if you were to make a surfboard out of wood and not balsa what kind of wood would you use?(not a hollow board, solid wood)
and what would you do to glass it? http://members.cox.net/austinsurfboards
and what would you do to glass it? Agavi stalks, glassed with poly. if you have the know how you can get some high octain cactus juice from the roots while your at it!!
if you were to make a surfboard out of wood and not balsa what kind of > wood would you use?(not a hollow board, solid wood) A friend of mine just glassed up a batch of solid redwood semi-guns that were shaped for decorative use. They were functional in shape, but the finished weight was over 150lbs per board. They required a boat load of resin in multiple coats because the wood absorbed the material. I can’t imagine even trying to surf one of them.
if you were to make a surfboard out of wood and not balsa what kind of > wood would you use?(not a hollow board, solid wood) It all depends whether you want a true replica of antique boards, a more “modern” decorative board or a board you can ride. I’m no pro or expert bu to my knowledge, the lightest woods (after balsa) you can get are western red cedar and Obéché (also known as Samba or Ayous). These woods have a density of about 380kg/m3 (for info : balsa’s 160 kg/m3, PU’s 50kg/m3 and you roughly need 1000kg/m3 to sink). Now take a 9’3" Clark blank, it has a volume of 0.1103 m3. If made out of solid wood (other than balsa) it would then weight 42 kg (92.6 lb) !!! Unless you want a true solid wood replica I’d either go for the hollow technic (Tom Blake/Paul Jensen) or the EPS/Wood sandwich (Bob Simmons). You’ll end up with something a lot lighter, way cheaper (wood is expensive) and not much more difficult to build. Have fun. Pierre http://mascaretgironde.free.fr/
if you were to make a surfboard out of wood and not balsa what kind of > wood would you use?(not a hollow board, solid wood) Chambered, Laminated Cork…
Chambered, Laminated Cork… My latest is 2- 8’6"x20" basswood and meranti, mid 50’s design for the Parker Group, a furniture and design studio in the Cedros district of Solana Beach. They are in turn making Adirondack style chairs from them. They weight something less than a 100#s. The redwood boards mentioned didn’t soak up a lot of resin, they just are heavy
I have absolutely no experience with shaping of any sort (I just like the banter here!), but I had thought about playing around with shaping with wood. I was going to take 2x4s, drill them out with a big bit until they looked like swiss cheese, then glue them together. (Of course you would have to plan out pretty carefully so you didn’t later sand down to a hole.) I thought that might be a pretty easy way to reduce weight, and it would be a lot cheaper approach than trying to buy a solid piece of rather exotic wood. If you have the time - I don’t - let me know how it turns out!!!
this is how i planned to get some of the weight reduced. i was just hoping to make around a 9’6 board. i was gonna drill out some of the interior 2x4’s and leave some “beams” in them for structural support. i was gonna rout and glass in a wooden fin. all of this keeping the board under 100 lbs. think it can be done? maybe around 22 inches wide also. http://members.cox.net/austinsurfboards
this is how i planned to get some of the weight reduced. i was just hoping > to make around a 9’6 board. i was gonna drill out some of the interior > 2x4’s and leave some “beams” in them for structural support. i > was gonna rout and glass in a wooden fin. all of this keeping the board > under 100 lbs. think it can be done? maybe around 22 inches wide also. Try putting 3 stringers in of some other colored wood. Glue everything up using a good wood glue, except the stringers use hot glue or something like that for the stringers. Shape the board ruff, don’t sand it finished. Now brake the board apart at the stringers, and do all of your hole drilling/routing etc, make sure you leave your so called beams in. Now put it all back together and use a good wood glue. If you do it this way you will not shape into one of your holes. I have never done this but it sure seem like the right way to do it to me. Let us know how it turns out.
this is how i planned to get some of the weight reduced. i was just hoping > to make around a 9’6 board. i was gonna drill out some of the interior > 2x4’s and leave some “beams” in them for structural support. i > was gonna rout and glass in a wooden fin. all of this keeping the board > under 100 lbs. think it can be done? maybe around 22 inches wide also. sounds like it would make a good table… why exactly would you want a 90+ pound longboard, anyway? If you used balsa it would at least be surfable.
sounds like it would make a good table… why exactly would you want a 90+ > pound longboard, anyway? If you used balsa it would at least be surfable. I have made a board out of 2x4’s and even chambered it is still 100+ pounds. Of course it is a 12’. The hardest part is getting the rocker in the board. The board I have still works but it is really hard to surf it. I can e-mail you some details of what I did, pictures of the board and all that. As for waterproofing I used 4 coats of spar varnish, so far that is still holding up. Overall it ended up being rather cheap, $80 for the wood an $20 for the varnish. If you need more info e-mail me at
i think its worth doing. oh to the balsa remark…i dont wanna use balsa because the cheapest i found blanks for was around 800 bucks. http://members.cox.net/austinsurfboards
i think its worth doing. oh to the balsa remark…i dont wanna use balsa > because the cheapest i found blanks for was around 800 bucks. There is a guy up in Northern CA that sells Balsa wood. I will try and find his name for you. I bought some balsa from him a few years back. It cost me as much to ship it to Santa Cruz, as it cost to buy the wood. This guy will even help you glue up the blank if you go up to his shop.
There is a guy up in Northern CA that sells Balsa wood. I will try and > find his name for you. I bought some balsa from him a few years back. It > cost me as much to ship it to Santa Cruz, as it cost to buy the wood. This > guy will even help you glue up the blank if you go up to his shop. Check North Pacific Designs Paul Kraus, he is on this site.
where on the site? http://members.cox.net/austinsurfboards.htm
where on the site? Go to Resorurces, then to Shapers. Paul is a good guy. He worked with a friend of my to restore a Gun a few years ago and my friend was stoked. I bought $100 worth of balsa from him, and Doug Haut made a foam board with a balsa stringer, and balsa rails, that is a killer board. I design the board but I can’t shape for S#$%. It is a real head turner.
i think im missing something can you just give me his site address? thanks http://members.cox.net/austinsurfboards.htm
i think im missing something can you just give me his site address? thanks foget the the fucking 2x4’s . buy some good balsa. $150.00
i think im missing something can you just give me his site address? thanks 805- 884-0050 Gary Fuller