Does anyone know about these boards? I'm interested in making one but don't know what kind of wood is generally used and what kind of glue or epoxy to use. Any advice is appreciated, thanks.
Aaron Powell Alaia Former Ocean View, Del. native now living in Oahu is making Alaia boards. His website is www.powellhawaii.com. Some of his creations are supposed to be for sale at Breakers Surf and Sport in Bethany Beach. His father and I believe he also posts some stuff on the worldwidesurfers@yahoo blogsite. Hope this is helpful. There are some cool shot of a guy surfing on one in the most recent Surfers Journal.
my friend and i hand-shaped 2 alaias this past summer out of paulownia wood, its the stuff to go with. super easy to deal with, light, strong, and good-looking. depending on your location, its relatively easy to get blanks of various lengths of this paulownia, like here at http://www.surfinggreen.com.au/store/board-building/Alaia-Blank-Paulownia-Wood-8ft ask around for your specific length and thickness of blank-there's lots of trial and error in the shaping process, but the best thing about them is how green the process is. We used hand tools to shape the boards, linseed oil to seal them, and we recycled all of the wood shavings. they are very difficult to ride, but it's worth it
Thanks for the feedback, I've found a company that sells paulownia wood and has some blanks available. I'm going to get a blank and then get some planks of my own to figure out my own shape.
