I use hide glue in my furniture shop. Totally organic. Just ad water to the pellets and heat up a batch. Been around for a zillion years. Finish withmultiple coat of organic shellac followed by a few coats of beeswax. Ride it
Thats sounds good!
“I wouldn’t ever reccomend chambering Paulownia - I could be mistaken, but it was my understanding that the wood is already so light and soft that chambering it would lead to some structural issues… maybe I’m thinking of a different wood becase I’m speaking off hearsay not experience there…” You must be thinking of a different wood. Paulownia is an excellent wood for chambering it is light, not as light as Balsa but harder and stronger. Many people have done chambered paulownia and just used oil or varnish to finish as it is strong enough to go without glass.
Thanks for all the responses so far. There is a lot of useful information here and a lot to make me rethink the whole issue of eco. At the end of the day its up to my friend who wants the board to decide how eco he wants it and up to my friend who is going to make it what contruction method he is comfortable with.
My few attempts at making eco boards all ended up in the landfill shortly after construction- not very eco. After experimenting with a variety of materials including cardboard and papier mache the closest I got was a 6 foot hollow solid soft wood frame board tied together with flax string (no glue), covered with flax cloth (thick and rough like sack cloth), laminated with caramalised sugar which ended up weighing 40 pounds and despite being glossed with several layers of shellac it began to melt and attract insects before I could ride it. Although my friends laughed at me and some considered me insane I did learn a lot including the fact that sugar is unlikely to replace conventional resin in the near distant future. In fairness I did catch one wave on the cardboard board before it turned to pulp. I had also considered making a board make out of bio plastic made out of potato starch which is used for auto components but the process involved boiling potato starch in ether which from a health and safety point of view is a bit risky.
That’s a pretty funny story ilovesabrina. I applaud your creativity, tho. Yah,I think using ether is a very bad idea. I do believe it vaporizes readily at room temperature. Very explosive, too, if there is a flame nearby. Hope you continue with your efforts. Mike
From what I remember the process required the use of several gallons of ether being heated in a pressurised metal container. When the fire brigade and police arrive on the scene of half a dozen burning demolished houses would they believe you if you said you were only making a surfboard?
I was wondering whether anyone has used cold molding to make a hollow wood board. I only know a bit about the process from a boat building friend. With the right glue it should be strong and watertight and not require glassing but could be finished with oil or shellac and wax as suggested above.
Been a long time since I took O-Chem. We were warned ether is denser than air, sinks along the floor, finds a flame and boof! Burned from the nuts down.
They’d say, "F…kn Tweakers! Mike
I had a feeling as I was typing that - I wasn’t super sure - I think I’m thinking balsa or agave which is too pithy to chamber and mantain strength?
The monoculture of farming wood like paulowani is not sustainable nor ecologically sound. Tree farming destroys forests and soil, wildlife and biodiversity, etc.
Balsa trees are massive and cause great destruction to the forest around it when harvested and removed. I am a witness.
In my opinion, agave is the best natural material to replace poly styrene foam and plastics. The agave is ready to harvest when the plant has been dead and drying for nearly one year. The “cork” is light and strong. People are making quality agave boards all around the world.
Check out Gary Lindens 100% agave board he made for Jose Cuervo.
Totally incorrect…the only negative about using timber for anything , either plantation grown or naturally grown , is when the resource is “over consumed” and not allowed to regenerate , or when the raw materials are used to make substandard end products that don’t last . Farming trees to meet peoples timber needs is no different from farming organic vegetables to feed people… if you wish to go back to being a “hunter & gatherer” , you are free to do do so , but desist from pontificating your personal choices upon others…thanks.
Yes , and they are nice boards …but they are coated with toxic resins and fibreglass cloth to give them durability for use.
I have been to pauli farms in Costa Rica and the plantation had been primary forest at one point, cut down, then replaced with this tree farm. All the natural and native species were destroyed for one species of tree, which are usually planted too close together, subesequently yielding sick and poor quality trees compared to those found in nature.
I am not saying pauli makes bad surfboards. I am stating farming trees is unsustainable and not ecological friendly. Perhaps, it is people friendly and allows a cheap material but no butterfly will ever thank a farmer for cutting all the vegetation to plant one type of plant where there usd to be thousands.
Also i would not state people need farmed trees to make surfboards as you state. Boards can be made from many things even cardboard.
I am a wood worker. I have logged trees, mostly fallen ones. Wood is great but what you are talking about is not reality and comes from a human centric point of view.
There are alternative plant based resins like Super Sap, which are less toxic and are made from more than fifty percent plant material. I have seen people utilizing bamboo mesh instead of fiber glass and plant resins and epoxy.
Gary linden made a surfboard recently of 100% agave plant from foam to finish using what i believe is a similar technique to how amate paper is made in Mexico.
Also the fiber is only about 5% of a surfboard, whereas, the resin and blank are about 85%.
This doesn’t exist and never will. Your farmed trees are being grown on what was formerly timberland, are being cut down with gas powered saws, brought to market in gas powered vehicles, shipped around the world in diesel powered cargo vessels. By the time you get it you might as well have used foam. The epoxies claiming to be bio based are at best 30% but most are 5% just so they can claim bio based. The bio based material in these resins is tree oil derived from coal fired pulping plants that polute incredible amounts of water as well. The fiberglass is sand manufactured in a very energy intensive process. The rest of the product is just details that if looked at closely are just as bad or worse. You want to make a greener board? Less waste, more durable! Those are the only ways to affectly reduce footprint. THE ONLY WAYS! A board that is built with half the material and lasts twice as long has 25% the footprint of a normal board. Nothing else comes even close to this kind of reduction. It’s not the easy way because it forces you to use your best skills to be green rather than just buying your way green.
!00% ? NO. Moving forward to 100% YES. If you want 100% eco friendly … don’t make a board at all as had been stated here already. Having said that,; the way forward is about moving away from the current mode which is basiclly PU blanks and PE resins. The Epoxy and EPS revolution is part of that move. Timber[veneer] clad EPS or hollow rib and rail construction method another leap forward and as to adhesive glues and waterproffing… Well the ancients used hide glue, still used by guitar makers today… readilly available. If you can make a cedar board there is no need at all to waterproof it. Cedar will last an eternituy if you wash it in salt water every now and then and make sure, when not in use … kept out of the Sunlight. The ancients also made use of Tung oil, But of course all of this … too hard for the modern grommet. If it’s not an AP it’s not real whilst most of the consumming public don’t actually give a rat’s arse either way. LOL.
Greg Loehr made an interesting reply in this thread yesterday, but because he responded to an earlier comment, his post ended up way back on page 2. So I’m re-posting it here, for those who may have missed it.
Thanks Huck.
RE Greg Loehr’s post, I could not agree more. The sustainable argument was made years ago for total water reuse ( I am a water resources engineer ). Sounds good on paper, but in practice total reuse was impractical, unsafe and so expensive as to be limited to ship-board use and astronaunts.
The “know it all, simple solution environmentalists” irritate the heck out of me. I am glad to be pushed for better solutions, but are so many hidden costs in eco friendly products. It is all marketing.
all the best
I think the keyword here is “sustainability” … “100% Eco” is not an achievable concept , whereas a board built in a sustainable production system is…On a global scale , the increase of plantation grown timbers has drastically reduced the stress on forests , and is increasing as global regulations make illegally harvested trees unsaleable , and therefore unviable for the large scale illegal harvesters. This is made possible because the biggest demand comes from the most developed countries , and can be regulated at the import and customs level… Regarding the surfboard industry, the move towards sustainability has begun and will continue as surfers become more aware of how their boards are made and the materials used to make them…One of the biggest obstacles to overcome is the advertising and marketing industries , who continue unashamedly to promote “eco-friendly” surfboards and products that fail to live up to the hype , and take us backwards … One day , a “100% Eco” surfboard may be possible , but it won’t happen in our life time. It’s a journey that has only just began , and the “sustainability” must be consolidated as the essential first step . Statistics prove beyond any doubt , that plantation grown timbers are the best friend the natural forests have at present to prevent their destruction and the environment that they provide.