solid wooden board: how starting?

General Discussion
2

i wanna build a wooden surfboard from redwood- solid body

with these features: 6’6" 19-7/8" 2-3/8" an hybrid mid 70’s solid board

i need your help:

a) do you think it’s better to curve wooden before to glue it together or join it together first?

b) what to use to glue wood?

c) do you think reedwood is right to start, for it’s cheaper than balsawood

d) do you think i have to finish board with a fiberglass cloth plus resin or only with resin?

( i think it’ll affect weight and thickness)

3

The first things you need to do:

  • Start a serious upperbody weightlifting program
  • Run stairs to strengthen your legs

A solid wood board in the dimensions you plan, might not be what you hope it to be…

It will be heavy, not so maneuverable, but probably look pretty cool…

There are other ways to make a wood board, that’ll have the aesthetics of a solid, yet still be very high performance…

Might I suggest, www.hollowsurfboards.com for further ideas…

4

thanx for answering me

probably you’re right; i know hollowbody conception and i think it’s the best way to work but also for this kind of shortboard?

i think that board will be about 30 kgs by redwood and about 14 kg in balsawood. too much.

what suggestions about starting hollowbody board of this kind: 6’6" 19-5/8" 3-1/8"

could it be useful?

5

how many cross rails i need for 6’6", i think one every 25",

larger in the central zone?

6

Hello Evilkid,

I have a 6’2" solid balsa which weighs about 5kg. It is possible to use balsa aeromodelling stock which comes in three foot by four inch planks and in a variety of thicknesses. the planks can be scarfed or slash joined. If you get the stock directly from the supplier it is much cheaper. The balsa for my 6"1" cost US$100, and for a hollow balsa it would be even less. Areomodelling stock is nice because it is precision milled and sanded, and is usually the lightest timber available.

The picture shows a basic little single finned board.

7

thank i found what you wrote.

but you say you built your “SOLID” board? i know balsa is 200 kg/cube meter, and my board will be about 0,068 mt cube >> 13 kg…

8

Hello Evilkid, I haven’t got any figures for balsa weight, but I do know that it varies a lot. When we get a batch, some planks are twice as heavy as others, and I pick the lighter stuff for a little board. Also the 6’1" I am talking about is only about 0.05 mt cube. I have done a lot of 7" to 7’5" boards which were solid balsa and weighed 7 to 8 kg with a 6 ounce glass job and a fin. They were low volume boards at 18" wide and 1 3/4" thick, but a chambered board can have more buoyancy and thickness while weighing about the same. With a wooden shortboard you are either going to have to accept less buoyancy than an identical foam board, or have more volume.

9

Balsa’s density can vary a lot :

I’ve built a balsa/Eps board : the balsa was 110 kg/m3.

I’m now building a hollow strip-planked with balsa that is 280-300kg/m3

10

it looks pretty good…i started my template for an hollow body shortboard,i’ve understood the sequence and i think i could complete the skeleton next days, due to my dates

::perreB. do you put some carbon to strenght the stringer or leave as it is?

11

No I didn’t put carbon for the following reasons :

  1. It's too expensive
  2. Whenever possible, I want to stick to low tech and earth-friendly materials
  3. My structure is made of 10 mm and 5 mm Okoume plywood --> Paul uses 3mm plywood
  4. My ribs and stringer are plain vs holes/chambers
  5. Using the strip planking method, I should save lots of weight in the rails
Therefore I didn't feel I'd need carbon fiber to make the structure lighter or stronger. But then, it's my first attempt at building a hollow board.

Here’s the template by the way :

12

are you in france?

  • it goes… i’ll try to don’t use carbon but a 3 mm plywood, but the problem for me comes with the stringer and its rigidness,i don’t know -

your project is pretty good, how many orizzontal stringers you put in? 3 mt is long distance…

-bye

13

Yep, I’m in South West France.

The structure has 11 ribs that are set 27 cm apart

14

oh, fantastique,i was for a while near tolouse 2 years ago at ATR.

i’m from italy -northwest coast- next to Levanto if you know…

i’m sorry for my worst written french…eh eh but i’m pleased to continue this writtenship!

i did the stringer insertions for the ribs… i tried 4 ribs 1 cm of thickness spaced out with other 3 solid ribs 0,5 cm. for a 6’6" board… i think is more than enough, but i’m not sure for i could not put in my calcolous the exact information about that plywood i use.

what kind of cement do you use to glue the ribs, instant cianoacrilic or epoxy? and you use the same for the deck and bottom?

bye and regards.

15
Quote:

i’m from italy -northwest coast- next to Levanto if you know…

i’m sorry for my worst written french…eh eh but i’m pleased to continue this writtenship! .

Hallo, I’m Matteo from Genova, I’m tinking to be the only italian here…

Where are you from exactly?

Im very interested on Balsa board, where do yo find balsa in useful measurment in italy?

Cheers

16

Great, I’ve lived in Milan for two years, back in 1994, as I was studying at Bocconi University.

Regarding the board project : ribs are glued with polyurethane glue. The wood strips that will be laid upon the structure are also going be glued with PU glue. Scarfs will be made with regular white glue, so that it doesn’t show too much.

17

this’s the project i guess to end in late september

let me know your impressions… -bye

18

Hello Pierre,

I was admiring your surfboard plans and wondering what you used to do the drawing. If you feel willing to share, I am keen to know.

Roy.

19

Hello Roy,

I’m using Adobe Illustrator for my surfboard plans. You can very easily get nice and precise curves. Getting precise measures and a table of offsets from the plans is also very easy. Illustrator can be downloaded on the web as a free demo.

I can email you a sample file if you wish.

20

Thanks Pierre, it sounds good. I am particularly interested in getting a table of offsets, as I have been drawing all my circles and ellipses using wire or string, which is difficult for long narrow ellipses.