I've been really interested in buying a log for a while. I've owned boards up to 8,4'' but i really want a noserider. I've been looking around for something used for a while and everything is super expensive, even craigslist is 500$+. I've found that the cheapest way is basically to build my own. I know it'll be pretty hard but a really amazing experience at the same time. Does anyone have any advice on building or possibly where to find a low-priced board before i start getting serious about shaping?
greenlight surf supply has everything you need and they have videos and a mentoring program for beginning shapers also if you keep an eye on craigslist for long enough youll find one
Yeah I have also used Greenlight surf supply videos many times. This is a good suggestion... Dyldo you can take a lot of help from there.
Hey Dylo That's why were here, to help you save money on boards and increase your stoke level by surfing boards you built. Nothin' like it. Check out our Surfboard Building Guide A-Z and feel free to contact us if you have questions or need anything. All the best ~Brian www.greenlightsurfsupply.com Shape Your Surfing Experience
Thanks guys i looked into greenlight a good amount and i'm actually interested in building a wood board. What do you suggest as far as time, materials needed, and difficulty between foam and wood?
Greenlight isn't a bad way to go, but if you are serious and really want to build a masterpiece then I would highly recommend "Grain Surfboards". These boards are sweeeeet!!! I say we have a forum board build-off using the Grain materials, or we could all build Grain boards and have a surf contest to see who's board performs the best. Here's the link guys to Grain, at the very least check it out they got some killer boards and kits to build.... http://www.grainsurfboards.com/ Hey Dyldo... I've shaped many boards and though I'm not a pro shaper I can tell you that its not an easy feat. When you build your first board you usually have some costly mistakes. Just a blank is $75 and if you mess it up you're out that money. Some stuff can be fixed or corrected. Setting fins is a pain in the buttocks the first 500 times! One place I made a big mistake when shaping my first board was that you keep picking up the board to feel it and make sure that's the dimensions and shape etc... that you want. However where I went wrong was that I didn't account for cloth and resin when holding and feeling the board to kind of gauge thickness and width and how the rails were. The board was exactly what I wanted.... before I glassed it! After I glassed it I now had a board that was way bigger and thicker all the way around! Anyway.... I think the GRAIN surfboard kits would be easier for you to work with than trying to build a board from a Greenlight kit. I also think you will be much more impressed with the end result.
My biggest issue with building a wooden longboard is that wood over 8 ft is harder to find and more expensive. Usually there's more waste too. You can definitely piece together your stringer and edge glue your deck depending on how you do it. I imagine the rails would be a pain using pieces shorter than your total length. I'd recommend building a smaller HWS first if you want to use wood. There is significantly more work that goes into a HWS than tweaking a foam blank.
I posted a link to Grain surfboards above. If you check out the site you can go through the different board building packages they offer depending on what you want to build. They will provide you with all the materials so you aren't going to have to sweat it trying to find wood or anything for that matter. Yes you will need to have a few tools and a work space to build the board. There was a guy who posted on their customer comments section and said he built the thing in his apartment living room!
If you're really just looking for the cheapest option, keep hunting on craigslist. You never know what kind of gem is gonna pop up for ya. I was in the same boat as you this summer. I had had a 9'0 HPLB (it snapped in half) and wanted to find myself a noserider. Alas, I bought a new HPSB in the spring so the funds weren't really there for a $500-$1000 used noserider. Eventually, I found a used fun shape at 7'6 with a glassed in thruster set up. Not exactly what I was looking for, but it's a wave-catching machine at least, and for $150 you can't really go wrong. I took it out on some chest high waves last week and absolutely crushed it! The board is a champ! I guess the moral of my story is "You can't always get what want...but if you try sometimes....you just might find...you get what you need!" Someday I'll get the classic noserider but I'm happy for the time-being. (PS - this is coming from someone who has $200 in lumber sitting in his basement waiting to be turned into a surfboard - it's been waiting for a year)
Thanks for all the help guys! i looked into grain and although the boards look incredible and i've heard nothing but good, they're a little out of my price range. And after factoring in all the tools etc, i think i'm just gonna buy one and wait for a while before i start my first build. I'm a 18 yr old high school senior who works two days a week at a restaurant that's only busy from may-august. And on top of that i have a girlfriend. So basically i'm broke. hahaha I appreciate all the help and suggestions though and i'll definitely keep researching building and taking in as much knowledge as i can before i decide to build. Thanks again!
For a first timer I suggest wooden surfboard supply. However they only send you a frame kit. A grain kit would cost you 800 dollars and t includes all the wood you need already sawn to dimension also grain supply's you resin and glass which is helpful because you don't need to source all the materials. Not sure where your from but grain is starting a mobile classroom which will poping up in all major is coastal cities next year. The mobile class is a 6 day thing and at the end you have a finished board. However the dirt cheap option is to buy a wooden surf supply kit and find a local cabinet shop to mill or get a table saw and mill your own wood. You can get any dimension lumber and make it into strips which you build with. Clemson is wrong you can very very easily get any length board up to 12 ft very easily. Cedar is available all over our country. I wouldn't use anything but cedar or paulownia wood.
