“Hi Paul - I like the painting - and it’s the same style as the bamboo one on the wall behind. Is that your work too?”
The paintings are the work of Jesse Joshua Watson…It’s the third board in an ongoing series of me producing a HWS veneer bottom “canvas’”, then turning it over to an artist to complete the deck…These boards get glassed and built to ride…
So far the artist’s I’ve worked with are stoked to do something different…Most artists have a preferred medium and style…Most of the time their painting is on a flat canvas…They recognise that painting onto a hand built wood board is more unique than painting a canvas or even a foam blank…It just is…
We also see these projects as a way of threading together other artists through a “common canvas”…I put no expectations on the art or the time to get it done…It’s fun to see what emerges from diverse artists…All of those I’ve worked with so far said they are honored to do these boards and it has elevated their work…
Artists interested in collaboration can contact me through my website…
Decided to try a solid balsa wood build and due to the limited length of balsa I could get my hands on, decided to make it a bodyboard. Turned out to be a lot more work than I expected but have to admit, it was great gun to build and can definately recommend giving it a go if you can get hold of some balsa. For anybody who’s interested I’ve documented the build here: http://seasonalsurfcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-lil-sim-build.html
It’s inspired by Bob Simmons, Dan Thompson and Tom Wegener’s thumb…
The light coloured timber is Paulownia .The dark red timber is Victorian Red Gum. This timber is used because it looks great and it is rock solid and heavy. Both timbers as you know are resistant to weathering, many of the old red gum railway sleepers laid in the early 1900’s are still around today unsealed and going strong after a century of heavy use. This board is sealed with a plant based varnish, which will last many years if it cared for.
The low entry rocker, planning hull and chined rails are also all designed to give the board more speed down the line. You will also notice the rails of this board are quite sharp, combine this with small twin keel fins and the board’s responsiveness is greatly improved. A chambered timber board is much more lively underfoot than foam and fiberglass boards (especially when the surf has a bit of power), it will flex a bit and bounce in and out of turns, the resonance of timber means you will “feel” the way the wave and the board interact. The feeling is hard to explain, suffice to say it’s a great ride!
This board is made to bring the fun back into your surfing, no matter what the conditions are like, all the test surfs have been in very poor conditions, but the board has still performed well and the surfers have had a blast. This board is the first of its model and has been tested by myself and other interested surfers, as you can see in the photos. The ideal wave for this board is a long peeling break with a variety of fast hollow sections and slow shoulders that break anywhere from knee high to a couple of feet overhead. Surfing wood is addictive.
This shape was a finalist in the Shaper’s Apprentice competition run through Smorgasboarder Magazine.
More info and pics at www.kirisurfcraft.blogspot.com.au
I started the project on March 8th and finally finished this past weekend (5 May). The board is far from perfect and I definitely made a lot of mistakes along the way. There were a number of discouraging nights but it did turn out better than I had expected. Still, I walked away with a lot of experience that will pay off when I attempt to do this again.
It’s a 9 foot classic longboard.
Thanks so much to everyone here that helped with advice along the way.
