Thread: help with hollow wooden surfboard.

Google is your friend
http://www.google.com.au/search?sour...cr%3DcountryAU
There are several threads from this forum as well as suppliers in the result.
cheers
AJ

Bill. Try www.olosurfer.com/- This guy is a Kiwi but sells plans for various size boards using email to supply the plans. I have supplied some kits for his designs and have cutting lists for his boards. I have had interest from some teachers for the 6 foot powere fish as a school project. I supply Paulownia timber kits for $240.00 with the planks DAR or $200.00 with all the timber for the kit RS. I live just out side Murwillumbah so you could even consider picking it up yourself. I can't help with advice on the construction and I have not seen a set of plans.

hi whitewood, ,thank's for the quick reply.how can i contact you about getting hold of some palomo timber?very handy that you are nearby. Bill

Bill
You can find out more about Paulownia and me on my web site www.paulownia-timber-sales.com.au There are price lists of available timber if your son wants to try a different method of construction.
John

hi john,thank's for your help.i'll be in touch shortly.. Bill

thank you for your help. Bill

I think your son really has to consider how the board is going to be used after the HSC role. Timber surfboards were fine in the days before legropes and crowded surf but they're a definite hazard in today's conditions. I wouldn't use anything other than balsa or foam for a surfboard these days, and even then I'd make sure an 8' board was glassed with the lightest weight glass available. Even in tiny surf, you can easily be brained or brain someone else with a heavy board. Longboards have become really popular over the last decade but all the manufacturers are using the lightest possible materials. Boards such as those from NZ on the website above are intended for the loungeroom - no one would seriously consider using such a heavy board in the surf, especially in the high density areas like the NSW North Coast, Gold Coast or any of the cities. If it has to be wood, use balsa.

hi,we will take on board the concern that you raise about the dangers of a loose heavy object spearing through a crowded surf break.he is still working on the final design but i;m thinking he will only surf it a few times and then it might end up on the lounge room wall,unless it goes really good then i suppose he'll just use in the right condition's.thank's again,,bill

RFNK,
I agree with your concerns about heavy objects in the surf. From my understanding there are 2 types of wooden surfboards. Those made to display and those made to surf. I am not a surfer or a builder but supply Paulownia to those who build boards for either purpose

In relation to the surfing boards it is possible to build hollow wooden boards that are virtually the same weight as the foam and glass counterparts. One of my customers has built a board 8' 6" using his 'glass' board for the exact design. When he came back to buy the timber for the rails the wooden board weighed 6 kg and was 2 kg lighter than the 'glass' one he used for the design. We felt by the time he added the rails and the lightest covering of glass cloth and epoxy he would have a wooden board of very similar weight 8 kg..

If I HAD to hit by a board in the surf I would rather it was made of Paulownia as this timber is softer than fibre glass.

John

Fair enough, built properly a hollow board could be as light as a foam board but it has to be difficult to make it strong enough to take all the flexing and impacts that a surfboard is subjected to without developing any leaks. Once there's any water ingress at all, you've got a pretty heavy board. I do think the intellectual and technical challenge of it is a good exercise, especially for the young guy, so I don't want to sound too much like a `wet blanket' (I've just had to dodge too many mad schemes in the surf over too many years!). I'd really like to see this guy make the wooden surfboard and meet the challenge of making it really light and waterproof. Maybe a series of watertight foam or balsa bulkheads to limit the effects of any leakage? Rick

Rick,
I'm not the person to really defend wooden surfboards. As stated I'm not a surfer and not a builder.Some my customers are building boards no 2 and more so they must work. The 8'6" board I referred to was his second. The strips for the skink were bonded to kevlar and then glued to the frames leaving an inside skin of kevlar to waterproof and strengthen the board.
There are many ways of constructing hollow boards and most builders seem to come up with a product that works for them. One point that can't be overlooked is a bung to allow equalisation of air pressure in the board as tempretures change from dry on the beach to surfing in the water. I think there is a greater risk of leaks developing from this source than from flexiing while surfing.

This guy is making hollow boarsd where the heaviest weighs 23 lbs (or 10kg) for a 10'3" (just over 3 mtrs).

Using interior frames as in the image below and cladding with a light timber prior to epoxying the lot ends up with a beautiful and strong board which doesn't have to be a juggernaut in the surf.



Not too many free resources that I could find readily, but keep at it and you'll have something to pass on to your great grandkids

FWIW I have an 11'6" Bill Wallace hollow board. It weighs roughly the same as its glass equivalent. The bung in a timber board is for equalising air pressure so that the board does not become damaged. eg: when a relatively hot board is immersed in cool sea water. I have plans of making 2 or 3 myself when I GMST, & they won't be heavy.

Almost forgot, have a look at the Grainsurf forum ...http://www.grainsurf.com/forum/

Just thought I would let everyone who's interested know a bit more about hollow & chambered surfboard construction.

Obviously weight is a major consideration (although as an Aussie who has longboard surfed since 1965 I personally prefer an older style heavier board) which has been addressed by lightweight foam blanks & glassing materials, however hollow timber construction and solid timber chambered construction does reduce the weight to a point where timbers like Paulownia, Radiata Pine, Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, in fact any reasonably lightweight timber can be used! (not just balsa, which btw soaks up water like a sponge). There is even a guy on the Aus. east coast making excellent timber boards of all shapes and sizes from recycled pallets, milled & laminated!

My suggestion is to Google 'timber surfboards' You'll be amazed at the information you'll find & stunning pics of incredible craftmanship these guys put into their surfcraft which are not wall hangings but surfed regularly. You can buy plan kits for hollow boards from a guy in the US on ebay, if you are are not confident to design & plan your own. Then.................

Build one yourself. Challenge yourself to make it out of unusual timbers. Try and make it as light as you can if you want but a heavier board surfs better in my opinion. Make it an art form, as beautiful and perfect as you can. You might get hooked on timber surfcraft. I am.