Thread: Hollow Wooden Surfboard Plans

Gday,
I once built 16foot planks in the 50's...god am I that old?

I was doing a course at the School of Wood at Dwellingup a few months ago and one of the students who was about to finish was building a board the way you want to go. His name was Tim Leaversuch and he is at present at the South Coast Wood Works , South Coast Highway at Denmark WA. Ph 0898452028.
I think he is about to take up a position at UWA so don't procrastinate!

I was one of the first REAL surfers at Yallingup.

Alf

crakka54

.... just back from a weekend at Margaret River, watching my son in the surf. Too cold for me!

Regarding the hollow surfboad make out of plywood .. all I can say is that you are a glutton for punishment. I do have an alternatve for you.

I spent a lot of my youth on a surfboard, eventually moving to windsurfing about 20 years ago. I used to repair all my mates boards, and even built a few. I recall my first surfboard - 9'10" long, 5 hardwood stringers in a polystyreme blank. It soaked up water like a spong and required two of use to carry the "thing" (I was only 10 years old then). We'd get hurled around when the wind came up. Years later, as a windsurfer, the board's weight continued to be an issue, especially as the boards were long (not like the 6' boards today). A 9'6" long windsurfer, built out of styrofoam, glass, and epoxy resin could be a lightweight board (around 7 kg).

My concern for a hollow plywood board is that it will be so unmanangeably heavy that you may use it once and throw it away.

Instead, why not build the board out of a styrofoam blank and a veneer of whatever wood take your fancy. Glass over the top, use epoxy resin (West System), and you could have a light and strong long Malibu in the best spirit of boards of the 50's and 60's. If you go this route you do not need "plans", although you do need to know a little about shaping and glassing.

What do you think?

Regards from Perth

Derek (who is gearing up for a windsurfing summer)

Crakka

Try this site http://www.hartley-boats.com/home.html

Don't see those old 'surf skis' around these days, and yes they were heavy as Derek suggests, but they were a great platform for spear-fishing. They were also popular with the surf clubs years ago as they had enough lifting capacity for two people and therefore assisted in rescues.

Cracka,
Ignore the knockers....... Follow your dreams, make your 16 foot plank!!!!!!!!
Alf

Alf

Thankyou very much guys for your encouragement and advice.

Never made a plywood one but made an oldie out of Balsa wood. 9'6" and would carry the titanic to a good result. Follow your dream as suggested and enjoy. Modern is ok but doesn't seem to have the feel

Hi guys, I have just stumbled on this site,and have found it very informative indeed.

Derek,
From your experience, is it difficult making your own sailboards? i have come across a few sites from people who have made boards out of polystyrene and epoxy. there are a few that go into the concept of vacuum bagging using an old fridge compressor as the vacuum pump. I would love to give it a crack and build one of th new style wide boards for when the wind is light. (which is all the time here on the gold coast,not like woodies point,south freo)

Sorry if i have tagged onto a different topic.

G

Gee G (sorry, couldn't help that), I'm not sure that I'd tackle one of the widestyle boards myself. This is not because of the construction, per se, but because I am not sure how to shape the rocker line in this design. Give me an "old style" traditional slalom or course board to shape and I am on more familiar territory. I should add that I have owned or sailed several widestyle boards. I have owned a Starboard Formula 155 and a Free Formula 138, and my wife has a Starboard Go (the Go/FS). I am waiting on delivery of a Starboard Hypersonic 133 (for light wind sailing) and mostly sail a Starboard Carve 99 (as you can see I am a Starboard man).

Building a board is not really out of the realms of most people's skills. In a nutshell, you have to buy the materials (foam blank, fibreglass cloth, resin, pads, footstraps, mast track, fin box), choosing the appropriate ones for your design. For widestyle and lightwind, you should aim for styrofoam (light and cheap - but porous), a light/fine mesh cloth (I cannot tell you what weight off the top of my head), West Epoxy Resin (I've even seen this for sale at Carba-tec). Make sure you use a Tuttle fin box as these are the strongest for the extra long fins you will use (up to 70 cm). The mast track is an A-box (as used for wave fins). For shaping and glassing, see below.

I suggest you copy the dimensions of a board you like but take careful consideration of the range for this board. You need to decide on the volume you wish the board to be (rough estimate of volume = your weight in kg + rig weight + wet suit weight + 20). Also the width of the board may depend on your level of skill/experience (rough rule here - anything above 70 cm is a widestyle; current Formula boards go to 1m).

Here are two websites for shaping and glassing:

http://www.viser.net/~anthwind/

http://www.viser.net/~anthwind/Repai...xy_repair.html

Good wind

Derek

Thanks Derek,
I shall do some more reserch into the matter.

Have a great summer over there..............

G

Hi

I am in the process of building a plywood malibu. I've put together the spine, ribs and rail supports. The next step is to fix the deck and hull. After doing that and waiting for everything to settle and cure I will be putting cork layers to build out the rails ready for shaping. Get in contact with me and I can let you know of some of the problems I've encountered along the way. I've also got a few photos I can send you to give you an idea of the process. Hopefully I will have it completed before January cause I can't wait to try it out. If it doesn't work out at least I'll have a really cool coffee table....

regards

Hicksy

Hey Hicksy
It would be great to see your photos and get some pearls of wisdom (god knows I need 'em)

My email is
[email protected]

thanks mate

Sounds like a great project.
When you are finished it can i have a lend. i have a few painting jobs to do

Try Clark Craft Boats Wooden Surfboard Plans

Either this ten footer or the optional eight foot version may be just what the doctor ordered. May not be too heavy to paddle if built in lightweight ply, but expect at least three times the weight of a foam and glass board!

Cheers

Thankyou to all who have replyed. I got some plans from the Hartley Boats site and am ready to get into the project.
Dear Ken "Bright", you don't paint a house with a beautiful, lovingly hand-crafted piece of surfing art, you paint it with a paint brush! I will nevertheless push on regardless. Happy painting.

Thanks everyone else.
Crakka :p