I've been participating on on KKSurf's thread but I didn't want to ask this question there. This is just a temporary sidebar.
For decades now, it appears that people have gone thru great effort to make and market Hollow Surfboards. People are now paying large sums of money to purchase Hollow Wood Surfboards. KKSurf has posed a question on the forum and hopes to take it to another level.
But I just realized something....
WHAT IS THE FASCINATION WITH HOLLOW WOOD BOARDS?
WHAT IS THE CENTRAL REASON(s) FOR ITS FOLLOWING?
While I am a cynic by nature, I am asking the questions here honestly. The main reason for my inquiry is because it seems so much more challenging to make them hollow instead of conventionally cored. So there must be a CENTRAL REASON to take a more resistant path towards riding a surfboard.
I will say in advance that I expect people to say things like:
"its an interesting and challenging way to make a surfboard"
"wood is a natural material I prefer to work with"
"its different"
etc etc
My inquiry has more to do with actually SURFING and RIDING the board.
I don't think it is about the ride. I believe it is the desire to be different than the pack. For some it is the technical challenge. Foam core goes back over fifty years, while hollow goes back over eighty years. Foam is much easier to do well than hollow, and faster to boot. As we've seen posted here, HWS can be a thing of beauty. Do they ride in a superior way to foam core boards? No. IMO. But they are different, and can be beautiful, and with proper design, ride quite well. To each his own, eh? I like seeing what some of the members of the forum have done with HWS. There have been some impressive displays of craftsmanship.
I rode a couple of Paul Jensen’s first boards, and to me, the appeal is a unique feel; something like a mat (the ultimate hollow vehicle). There is a definite resonance you get through your feet. After riding them, my foam boards felt dead.
I can’t imagine that the “performance” is better than other construction methods but then I haven’t ridden newer more refined shapes. I agree with Bill; it’s all good…
You'll see that most are hobbiests (even Paul's students) who really enjoy working with wood versus foam and have a "green" inkling Kind of like how the Compsand.com community got developed from a core set swaylocks posters.
Paul Jensen probably started most of the buzz on this website until his IP got hacked but when Rich and Mike started Grain Surfboards and after Rich left then it was primarily... (which I would say is Mike's genius contribution)
marketing
more marketing
and even more marketing
Nice glossy magazine advertisement stories and public TV promos sell alot of drugs we don't need every year too.
wouldn't be surprise of they get that GEICO caveman doing a commercial with Grain/CI surfboard one day soon...
But believe me from first hand experience, a glossy wood board no matter how badly it surfs will always draw praise in the lineup and on the beach. Its a ego booster if anything.
Also a true wood board (not a compsand) hollowed or not has a different feel a more primitive feel with the weight and the flex that appeals to a certain crowd. Remeber what Gerry Lopez said about the boards he made for Pipeline?
I like heavy boards cause they leave a mark when you hit something or someone, also you need to use your brain to surf them best and not your butt like with a HP potato chip if you can understand what I'm saying..
But the again eventhough I make tons of wooden compsands as a hobby, I prefer riding my Griffin polys other than life cycle you just can't beat a great poly with glass-ons no matter what anyone says.
I think wood feels nice in the water. Has a nice glide to it, and if they are shaped well can turn and trim as well as a poly board. Coming from an arts and design background I am also drawn to the aesthetics of wood.
The spine and rib construction method can have limitations and I think that what most people lump all hollow or solid wood boards into that catagory.
Its a niche crowd though, I don't see wood replacing foam anytime soon.
hmmm...dont know what to make of this yet but novel, unique and different has come up. They kinda all mean the same thing. I guess its just different than foam/fiber. Not something I would bet the tree farm on. That may explain the niche and hobbiest stuff.
Sorry to join the party late, but I’m here in Australia on day four of a five day workshop…The days have been long and checking Sways pretty low on my priorities…
Why they are sought after…( Based upon others statements to me)
1 - The look…
2 - That resonant / alive thing…
3 - The glide…
4 - Durability…
5 - Percieved eco benefit…
6 - A satisfy physical challenge to build…
7 - Intellectually stimulating to design…
8 - Heirloom factor…
9 - Quiver enhancer…
10 - On upsmanship…
To me, it always comes down to the ride qualty…Period…
They just feel more alive…To judge one without riding one is simply being uninformed…
But above all, t's a ploy to make the ladies think i'm all spiritual and tree hugging. A ploy to get laid.
Aaahaaa...ha, ha, ha... The truth eventually emerges. Just pull a Schwarzenegger and say you needed to make this large wood board to float the heavier member of your anatomy...
I think more people may be comfortable with the concept of working with wood versus foam and fiberglass. To the average person, it’s more approachable and has a familiar aspect to it being essentially fine woodworking as opposed to shaping foam which seems more like a foreign process.
I’d like to build one just because it seems like a fun project and would be interesting to see how they rode.
There is a lot of truth in this post. Surfers with a background in construction or similar trades are naturally drawn into HWS building. Most of us already have the tools to build these type of boards and they are fun projects. After you’ve built and ridden your own boards for awhile you realize how well these boards can work. Sure they’re heavier, so what you get use to it. I don’t care what other people ride. I build my HWS because I love woodworking and surfing my creations.
Same here, I come from a construction background so building and assembling wood out of timber has been a natural step from learning to shape them out of foam.
I still enjoy making foam boards as it allows for more freedom to shape something in a relatively short time but Working with timber as a material is more rewarding for me and a whole lot more pleasant to work with ie masks , etc etc…
Im not sure if Building a hollow style construction board is really slower than a conventionally cored one, a lot of shaping time is saved by doing “skins” and just gluing them to the shape, at least thats what i have found.
Another reason for me when I decided on a method to build a board with was actually a financial one too , Hollow construction uses less expensive timber ie balsa or Paulownia or whatever is being used, its quite an efficient use of the material. Ribs and interior structures can be made from the smaller offcuts and skins are an efficient use of planks as opposed to cutting a curved rocker shape out of a square piece of timber.