Stopper 29th June 2009, 09:04 PM I spent today cutting paulownia for Karl Seahouse of Empress trees. His customer requested 250x12mm pieces 5 metres long. At first I thought these would be difficult to achieve. They had to be knot free.
I picked a log 5.6m long and it cut perfectly yielding 20 pieces.
Perhaps someone can shed some light on how a 12mm board 250mm wide becomes part of a surf board? I would love to see the end product.
cheers
Steve
labr@ 29th June 2009, 10:30 PM Usually the boards are made hollow in a process like the strip building of canoes/kayaks wih some supports inside. This is then fibreglassed like a foam core surfboard.
Only guessing here but 12mm sounds too thick for the strips so maybe the customer is going to take strips off the planks to give 12mm wide by 6mm thick strips. Canoe/kayak builders usually use 6mm by 20mm or thereabouts.
There is a thread on this site (in fact probably more than 1) about 1 - not sure what section but the addres is below. This one uses quite wide pieces so maybe my assumption above is incorrect(?).
http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=74928&highlight=surfboard
whitewood 30th June 2009, 08:23 AM I spent today cutting paulownia for Karl Seahouse of Empress trees. His customer requested 250x12mm pieces 5 metres long. At first I thought these would be difficult to achieve. They had to be knot free.
I picked a log 5.6m long and it cut perfectly yielding 20 pieces.
Perhaps someone can shed some light on how a 12mm board 250mm wide becomes part of a surf board? I would love to see the end product.
cheers
Steve
Steve,
Nice planks. Must have come from well farmed trees.
I am assuming they are rough sawn and would dress to 6 - 7 mm by about 244 mm. On this assumption the customer could be making a hollow board probably using a Paul Jensen concept. It would appear to be an expensive way to make a hollow board. I hope someone answers your post.
John
GraemeCook 30th June 2009, 11:20 AM Steve
Why not ask your customer so that you can provide him an even better product next time..... A good supplier knows his customers needs very well - Business 101.
Cheers
Graeme
Tony Morton 1st July 2009, 08:57 PM Hi Stopper
I saw one made from pawlonia grown on Comboyne a couple of years ago some fellow in south Queensland makes them yes they are hollow and sell in the thousands of Dollars mostly overseas.
Cheers Tony
monkey68 3rd July 2009, 10:28 PM It's being used to produce all sorts of boards but most recently an ancient syle of surfboard, pioneered in Hawaii called an "Alaia".
Check this website for more
http://woodensurfboards.blogspot.com/
woodsurfer 5th July 2009, 06:35 PM Tom Wegner, a californian expat living and surfing at noosa heads makes pauwlina,sorry spelling, surfboards custom order , hollow ,aircraft wing style , the rails ,nose and tail are shaped from solid laminations , there is a waiting list and $3000 is about the mark , he has a web site , will post it if i can find it ,rossco
whitewood 6th July 2009, 09:45 AM There will be a non commercial non competitive gathering of wooden surfboard enthusiasts at Currumbin Alley on Sunday the 9th August. I am not involved but I think Wegner will be there and a lot of local builers both DIY and 'professionals' There is a possibly Paul Jensen from the USA may be around as well. There are more details at www.woodensurfboards.blogspot.com (http://www.woodensurfboards.blogspot.com) if your interested in this sort of thing either as a spectator of rider. I hope to make it as I have sold quite a bit of paulownia to guys in the general area and hope to see some of their boards.
John
Structural 11th July 2009, 02:33 PM Can someone provide a site where these type of boards can be purchased? I wonder how much time goes into them if they sell for 3000 dollars? :v:
lol@ random wood shape generator
whitewood 11th July 2009, 05:51 PM Can someone provide a site where these type of boards can be purchased? I wonder how much time goes into them if they sell for 3000 dollars? :v:
lol@ random wood shape generator
Not being a surfer I am not up to date with the latest infro. There are 2 guys in the US who are invilved but I have not tried to find out if they have web sites. A google for wooden surfboards will get you sites in Aust and NZ.
The guys in US are Peter Jensen and the other is John Wegner. Both use paulownia.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
John
woodsurfer 11th July 2009, 09:59 PM I may be able to help, being a surfer from the 60s and a woodworker . reproduction of older surfboard shapes and boards in modern design in timber are now popular in the world surf cult that numbers millions of surfers some of whom are now my age ,60s,and wealthier than i am and appreciate beautiful craftmanship, any surfboard is a marriage of curves and a three dimensional sculptre. many of the older shapers from earlier times now have a market to reproduce their classic boards in timber , they are both solid and hollow or chambered designs. look up tom wegener,greg noll,today at avoca beach ,central coast , a bloke , wes king, said he was a ships joiner , surfer of course displayed a 11ft board in recycled w. red cedar, 10 mm timber panels over a timer frame, any way it was a work of art,said he had 160 hrs in it , full workshop, drafting,etc and it was made on order for 4 $15000, i think there is a web site on this thread for timber board group, regards , rossco
mathewfarrell 5th May 2010, 12:07 PM G'day Stopper
I build hollow timber boards for a living. What most folks do is mill boards down to ~6mm and edge joint them into a panel for the deck and hull. A plywood frame provides the shape and is glued down the hull panel (then cut to outline). The sides, aka rails, are added on one of several ways. bead and cove strips (usually 6mm X 12 or so), ala canoe building are one option. Then the deck is fastened down,overlapping the rails. The thin panels are steamed when assembled so they conform to the complex curves they're being forced over.
But it does sound like the stuff you milled up will be for an Alaia, as Monkey68 said. An alaia is essentially a phalic shape cut out of a solid panel, about 12-18mm thick. There is a bit of shaping done on the rails and such, but it is essentially a flexible plank. Difficult to surf, but amazing when you get it.
Stopper 5th May 2010, 09:08 PM Hi Mat,
I saw an article about a guy on an alaia in the Coffs Advocate last week - Wed 28th (Teal Nippard and his hand crafted alaia surfboard). Looks like an oversize old style ironing board. His comments are similar to yours. It's great to see this timber utilised this way. It's a joy to cut.
cheers
Steve
mathewfarrell 7th May 2010, 10:45 AM I'm glad you enjoy the stuff Steve. It's awesome to be able to heft large slabs by yourself and push it through the bandsaw whilst sipping your cup of tea with the other hand, eh?
Good on ya
Mat
Brisruss 10th May 2010, 09:13 PM I have just made three of them for my son and his two mates. I didn't get a photo though.
The article they used comes from http://www.surfinggreen.com.au/How-Shape-Alaia-Surfboard. (http://www.surfinggreen.com.au/How-Shape-Alaia-Surfboard)
The blank was about 2400 long by 470 wide and 20 thick. It was glued up from several pieces of paulownia.
Cheers,
Russ
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