Surf's Up, Again!
It’s been over 6 months since our last wooden surfboard making course.. so we are roaring and ready to get stuck into some board making tomorrow for our first course of 2024.
Today we prep the workshop for some lucky folk who get to spend 4 days with us on an epic surfboard making journey.
Materials are marked out and cut, handplanes are sharpened and snacks are sorted.. In the line up for the next few days are the ever-popular Dawn (two of them!) and a classic V Dawn.
It’s pretty amazing what you can achieve over 4 busy days, here is a run down of how we construct surfboards throughout the course…
Day 1
Since the materials are mostly prepped, we waste no time and jump straight into assembling the frame of the internal ribs and the rails, gluing and taping in the nose and tail blocks, strengthening with glue gusseting and fixing a centerline. We also glue together the skins, depending on the pattern selections from the participants. After day 1, the frames are fully formed.
Day 2
With the frame and skins fully set and glue cured, we tidy up the frame from sharp glue and begin shaping and adding concaves. Using the frame as a template we cut out the laminated skins. Fin blocks are added inside the frame for the fin boxes later on.
Day 3
Final touches to the frame include removing excess weight and future shaping. With the frames perfect, we set up the rocker system to support the boards during the vac process. After the skins are glued to the frame they are placed inside vacuum bags and rested on the rocker support system to stay overnight while the skins adhere to the frame.
Day 4
The last day feels like Christmas, taking the boards out of the vac bags and seeing an almost finished surfboard, we spend the day shaping the rails, nose and tail, and fully sanding the boards.
Four days well spent! By Sunday the boards will be near complete, with a few final touches from Stu (installing fin boxes, leash plugs and several layers of resin coating) and then they are ready for their new home and a christening in the ocean.
Beyond this month’s course, we have two more courses scheduled for this year; July and October, both with several spots left - perhaps one is yours?