I recently was hired to make a balsa blank for a surf aficionado / sculptor who wanted to remake the Simmons twin fin concave. I scrounged around for a while to find light wood, and ended up finding what I needed from Gary Fuller. Since I needed a 6’ blank I was able to find some real light wood. It seems a lot harder to find good wood for bigger boards, so find a source that goes through a lot of material or you end up getting stuck with the heavier stock (usually). I’m always on the hunt for wood and try to buy what I can when it appears.
his email is mthope@erols.com does carry 3 - 4" stock but very expensive & long time to dry in kiln Does custom order, suggested 4/4 then glue up. 4/4 premium 100bf $4/bf, 4/4 #1 100bf $3/bf, 4/4 #2 100bf $2/bf. Link where I found it: http://www.paulowniatrees.org/links.htm Nice guy - didn’t blow me off when I asked him all sorts of (probably dumb) questions.
If you want to do chambered balsas at any point, you can Google Skip Kozminski–when I em’d him last, his chambered balsa short blanks were 250 plus 100 shipping to you
He makes a heelluva a fish etc too for cheap incl shippins to TX (balsaflite.com)
Also, you may (certainly, I would think) wish to investigate aircraft grade birch plywood in 2, 1mm and sub-1mm thicknesses
Clark’s Hardwood Lumber Co in Htown has it.
I would/will
Have you ever considered just doing the deck and bottom in wood veneers and leaving the rails white or whatever epoxy tint?
did you get any good surf the other day(s) in CC? SS went great for a while
I ripped your MR template off the pics you posted using APS 3000 software, widened and bulked a little cuz I’m (a little) larger and the waves here aren’t even as good as CC, found the hot wire cutter thread,
and I found an EPS supplier here for 20 x 24 x 96 billets for 125–
My aunt has a big storage shed she’ll let me use, the Texan log-roller shapers around here are conservative, conformist, bogus, and i’m on my way to a quad retro fish, MR/shwuz quad with WP forward, flyer variation (WP forward)…
Just saw the new posting for Tropical Exotic Hardwoods. Looks like they have quite a bit of new Stock of Balsa in long lengths.
Price isn’t bad at $7.00/BF considering I was paying a bunch more for stock from other suppliers and wasn’t even able to hand select it.
Thinking of calling these guys up, has anybody else dealt with them? I’m new to swaylocks so if anybody else can direct me to other quality balsa suppliers I would apprectiate it.
In case you were wondering
their # is 760-434-303
I also checked out their website and they had some other nice exotic lumber that I may end up using for fins,tail blocks, etc.www.anexotichardwood.com
3 1/2 years ago I brought over a large shipment fo Balsa 4" x 6" x 10' I offered it for $5.00 a board foot. I Posted on Swaylocks and did get any one to buy it? DANO bough some and made a killer longboard. I made a few longboard from scratch and sold them. Kind of cool. I still have 4 wooden boards in my bay to finish that I have been dragging my feet on. Still have enough timber to make one more Gun and a TOW booard. I guess it's time to fly to Latin America and buy some more? Finally people are showing interest? Pretty easy to source. Balsa grows like grass! Super cheap.
I would have bought a couple of 20' containers but is seemed at the time that everyone had their noses in the air?
Surfding: I saw your posting a few years back, but the logistics of getting the wood back here to France were, let’s say, complicated. Funny though, several of the balsas I’ve shaped ended up back in San Diego for friends and my brother, so it might have been interesting to have wood on hand and shape a bit when I go home to visit… keep us posted if you plan a re-order!
Bill: in my experience if you order from SharkBay in any kind of quantity, you’ll end up in the 500 or less range, including air freight shipping (this was to northern Spain, mind you and a couple of years ago when I was building more). Nice people to work with, a friend of mine just put together a 70-something blank order and with that quantity they were willing to do custom rocker, foil, outlines and deck/bottom thicknesses. Wood quality is usually quite good.
As a note, Mario will ship raw lumber, but its only slightly cheaper than his blanks by volume, and the respected dimensions are, lets be nice and say “approximate”… By the time you mill it, you’re looking at a much more expensive prospect than a blank just in the required lumber. I still do it from time to time, just to enjoy the process of stringering, chambering… yep, I said ‘enjoy!’
Skip’s blanks from Balsaflite are functional and much less expensive. I’ve maybe shaped a dozen or so over the years. Wood is more heavily grained, with more pith and knots, but it makes for a nice “working class” board. His rockers are unusual, but I’ve made some really nice riding and good looking boards from his stock. I’m lousy at posting pics here, but I’d be happy to e-mail some to you if you’re interested in getting a look at his wood.
Mario is a good source. The best way is if you can fly down there and hand pick your timbers.
It really would be worth it. I had 4" x 6" x10' beams ranging from 11.0 - 21 pounds. The heavier wood for TOW boards and Wall Hangers. The Lighter timbers for surfing. Jeffery is correct it is a lot of work and by the time you make your own you don't gain much from a cost savings perpective however it is Zenful. I have enough scrap balsa to make sanding block until I turn to dust.
The problem with raw lumber is customs.
Let's say it comes into port in Houston. The Feds break up the nicely wrapped load and throw you limbers into a radom pile and let them twist in the sun. You go to LA customs and pick up you material losely stacked. When it finally arrives you have your work cut out for you. Make sure you have the following:
8" or 12" Jointer, Surface Planner, Bandsaw, 3 1/4 hp plunge router.
You still come out a head from a material stand point however it's pretty labor intensive.
If you want the experience buy timbers. Or just buy your blanks all ready made!
I would have, and would still love to make a chambered balsa board, but the shipping costs to Canada from California, plus whatever the custom guys will hit me with. Not sure …
Love working with wood though.
HHmmmm … considering local places sell Western Red Cedar for almost 6$ a brd ft , … wonder what it would cost to get balsa up here? Would probably have to buy several hundred board feet to make it worth while. Not sure I can lay out that kind of coin right now. :-(
Hey Schwuz, you’ve definitely got agave in your area free for the taking. I’m in N. FL and I’ve seen plenty in peoples yards - look like light poles coming out of an agave plant - amazing. Also, since you’re in S.TX I thought I might mention growing your own. I’mm pretty sure the balsa would have to come in or be covered from freezing temps, but the paulownia can handle pretty much anything once it’s established. Check out my balsa trees!
Started them from seed 4 mo ago, and already have enough to make a leash loop. You can get the seeds from www.driftwoodgarden.com. I’d post some pics of the paulownias, which grew like weeds, but the caterpillars ate all of the leaves off - just looks like sticks in dirt, but should come back if the roots are established enough. If you’re interested in growing yourself the best type of paulownia for surfboards, I’ll throw you some seeds in the mail -gratis. . .
Camplus, those are some nice looking fins! There’s an mp on the way regarding both fins and seeds…
Othewise, cedar is great, though a bit heavier than balsa of course. I’ve done a board in poplar, and I’ve seen pine used (when aggressively chambered) to a nice effect.
For Canada, you might try direct shipping from Ecuador, it’ll certainly be cheaper than going through CA.
This post is getting me stoked again, I’ll have to break out the photos and take some to get them posted!
I actually killed off 4 paulownia seedlings this summer, don’t know what happened there… Too much sun, too much water… Dunno. But yea, camplus, I would definitely take you up on that! I’ll shoot you a PM
Just finished ordering about 50BF worth of Balsa sticks for a blank, I’ll see how they work out.
$7.00/BF seems to be the cheapest I can find without having to order it direct from Ecuador (Won’t be doing that again! US customs drilled my wood, banged up the edges, and most of the stock was badly twisted and poor quality)
According to Tropical Exotic Hardwoods they are nice and light and should work out nicely.
I would love to drive down and pick out my own stock but I’ll just have to see how they look once they get here.
If it works out I’ll definetly be getting more, I’ll make a trip out it and pick a bunch up to save on the shipping.
Getting some small pieces of African Ebony while I’m at it for another wood project of mine.
$7.00/BF seems to be the cheapest I can find without having to order it direct from Ecuador (Won't be doing that again! US customs drilled my wood, banged up the edges, and most of the stock was badly twisted and poor quality)
I had a pretty much the same experience. However I just re-milled the timbers and it all worked out. With a 12" Joiner and a surface planner I had all my boards true after the abuse of customs and the lumber twisting after de-banding. Before a project is started it's always a good Ideal to true up your Lumber. However there is wasted material. Let's say you get your timbers for $1.35 a BF down in Ecuador then mill it you end up at about $3.25 a BF which is still cheap however you have to work for it. $7.00 a BF for AAA milled Balsa is not bad if it takes out the pre-milling step.
According to Tropical Exotic Hardwoods they are nice and light and should work out nicely.
The owner is a real honest guy and loves wood and woodworking. He really is the best source for many projects and can take the headache out of the equation. Especially if you time is limited.
I would love to drive down and pick out my own stock but I'll just have to see how they look once they get here.
Started them from seed 4 mo ago, and already have enough to make a leash loop. You can get the seeds from