Has anyone has experience with making a paulownia full wood board. Know surfers are doing them and they love the look and they are light and perform well. Wondering whether it would hold up to a mast track insertion and some wave or freeestyle pounding.

Any comments welcome. The blanks seem fairly cheap too and no fibre glassing required as i understand it. Although that is for surfing so may need some more strength. Early R+D days.. maybe just a pipe dream

No Fibreglassing?????

I would have thought that anything that is made of wood would take up water.
As far as I know even wood surfboards have an epoxy layer around them.

Once its epoxied, it should be watertight and strong as.

Have heard that bamboo works well as well.

the guys building the surfboards use coatings of wax and a varnish

apparently it doesnt absorb water

http://www.paulowniaparadise.com.au/surfboards.htm

I've made 2 paulownia surfboards and 2 balsa boards
Solid timber that I chambered out to reduce the weight.
I did not get too aggressive with the chambering and left it solid under my feet.
I glassed the balsa boards and one paulownia but sealed the other with a single coat of epoxy without glass.
all the boards are heavy but indestructible.
I'd reckon a windsurf board made this way would be too heavy.
It s possible to make a wood board with a frame and skin technique, itwould be lighter and use less timber but is time consuming. probably not very ding resistant either.
best option would be too go for foam core with wood laminate and vacuum bagging, you would get the strength and aesthetics of wood without the weight penalty.