apex of the groove?
Legoman: Nice work! Can’t wait to hear about how it rides. Enjoy shaping the tail and the nose, that’s where I had the most fun!
Tbod: Thanks for the advice. I am going to try the ProNature product I pasted a link to in my first post but if that doesn’t work, we might have to try a more traditional varnish or go with resin …
Thanks again for all the input, I love being a part of such active forums
I'd try thinning it a bit since you have that much wood to work with. The stringers will allow you to go very thin if necessary.
I've had quite a bit of discussion with both Tom and Jon Wegener and some of their planks are quite thin. Much of it depends on the wood you are using.
This board is styled after their "Finley" model.
The thickest section's less then 18mm and the thinnest is less than 12mm.
If the deck is still flat, you may want a slight roll as well.
You want the rails thin with barely rounded square edges.
Keep in mind these things are a bitch to paddle unless you are superfitswimmer.
More wood might get you better paddling but you won't have the real thing without the flex. It's part of what makes them work.
Wow, you really are a treasure trove of valuable Alaia info
That board looks stunning and relatively short. I also see that the channel goes quite far up the board and is far ‘gentler’ than I thought it would need to be. Interesting. I also love your graphics. Are those burnt on or is it ink?
When I get a chance to get back into a workshop, I’ll see what I can do about the thickness of the board.
Thanks again for all the info.
Legoman: in terms of the tail, I only mean the concave bit …
Jon Wegener told me, "Oil your board once a day for a week, before you ever get it wet, then once a week for a month, then once a month forever". I generally mix 3/4 boiled linseed oil and 1/4 turpentine. I oil the board liberally and evenly, let sit for an hour, then wipe excess off with a clean cloth. Do this every day for at least 5-7 days before you get the board wet. Eventually you will get a sticky layer over the wood, which means the board is basically sealed. You can then wax the deck if you like. After you start riding it just feel it up after each session. When you can begin to feel the grain in the wood, and it feels dry to the touch, its time to oil it up again.
It's what I was told to do and what I have been doing with the last two paulownia alaias I've made. One alteration from what I said before, I only mix the turps in for the forst 5 coast or so, as it helps the oil into the grain of the wood. After that I use straight boiled linseed oil for the final few coats. The first board I made I used inly boiled linseed oil, and it worked fine it just took longer to really coat the board.
OK. Just thought I would post a quick update. Been working on the boards a little bit since the weekend. Made them a bit thinner and they now have some flex and have also extended the concave much further up the board. The concave has a very sharp edge, which I am a little worried about but could sand that down at a later stage. Although, we have discovered that sanding an oiled board is a bit of a mess!
Hopefully doing surf-test round 2 tomorrow morning! Will update you all later …
Just a note on concaves. I tried the very sharp edge on the chine of the concave on my second board, and it slid out much easier than my first board with rolled concaves. It's a little counter-intuitive, as you would think the sharp chines on the concaves would act like fins. but if you think about how water flows along and across the bottom of the board it starts to make sense. The sharp edges on the concave allow the water to release there instead of at the rail, and you lose traction and slide out. If you have rolled concave edges the water sticks to the bottom of the board, flows into and out of the concave, and releases at the rail where its suppossed to, thereby increasing your edge control.
Give it a try with the sharp edges first, then go back and sand em round and try it again and see what the difference is.
