I get inspired by all the great surfboards that Swaylock’s members build. What are you working on???
From left to right. Nine foot something. Belongs to MarkSSD. We stripped the glass off an old log and Mark is re-shaping it. Eight footer. Spackled the EPS foam yesterday. 7’3" Shipman. That’s one of the Clark blanks I got from Ben’s roommate. The bottom was shaped and the outline was drawn. I’m just finishing it. Going to name it the “Ghost Ship”.
EPS short board. I don’t have any use for the thing ,just messing around with shaping. Send me a PM if you want trade it for something. Future fish project. 6’3" Biofoam disc. Finished shaping the Biofoam last night. I’m glassing it right now…Waiting for the RR to cure…
Howzit stingray, Good thread, I have been working on alea boards made of Phaesantwood, milo and monkeypod.I am using a mixture of 50% teak oil and 50% polyurethane for finishes.The lastest one is a 12ft monkeypod and weighs around 150lbs. Don't have pics yet but will take some when I get time.Aloha,Kokua
No photos available, yet. And I haven’t even assembled all the wood needed. (hint, hint, hint, Keith M.) I’m intending to make a faithful reproduction of a
5’ x 20’’ balsa ‘‘mini-Simmons’’ twin fin, circa 1956/57, that was made by Alan Nelson, of La Jolla. Alan surfed Windansea contemporary with Bob Simmons, and the board I’ve referenced, reflects Simmons obvious influence on Alan. Think about it, a five foot long board, in 1956/57!!!
One of my all-time friends has just opened a surf-shop and he asked me for boards. Here’s the first one that I’m currently doing. It’s a 6’6" x 21 3/4 x 2 1/2 that is a mix of old and new. Old tail-shape (rounded diamond) with a heavy double concave in the tail area and a quad set-up. Deep-blue swirls on the bottom and cloth inlay on top:
Here’s a link to a video that Stephane shot the other day with his mobile phone as I was glassing the bottom:
awesome film clip! I don’t think I’m ready to attempt resin swirls yet but you do make it look easy (I know it aint really). You may have given me the answer to why I still struggle wetting out my laps aswell, thanks.
I’m currently working on an experimental foam from a chemical Co. on the east coast. It’s a PU 3# MDI formulation with a very consistant cell structure. And when I say consistant I mean 100% all the way through which is what I’m excitted about the most. It came to me with no stringer but cut to a specific rocker which was supplied by another shaper. I made the stringer from a 1" thick piece of Western Redwood. Should add some old school momentum. Like I said it has a very tight consistant cell structure, it sands well, planer went through it with no noticable negatives but there is some flex issues. A 2"x1" rail bone will just about wrap around itself before snapping. Hmmm… Here are some pics of my progress:
Well let’s see. Just shaped a 5’10" fish today from a Rhyno blank (nice foam!). Bandsawed some agave. Coincidentally enough, last week I bought a bunch of old balsa wood (mostly rough sawn 5 foot lumber) from someone on Craigslist whose dad had it up in their attic for 20 years or so. Was going to pull out the jointer today and work on that but got sidetracked. Ground the glass-on fins off a very old fiberglass bodyboard (and then reglassed the bottom) for a local guy who wanted me to install fin boxes (I’m doing ProBox of course). Put a noseguard on a 6’5" shortboard I just finished (and waiting for decent waves to try it on). Trying to find time to finish chambering my 8’6" balsa so I can glass it. Melted the winter wax off a couple boards now that the water is warming up. Oh, and trying to decide what to make for a summer trip to the islands (Oahu/Maui)…
Here’s my 6’6’’ mod fish style board. Gunna be a quad, but with a 14 5/8’’ tail im wondering if it might be too narrow?, as i drew on the rear fins according to the mckeequattro numbers, and they look close to the stringer. It was 21’’ wide, but had a bit too much curve in the outline, so i came back to 20.5, with a 15 1/8’’ nose. Still curvy, but not too curvy haha.
Keith, Let us know how it goes with the agave. I’m starting to collect some for a future board. There’s quite a bit of agave growing along the roads here, especially along the north shore and over by Honolua Bay.
Just finished a few koa stand-up paddles. I’ve got three Walker blanks left. Cut out the center stringer on one and replaced with a 2" balsa and redwood T-band. Shaped a 10’ noserider last week which is currently being glassed by Jimmy Lewis. I was honored by being asked by the Tahiti carver to help again this year with their canoe at this year’s 11 annual Festival of the Canoes in Lahaina, so I’ll be busy under the big banyan tree in the town hall park all next week. It’s a lot of work and a lot of time working for free, but the rewards of working with the various carvers from some of the island nations is an incredible blessing. It’s fun to watch the faces of young children when they see how the canoes are being built from a log then launched into the ocean on the final evening of the two week festival. In this high-tech life today’s kids live in, I feel it’s great for them to see how things can be crafted by hand. Very cool stuff.
Swirls ARE easy. It’s just a matter of pouring resin where it should be, letting it reach the foam and then squeegeeing (?) without bringing resin back onto the blank (or you get muddy-looking mixes).
The board is in the sanding stage right now so photos would not show much of the swirls. I’ll shoot some as soon as it looks like something…
Here’s my current project - 6’2" retro fish variant…double bump with bevel/chine off front wing - single concave through majority of board but flattens off at tail - quad set up that’s going to use lokbox turbo speed dialers…very pink so far with the artwork stencilled - yet to feature darker red rails - paint those this afternoon…going to glass with 4 oz bottom - 6&4 oz top…this one’s for me…not scared of pink! Also nice to hook in some lady customers???
From left to right. Nine foot something. Belongs to MarkSSD. We stripped the glass off an old log and Mark is re-shaping it. Eight footer. Spackled the EPS foam yesterday. 7’3" Shipman. That’s one of the Clark blanks I got from Ben’s roommate. The bottom was shaped and the outline was drawn. I’m just finishing it. Going to name it the “Ghost Ship”.
EPS short board. I don’t have any use for the thing ,just messing around with shaping. Send me a PM if you want trade it for something. Future fish project. 6’3" Biofoam disc. Finished shaping the Biofoam last night. I’m glassing it right now…Waiting for the RR to cure…
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