looking forward to seeing more pictures..

question, is it possible or practical to bore out some of the middle sections so they are hollow before you glue together to reduce weight?

Looking good. How much was the timber?

I wonder if you could kite with one of the Alaia boards? Found a video showing one with straps - also check out the use of the paddle board to get on the waves... pretty amazing actually!

Hey Guys,

Nice board Kit33R, you making me jealous!

What the wood like to work with? I like the black pigment, did not know that you could get pigment for Epoxy. Why did you use Epoxy, why not something like Polyurethane glue, I've used it to fix my last board, inserting stringers and stuff and it is pretty impressive stuff - it foams and fills all the gaps.

I got a quote over here in Perth, did not make sense to go for the Kirri wood option.

The price for 100mm x 30mm is $16.13/ lineal metre = $29.03 for a 1.8m length.

16 pieces at 1.8m = $464-54 plus GST.

Total payable = $511-00 including GST.

Whats it with Perth and pulling the ass out of everything?
This wood is suppose to be a fast growing, eco friendly alternative???

Trying to find other options, going as far as using extruding EPS foam, cutting the rocker profile and laminating the strips together same way Kit33r did it.

The other option is to use a Cedar wood but may seem more expensive than the Kirri.

Cheers
Rich

Hey Kit33r,

It sounds great, deffinately agree with the satisfaction and experience making it. It is often easier and cheaper to buy but you still not get that satisfactin from making it.

What I have seen and done is use a small angle grinder for the nose curve, works well with an emery disk (fan fold disk), then finish it off with a small stringer planer you can buy from online surfboard suppliers.

Can't wait for the pics, curous how you did the sunken deck alla Underground style.

Cheers
Rich

KIT33R said...

I've started my winter project. Here's some photos of the, yet to be, wooden kite surfboard made from paulomia.

Looking good!

Out of interest how heavy is it so far?

I just want to make a plank board........no ribs, plugs or hard work.........simple one piece, maybe 2 or three glued but that is the limit.........just want to buy some wood and do some shaping..........keeping it as simple and stupid as possible............and cheap cheap cheap.


Want to spend no more than 10 hours making this first one.

Thanks for all the positve vibes and advise guys.

I'll take some photos this weekend when the light is good since I've now finished shaping.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome. It feels symmetrical and balanced but I'll only really know when I start getting some gloss on it. Still have to router out the bottom for FCS plugs for fins and do the deck inserts. Stayed tuned.

for the fins, why dont you make them out of a fairly durable wood and leave the bottom inch or so unshaped, then router in the fins to the board? I think that would look pretty slick, kinda like a natural fin box

Nearly finished. I put a coat of marine varnish on the bottom this morning. So here is how it looks now. Once I get a few coats on to protect it I'll put in the deck boxes for straps, deck grip and the FCS fin boxes.

Yeah looks great, after snapping two boards in the last few months I might just have a go at making one myself so am interested in seeing how it turns out.

There's nothing like the satisfaction of making something yourself...... but I'm lazy, how much do you want for it

Hunter S said...

Awesome. Wood is the future for quality wave boards

Top effort, KIT33r. Are those rails as hard as they look in the third photo? What dimensions did you end up with? and how did you go with the weight?

Yeah it is a top effort eh! Since its solid wood the rails could be softened up or reshaped couldnt they?

Hunter S said...

Awesome. Wood is the future for quality wave boards

Top effort, KIT33r. Are those rails as hard as they look in the third photo? What dimensions did you end up with? and how did you go with the weight?

Dimensions: 5' 5" by 19.25". It weighs about 5kg which is a bit above a foam fibreglass board but that's OK by me. There's about 5" nose lift and 2" in the tail.

The rails aren't as hard as they look. They're pretty soft through the mid section with a tucked edge. There's a slight concave through the middle. Flat under the nose and a small V in the tail where the rails are their hardest. I guess if the rails feel to hard I can always round them off a bit. Unlike foam and glass reshaping is easy with wood.

I wish it would stop raining so I can finish it. For some reason my son doesn't like me varnishing in his bedroom where it's warm. Kids are always complaining!

I'm following this with much anticipation. Looks really great so far.

As promised. I've finally finished my winter project.

Paulownia wooden surfboard. Lot's of work with an electric plane. Six coats of marine varnish each sides.
What would I have done different?
I would have used expanding urathane glue when I glued up the sections. I found that, even after clamping the wood together there were still some spaces in the joins that had to be filled in with epoxy.
I was going to stain alternate sections but there was some bleed across sections so I sanded off the stain.
Setting fin boxes is tricky but necessary.

It's heavier than a foam fibreglass board but still not too heavy. I guess that's why they use foam

Hoping for wind this weekend so I can try it out.