Timeline of Wooden Surfboard Making
If you’re new to wooden surfboard making you might have wondered how long it takes to complete a board. There are several stages of crafting a timber board, each requiring sufficient time to execute the task at hand and ensure a professional result. The total time will vary depending on experience level and personal schedule.When building a board from one of our kits, you can expect it to take approximately one to two weeks, depending on how many hours you get to work on it each day. The beauty of our do-it-at-home kits is that you can take your time and chip away at the project when you have pockets of spare time. If purchasing a DIY Customised kit, you’ll need to factor in some extra time to prep your materials. Our Premium kit allows you to hit the ground running and immediately start the frame assembly with many more inclusions.
Our 4 day workshop course is a guide, where all of the board is assembled and shaped over four big days. The finishing touches are completed once you leave, where the fins, leash plug, vents are installed and the boards are then resin-coated and glassed professionally.
There are several stages that require curing time for glue, so there are forced breaks throughout. We recommend a sufficient amount of time when shaping to really enjoy the process and get into the flow. The better the shaping, the better the final result.
Here is a rough timeline to showcase how long it takes to complete a wooden surfboard in a steady but relaxed pace;
Day 1: Assembling the Frame and Gluing Paulownia Skins together
Day 2: Shaping the Frame and Installing Blocks for Finboxes
Day 3: Sanding Skins & Laminating with fibreglass
Day 4: Cutting Skins to Frame Shape
Day 5: Setting up Rocker support & Gluing Skins to Frame with Vacuum Bag
Day 6: Shaping and Sanding Board
Day 7: Installing Screw Bung, Finboxes, Vents and Leash Plug
Day 8: Resin Coating Side 1
Day 9: Resin Coating Side 2
Day 10: Sand and Scuff
Day 11: Final Resin Coat
Day 12: Final Sand and Exterior Finish
Building your own surfboard is a deeply rewarding experience, not only do you have the satisfaction of completing a project and learning woodworking skills along the way - but you have a lifetime ahead of enjoyment in the surf.
If you can make it to our Brisbane board making workshops - we’d love to see you, otherwise our online kits are the go-to source for building your own surfboard at home with expert guidance.
