Mahalo, brother Your boards are strikingly gorgeous! I will be sooo wary riding this in anything less then glassy surf. Kind of like the care I give my Gibson guitar. I hope one day you find the means to produce these at a custom level for the world to enjoy without compromising your ever so evident dedication and spirit. One love, M
Luke - they surf incredibly well - very consistent through turns and it all comes down to how well it's been shaped. Mates have borrowed it and I have watched them pull off incredible moves that even surprised them. Exceptional flex properties, much stronger than a fibreglass board, great buoyancy (don't need to add foam as it's hollow and air is about as buoyant as you can get).
Paulownia really is the best I have found - balsa works but it's very easy to dent - the weight is great, I have also made boards out of western red cedar and they were ok, but a bit heavy though.
Hi - I'll check it out. AKU shaper is a good program to use. I also use Corel Draw to do the finer work, and a CAD based program (Inventor) for a couple of bits. Unfortunately there isn't just one program that can do it all. I need to use multiple programs to get there. Laser cutter bed can be as small as 600x450mm - Big enough for the widest part of the board and I just join the rail together in pieces with overlapping timber to maintain (or even improve) strength.
HI Stephen, nice work, unfortunately no Paulownia here, any suggestions as to what to use as a sandwich material that is light and thick enough for the ribs? Aloha Mike
i am quite interested in the short board concept, i noticed you have the skeleton laser cut from balsa, will you sell off the auto cad plan for the structure? did you use balsa for the skin as well with a veneer as the detail?
Search for a company called Surfing Green - I am pretty sure they sell kits for Mals and that's a good place to start - think they also have an instructional guide. Not quite the same processes I use, but will be pretty helpful.
Hi Steve nice work ... I am interested in the software you use for the design and also what is the smallest laser cutter you could use for these boards and up to Mals in size. I have just built a sailing cat and we also did a couple of boards , would like to do some more and your rails are a great system. check out liquid desire sail / you tube ant
Hey Stephen How do you maximize "flex" in a wooden rib construction? The wooden surfboards I rode so far felt a bit stiff and dead compared to a modern epoxy board. Keep up your great work!
koalazahn type of timber is a big factor. But I think it is similar principles to guitar construction: strong enough to support the force, thin enough to flex. You might need to reduce the thickness of your timber - you can also add a layer of fibreglass to the inside of your deck and bottom.
I have experimented with airtight boards as well as the use of valves. You can use goretex valves or plugs. I haven't seen any deterioration of the paulownia with the airtight boards unless they have been dinged and the resin seal has been compromised. But yes - good idea to keep them as dry as possible before sealing them.
Hi Stephen! I was wondering, as I'm working on my final year of University in England looking at sustainable design of modern surfboards would it be possible to get a copy of the laser cutter files?
Air is more buoyant than foam, foam helps the shaper hold the glass in place, no need for it here. Love them. May be a drainplug as a quickrepair solution.
In the Cirlce, the darkl timber is Mulga and reddish is Lace Sheoak. The vertical strips are Sheoak on outside and thin strip of jarrah down centre. Jarrah pinstripe around the rails.
May I ask what thickness you use for the deck and bottom panels? I want to build a board as well and I'm afraid it's gonna be too heavy. Thanks in advance!
Awesome inspiring video. I have nearly completed my first wood board, a Pawlonia CWB, 6'2 fish, but I am keen to do a HWB shortboard. You have inspired me, as your boards look awesome and really light. Just out of curiosity two questions : 1- How do you do the ribs on the computer? Is there a program that does this for you based on dimensions or do you design them manually? 2- What is the rough value of your laser cutter and how does it compare with a CNC machine?
I use a few programs to do it - Corel Draw being the main one as well as some shaping software like Aku Shaper. Inventor is another helpful program. Corel is the program I use to do main cutting plans for the laser cutter and this is a pretty indepth process. Laser cutters vary a lot in price, but this one was about AU$40k. You can pick them up a lot cheaper though - and they also get a lot more expensive. A CNC would do much the same thing and would probably help in a lot of ways - but unfortunately I don't have one...yet!!!! How is the weight on your CWB? Compared to normal fibreglass board?
Bloody heavy. But I was being safe as it is my first shape and first timber board. I think it's pretty hard to get good weight on CWBs anyway... But I'm definitely hooked on making timber boards
Yeah, why not eh... Here is a link to a nice 5'7". you can modify and scale as you see fit. It's a pdf which you can import into whatever program you use with laser. drive.google.com/file/d/0B65I1ajNVkDuMGE1OFBPUHZEYXM/view?usp=sharing
I don't think I could sell them for a price anyone would want to pay unfortunately - it takes me about 2 weeks solid to make one and it costs me a fair bit in the construction process.
Nice video and nice boards, I'm currently making a hollow wood sup she's 10'6 and a bit of a beast so I'm getting concerned about weight, what do you finish yours with, I was going to get mine glassed but have been told it will add a lot more weight to the board, I've seen some people just use resin and others with marine varnish, any advice would be great
Hey - cool. I have always wanted to do a SUP. The weight would be my concern too and that has probably stopped me from making a wooden SUP. I use a 2 or 4 ounce glass using epoxy resin. Unfortunately I don't have any research into sups, but I think you would need 4 ounce glass - I often bash my paddle into the side of the SUP, so I reckon without glass, it would damage too easily. I make my board blanks (pre-glassed) to a very light weight and therefore adding glass hasn't made them any heavier than a conventional board. After all the time you have put into making the board, I would be worried about not sealing it with glass - but make sure you get someone who knows what they are doing - wood absorbs the resin much more than a closed cell foam.
Stephen McLean You make fantastic surfboards! Atm I am building a 6'8" hybride swallow tail. Rib spacing 9 cm (3 9/16"). My weight goal is around 4kg maximum (around 9 lbs). I am planning to use 6 mm balsa decking. How much layers fibreglass do you use and which strengt? Do you glass the inside of the board? Do you have some advice for my balsa decking when it comes to glassing?
I use one layer of 4 ounce and with balsa I would probably glass the underside too. You rib spacing seems about right - similar to what I use. Tips for glassing - make sure you don't squeegee off too much resin cos the balsa will soak up a lot of it. Good luck.
Yes true - for most of them anyway. I don't really see the need to do it (though some may disagree) unless you are putting them in extreme weather situations (hot and cold) or travelling with them on a plane. But no real harm in putting one in either.
Beautiful boards. Stephen, I see you make mention of native W.A. trees? Does this mean you are based in Perth? (I am also) I've been getting super interested in giving a wooden board a crack/learning more about the construction process. Do you happen to run workshops or similar?
Hey mate, amazing boards. Are you based in Perth? have been reserching wooden baords and very keen to have a crack at it but would like a few pointers and you seem like an expert. Cheers. Nick
Hey Stephen, I'm in Michigan, USA and I'm wondering If I could ask you for the digital file of your shape profile. I want to make a board like yours in my garage, but I have no experience shaping surfboards. Thanks.
Stephen McLean what wood do you use for your boards and is this the same plan for the board in this video and would it be ideal for someone 6' 145lbs? Been wanting to do this so bad but didnt know the answers to my question.
shaneleew Paulownia is definitely the best wood for surfboards, but it is extremely hard to source as a DIYer in the states. Spruce is a good alternate material. The plan he gave us is for a short board. I don't think it is the exact same as the one in the video. You seem like a pretty light guy. It should work well for you. You might look into purchasing a kit from one of the online sources (woodsurfboardsupply.com or similar). This will include all materials needed (Paulownia!) and already laser cut to exact size and shape leaving the glue up and rail shaping to you.
Matthew Punam Jensen Paulownia is definitely the way to go if you can get it. The plans I gave you was for the latest board I have made (not on this video) - it's a pretty short performance board, but could be scaled up for someone a bit bigger. (I am 5'10'' and about 165 and have no problem riding it in small waves up to about 4 foot or so).
i am trying myself on building short boards out of wood and i want to work on the shape on my computer but i can not find a program which one are you using? and what a kind of wood are you using? my first try was a way to havy and i don t want to wast much more wood on my second try!
Hi Stephen. I´m wondering how dick is your deck and your bottom panels. I did a surfboard my self and it´s way too heavy. I think tha if I could do the deck thiner it can help a lot. thanks Luciano
Top and bottom vary slightly - but somewhere in the region of 5-7mm thick. If you fibreglass on the inside too then this can significantly help with strength.
Have you tried Lick liquid vegetable based surf wax so not to cover up the beautiful grain in your boards? Check it out ruclips.net/video/shBOa7-0eHc/видео.html Also have you heard about www.surfriderecochallenge.com/ cheers
Looks awesome Steve. Well done mate.
Mahalo, brother
Your boards are strikingly gorgeous! I will be sooo wary riding this in anything less then glassy surf. Kind of like the care I give my Gibson guitar. I hope one day you find the means to produce these at a custom level for the world to enjoy without compromising your ever so evident dedication and spirit.
One love, M
Thanks man! Very nice to hear such a good comment.
Luke - they surf incredibly well - very consistent through turns and it all comes down to how well it's been shaped. Mates have borrowed it and I have watched them pull off incredible moves that even surprised them. Exceptional flex properties, much stronger than a fibreglass board, great buoyancy (don't need to add foam as it's hollow and air is about as buoyant as you can get).
This is awesome !
Paulownia really is the best I have found - balsa works but it's very easy to dent - the weight is great, I have also made boards out of western red cedar and they were ok, but a bit heavy though.
awesome stuff!
Cutting edge stuff. Love it.
Hi - I'll check it out. AKU shaper is a good program to use. I also use Corel Draw to do the finer work, and a CAD based program (Inventor) for a couple of bits. Unfortunately there isn't just one program that can do it all. I need to use multiple programs to get there.
Laser cutter bed can be as small as 600x450mm - Big enough for the widest part of the board and I just join the rail together in pieces with overlapping timber to maintain (or even improve) strength.
Your boards look sweet. Solid build.
Dennis Hanson Cheers. Thanks for watching!
wow beatiful pieces :) it would be very cool to see a more detailed video, as your tutorial of the ukelele :)
Will have to think about the plans... I used Paulownia timber for skins and "skeleton".
Fantastic!
Hi Will - not really in a position to do that right now, but maybe sometime...
HI Stephen,
nice work, unfortunately no Paulownia here, any suggestions as to what to use as a sandwich material that is light and thick enough for the ribs?
Aloha
Mike
i am quite interested in the short board concept, i noticed you have the skeleton laser cut from balsa, will you sell off the auto cad plan for the structure? did you use balsa for the skin as well with a veneer as the detail?
Good one sir.
Very impressive! Any chance I can purchase a set of framework?
Great video and beautiful work Steven! Great craftsmanship. Tell me what you think of my latest balsa Paipo build...
Cheers! Nice looking board you've made! really interesting quad fin set up too. Love the channels.
Search for a company called Surfing Green - I am pretty sure they sell kits for Mals and that's a good place to start - think they also have an instructional guide. Not quite the same processes I use, but will be pretty helpful.
DO you have the plans?
why don't you sell the kits instead of the finished product, i would be more than happy to build my own ;)
Hi Steve nice work ... I am interested in the software you use for the design and also what is the smallest laser cutter you could use for these boards and up to Mals in size.
I have just built a sailing cat and we also did a couple of boards , would like to do some more and your rails are a great system. check out liquid desire sail / you tube ant
Hey Stephen
How do you maximize "flex" in a wooden rib construction? The wooden surfboards I rode so far felt a bit stiff and dead compared to a modern epoxy board. Keep up your great work!
koalazahn type of timber is a big factor. But I think it is similar principles to guitar construction: strong enough to support the force, thin enough to flex. You might need to reduce the thickness of your timber - you can also add a layer of fibreglass to the inside of your deck and bottom.
haha cheers - as soon as I can boooostt it will be uploaded.
and one more thing, do you seal these boards air tight? it seems like any trapped moisture might be compromising over time
I have experimented with airtight boards as well as the use of valves. You can use goretex valves or plugs. I haven't seen any deterioration of the paulownia with the airtight boards unless they have been dinged and the resin seal has been compromised. But yes - good idea to keep them as dry as possible before sealing them.
thanks stephen
How did you design the ribs? How did you find the measurements for them?
Hi Stephen!
I was wondering, as I'm working on my final year of University in England looking at sustainable design of modern surfboards would it be possible to get a copy of the laser cutter files?
How do they surf do they have enough buoyancy and is there something like foam you put in the board to make it more buoyant cheers
Air is more buoyant than foam, foam helps the shaper hold the glass in place, no need for it here. Love them. May be a drainplug as a quickrepair solution.
At time 2:34, what are the different woods that you used in that beautiful board?
In the Cirlce, the darkl timber is Mulga and reddish is Lace Sheoak. The vertical strips are Sheoak on outside and thin strip of jarrah down centre. Jarrah pinstripe around the rails.
thanks again. beautiful. these boards are works of art.
May I ask what thickness you use for the deck and bottom panels? I want to build a board as well and I'm afraid it's gonna be too heavy.
Thanks in advance!
Awesome inspiring video. I have nearly completed my first wood board, a Pawlonia CWB, 6'2 fish, but I am keen to do a HWB shortboard. You have inspired me, as your boards look awesome and really light. Just out of curiosity two questions :
1- How do you do the ribs on the computer? Is there a program that does this for you based on dimensions or do you design them manually?
2- What is the rough value of your laser cutter and how does it compare with a CNC machine?
I use a few programs to do it - Corel Draw being the main one as well as some shaping software like Aku Shaper. Inventor is another helpful program. Corel is the program I use to do main cutting plans for the laser cutter and this is a pretty indepth process.
Laser cutters vary a lot in price, but this one was about AU$40k. You can pick them up a lot cheaper though - and they also get a lot more expensive. A CNC would do much the same thing and would probably help in a lot of ways - but unfortunately I don't have one...yet!!!!
How is the weight on your CWB? Compared to normal fibreglass board?
Bloody heavy. But I was being safe as it is my first shape and first timber board. I think it's pretty hard to get good weight on CWBs anyway... But I'm definitely hooked on making timber boards
+Stephen McLean hi mate I have gained access to a laser cutter. Any chance you would share any rib files?
Yeah, why not eh... Here is a link to a nice 5'7". you can modify and scale as you see fit. It's a pdf which you can import into whatever program you use with laser.
drive.google.com/file/d/0B65I1ajNVkDuMGE1OFBPUHZEYXM/view?usp=sharing
+Stephen McLean awesome Cheers brother! That should keep me busy
I don't think I could sell them for a price anyone would want to pay unfortunately - it takes me about 2 weeks solid to make one and it costs me a fair bit in the construction process.
Hey i was wondering if you could do a step by step tutorial, im trying to make my own board but have no idea how
Not sure when I will find the time for it in the near future unfortunately. Maybe down the track a little bit.
sounds good
you should try making some outta bamboo
MsTokies - I would love to but haven't been able to find a bamboo supplier in the sheets I require. I think it would work really well though!
Stephen McLean lol i kinda wonder how they make those bamboo sheets id be growing it in my backyard hippy style if it could be done on the cheep
Nice video and nice boards, I'm currently making a hollow wood sup she's 10'6 and a bit of a beast so I'm getting concerned about weight, what do you finish yours with, I was going to get mine glassed but have been told it will add a lot more weight to the board, I've seen some people just use resin and others with marine varnish, any advice would be great
Hey - cool. I have always wanted to do a SUP. The weight would be my concern too and that has probably stopped me from making a wooden SUP. I use a 2 or 4 ounce glass using epoxy resin. Unfortunately I don't have any research into sups, but I think you would need 4 ounce glass - I often bash my paddle into the side of the SUP, so I reckon without glass, it would damage too easily. I make my board blanks (pre-glassed) to a very light weight and therefore adding glass hasn't made them any heavier than a conventional board. After all the time you have put into making the board, I would be worried about not sealing it with glass - but make sure you get someone who knows what they are doing - wood absorbs the resin much more than a closed cell foam.
Stephen McLean You make fantastic surfboards! Atm I am building a 6'8" hybride swallow tail. Rib spacing 9 cm (3 9/16"). My weight goal is around 4kg maximum (around 9 lbs). I am planning to use 6 mm balsa decking. How much layers fibreglass do you use and which strengt? Do you glass the inside of the board? Do you have some advice for my balsa decking when it comes to glassing?
I use one layer of 4 ounce and with balsa I would probably glass the underside too. You rib spacing seems about right - similar to what I use. Tips for glassing - make sure you don't squeegee off too much resin cos the balsa will soak up a lot of it.
Good luck.
Stephen McLean Thanks. It it true you don't vent your boards? I could not see any vent plugs in your video.
Yes true - for most of them anyway. I don't really see the need to do it (though some may disagree) unless you are putting them in extreme weather situations (hot and cold) or travelling with them on a plane. But no real harm in putting one in either.
Can this be replicated to make an SUP board? about a 10' x 32"?
Beautiful boards. Stephen, I see you make mention of native W.A. trees? Does this mean you are based in Perth? (I am also) I've been getting super interested in giving a wooden board a crack/learning more about the construction process. Do you happen to run workshops or similar?
Rowan Bond Hi Rowan - yep in perth. Don't run workshops but happy to answer any questions you have.
Hey mate, amazing boards. Are you based in Perth? have been reserching wooden baords and very keen to have a crack at it but would like a few pointers and you seem like an expert. Cheers. Nick
Yep - in Perth. Send me a personal message if you wanna have a chat.
Hey Stephen, I'm in Michigan, USA and I'm wondering If I could ask you for the digital file of your shape profile. I want to make a board like yours in my garage, but I have no experience shaping surfboards. Thanks.
Matthew Punam Jensen Here is a link to a pdf of some plans for a board:drive.google.com/file/d/0B65I1ajNVkDuMGE1OFBPUHZEYXM/edit?usp=sharing
Stephen McLean Thank You!
Stephen McLean what wood do you use for your boards and is this the same plan for the board in this video and would it be ideal for someone 6' 145lbs? Been wanting to do this so bad but didnt know the answers to my question.
shaneleew Paulownia is definitely the best wood for surfboards, but it is extremely hard to source as a DIYer in the states. Spruce is a good alternate material. The plan he gave us is for a short board. I don't think it is the exact same as the one in the video. You seem like a pretty light guy. It should work well for you. You might look into purchasing a kit from one of the online sources (woodsurfboardsupply.com or similar). This will include all materials needed (Paulownia!) and already laser cut to exact size and shape leaving the glue up and rail shaping to you.
Matthew Punam Jensen
Paulownia is definitely the way to go if you can get it. The plans I gave you was for the latest board I have made (not on this video) - it's a pretty short performance board, but could be scaled up for someone a bit bigger. (I am 5'10'' and about 165 and have no problem riding it in small waves up to about 4 foot or so).
i am trying myself on building short boards out of wood and i want to work on the shape on my computer but i can not find a program which one are you using? and what a kind of wood are you using? my first try was a way to havy and i don t want to wast much more wood on my second try!
AKU shaper is a good program and I use Paulownia timber.
Stephen McLean thanks a lot
Hi is there any way you could send me the plans for your current board?
Thankyou very much, but unfortunately with the huge amount of time it takes to make one of these - they are out of most people's price range.
how much are theey
Do you sell??
hmm - not a bad idea!!!!
Now we need to see some booooosstt...
Hi Stephen. I´m wondering how dick is your deck and your bottom panels. I did a surfboard my self and it´s way too heavy. I think tha if I could do the deck thiner it can help a lot. thanks Luciano
Top and bottom vary slightly - but somewhere in the region of 5-7mm thick. If you fibreglass on the inside too then this can significantly help with strength.
I will send you a personal message to your youtube account. Let me know if it gets through to you.
Steve
Have you tried Lick liquid vegetable based surf wax so not to cover up the beautiful grain in your boards? Check it out ruclips.net/video/shBOa7-0eHc/видео.html Also have you heard about www.surfriderecochallenge.com/ cheers
Cool - no I haven't but I'll check it out - I do hate covering up the nice inlays with wax ;)