wood brd. materials

what types of wood has anyone used (that have worked) other than redwood ,balsa or bamboo? and is the glassing process the same as on conventional surfbrds.?

NO LIGNUM VITAE… ambrose …use what you have then we’ll talk,lighter is better low oil content lets start lready get a " strong back "

Ambrose, I did 2 wall hangers for a Del Mar gallery. They were basswood and meranti, 8’6" x 20" wide x 2" thick. I had the worst strained arm from just flipping them over, at least 85 pounds, don’t really know. But I think the lignum vitae would be great crowd control boards, never a ding in one!

I used 1/8’’ andiroba plywood, also called “caobilla” or “cedro macho”. Glassed with chopped strand mat and polyester resin. The cheapest I found, and it’s oil content is almost 0%. The whole project was very cheap, about 70 dlls, I didn’t want my first board to be as beautiful as jensen’s boards, only a practical board, and it is. Jack.

Hello redrails,

You can use just about any wood if it’s a hollow board. For heavier timber the dimensions of planking and framing should be reduced. Many timbers won’t take polyester resin, but you can glass just about any timber with epoxy. The really good news is that you don’t actually have to use any structural glass cloth at all. In fact for nearly any timber other than balsa you can use marine varnish, deck oils, or even enamel house paint.

Roy

Plywood is also good.

Hey Jim / Ambrose,

Yea a lignum board. It will require several guys to handle it due to weight, but I say we grab our tools and meet at Ambrose’s place and shape a co-op lignum vitae board. As a wood guy I get off on studying the properties of various woods and lignum vitae has some interesting features which make it perfect for a surfboard:

  1. The latin term for the wood is “Wood of Life” (that works).

  2. The tree flower is the national flower of Jamaica.

  3. Historically they steep the bark as a tea to treat syphilis and arthritis.

  4. It’s the hardest and heaviest wood on earth with a specific gravity of 1.40 compared to teak at 0.65, cherry at 0.56, and balsa at 0.17.

The weight is its greatest feature because the fact that lignum vitae will not float in water anyway, means we do not have to glass the board to protect it from moisture. No worries on the no float thing cuz if you paddle fast enough you can let the inertia of the wave carry the board despite it’s no float characteristic. Doc can do a shematic to explain in case anyone is fuzzy on that deal.

Anyway, I say lignum vitae makes the right surfboard!. “It’s all wood.”

Jeez- have two guys cutting, two others sharpening tools to try to keep up. I have absolutely no idea how you’d glue the thing, mebbe have to do it with complex locking joints like a Chinese Puzzle Box or a Shinto temple.

Paddling would be real interesting… once you got it going ( starting about two waves before the one you wanted to catch ) it would most definitely keep going. Although…

It seems like the tow-in guys like heavier boards, so mebbe that’s the place for this one. The only problem would be finding the right tow-in craft to pull it. I’d suggest one of these: http://jfmill.home.comcast.net/temp/YTB812.jpg

doc…

Great tow-in idea. Maybe introduce tandem and multiple tow-ins on same wave.

so your saying that if i shaped a brd. out of sugar maple that it could be strong enough w/out glass= using a marine finish I.E bristol type?? does the absence of glass make the brd. more prone to warp?

Hi redrails,

Yes you can use sugar maple, because you can use any wood. What sort of weight is it? The result will depend upon what size your board is going to be and what construction method you are going to use. I would be interested to know what you are planning to do. Yes you can finish the board using any marine timber finishing system. The absence of structural cloth shouldn’t be a problem if the board is glued together properly.

The big thing to watch with hollow timber boards is the vent. They must have an open vent when out of the water to prevent them from blowing up. This is particularly the case with dark varnished timber. I usually finish the bottom and rails of the board white, and varnish the deck. That way you can leave them bottom up in the sun. 

 Roy

thanks for your reply, i havent decided as of yet. i dont think that i have the space or patience for a hollow type inner structure. was looking for some type of material for strip lams. that wouldnt be too expensive (if possible?) i have woodworking knowledge but little shapeing experience other than ding repairs, and therefore wouldnt want to risk an expensive project going sour. at the cost of balsa i could buy a custom brd.

You are up against it if you want a lightweight, cheap, easy to shape material for a solid laminated board. A plank on frame board can be cheaper to build than a new foam board, and doesn’t have to take up a lot of space. No one can sell you patience, however, and if you have it in short supply then I don’t know what to suggest, but if you manage to find some then I suggest that a plank on frame board is actually really easy to build. Solid balsa boards take a deceptively long time to shape. Roy

wen shaping a board out of balsa is it harful to your health at all and were could i get my hands on some balsa in aus

sawdust, shavings, sanding and planing dust and fragments are not exactly what I’d call good for you unless you need more fiber in your diet, but most woods are not actively toxic… Some chronic lung problems come from inhaling wood or other natural fibers and dusts.

For balsa in Australia, try http://www.riley.com.au/rileybalsawood.htm . Though with lots and lots of tree species in Australia, there may be some wood available which is in the ~125-200 kg/cu meter range if you were to pick through it.

hope that’s of use

doc…

Another wood that’s starting to take off in Australia is Paulownia Tomentosa or Powton Tree. Very quick growing, 20’ in 3 years, lightweight and fairly strong. They are using it as flooring so it must be OK.

cheers

Hicksy

It’s definetly okay. The latest Surfer’s Journal has an article on Tom Wegener making boards out of paulownia. They look great.

Here is a picture of Tom’s new sixteen footers made of Paulownia.

Roy