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Preparing the Lumber
The finished surfboard blank will be 24 inches wide by 10 feet in length. The thickness of the balsa lumber determines how much rocker can be achieved. The selection and arrangement of boards determine its artistry. Although many people won’t consider putting to sea a collectible solid wood board, it’s important to me to craft an able wave rider. While a collectable quality solid wood board may never feel a wave or sandy beach, it is important to me that a surfboard worth making is worth making able to ride.
A rocker template is used to determine the shape of each of the boards. Once determined, each individual piece of balsa lumber is rip-cut to this gentle curved shape on the band saw.
Solid balsa surfboards are much heavier than modern foam boards. The very early Hawaiian surfboards were made of solid wood and often weighed over 150 pounds. In the early 1900s, the process of hollowing the solid redwood surfboards was introduced. Balsa became limitedly available from Ecuador after World War II in the mid 1940s, and although the new balsa surfboards were considered ultra-light compared to redwood, many were still hollowed or “chambered”. Balsa wood surfboards therefore became the standard and contributed to the sudden growth in popularity of surfing in California during the 1950s.
When chambering out the center pieces of balsa lumber, particular attention must be paid so that once the actual shaping process is underway the chambered hollow sections will not be cut into, thus totally ruining the entire surfboard. After cutting and milling the various thin stringers, all the pieces are finally glued together to form the surfboard blank.
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