Well in traditional JohnnieMo fashion I decided to tackle another project I have no experience nor knowledge on how to do. I was inspired by the hardwod wake surf board I saw (in pictures) at the Tige owners reunion a few years ago made by Tpoaz Surfer. The reports were that it was a blast, but extremely heavy. I had an idea on how I could construct a cedar surf board to still get the cool effect of wood but hopefully make it more light weight.
I started by buying up some cedar decking from the cedar store. I started by looking at "clear" kiln dried wood but it would have been about $900 in the wood alone. In the end they had some old 6' long decking that I figured I could make work.
There are two ways to do this... either by steaming and bending the wood, or by cutting it to shape. My research determined that kiln dried wood does not tend to bend well, so I thought I would go for the cutting route.
I picked up 30 1x4x72 sticks of cedar and got started.
I decided to use my 7 year old Ronix Koal Fish as a basic template. To this day I love this board, and I feel that if I take this shape and enlarge it a bit, we will have a winner.
Here is an idea of what it might look like. Now I just need to remove all the wood I don't need
And here they all all cut down to remove the tapering and bad edges
And now begins the clamping:
I will cut them to shape in pairs to save some time. I was hoping to go with threes, but they won't quite fit through my drill and saw (you'll see).
However I do have a couple questions:
- Where can I buy surf fins and traction pads? I want to go with a thruster setup. I would prefer the screw hole design as it will make it easier to mount them. But I need a 4" to 5" for the middle one. Any recommendations?
As for the shape - a lot of wood boards and big cruising boards are round. Should I be considering a round nose and tail like this Ronix?
Or this one..
I haven't had a lot of experience on different boards, so any feedback is welcome. In general I'm looking for a straight ahead cruiser, that is good for guys over 250lbs. I know this won't come close to my fiberglass boards in terms of performance. I'm doing this for the cool factor. And if it really sucks to surf, it will look great on the wall.
I started by buying up some cedar decking from the cedar store. I started by looking at "clear" kiln dried wood but it would have been about $900 in the wood alone. In the end they had some old 6' long decking that I figured I could make work.
There are two ways to do this... either by steaming and bending the wood, or by cutting it to shape. My research determined that kiln dried wood does not tend to bend well, so I thought I would go for the cutting route.
I picked up 30 1x4x72 sticks of cedar and got started.
I decided to use my 7 year old Ronix Koal Fish as a basic template. To this day I love this board, and I feel that if I take this shape and enlarge it a bit, we will have a winner.
Here is an idea of what it might look like. Now I just need to remove all the wood I don't need
And here they all all cut down to remove the tapering and bad edges
And now begins the clamping:
I will cut them to shape in pairs to save some time. I was hoping to go with threes, but they won't quite fit through my drill and saw (you'll see).
However I do have a couple questions:
- Where can I buy surf fins and traction pads? I want to go with a thruster setup. I would prefer the screw hole design as it will make it easier to mount them. But I need a 4" to 5" for the middle one. Any recommendations?
As for the shape - a lot of wood boards and big cruising boards are round. Should I be considering a round nose and tail like this Ronix?
Or this one..
I haven't had a lot of experience on different boards, so any feedback is welcome. In general I'm looking for a straight ahead cruiser, that is good for guys over 250lbs. I know this won't come close to my fiberglass boards in terms of performance. I'm doing this for the cool factor. And if it really sucks to surf, it will look great on the wall.
Comment