With Paulownia you don't need any seal coat either, right? It doesn't absorb saltwater...just shape the wood and go. Is the same true for Cedar, or is best to seal the board? Chuck - last week I was out in the water and saw a dude with a wooden fish. I thought to myself "this has to be the one and only Charles Taylor". I paddled over to him and asked who made the board. He said he did, so I asked if he was from York. He took great pride in informing me he was from Oregon, as if it's really cool to be from there. Mr White Sea Ape - why would I be scared? I'm not made of Latex.
No, a board more dense (heavier) of the same displacement does not float as well as a lighter, less dense board. A 12lb. hull will not sit as high in the water as a 7lb. hull of the same exact size. And ride much different too. Heavy gathers momentum and lighter lets you turn quicker. Guess it comes down to what you are into and how you like to surf, really. Trim stylists might like heavier cues, climb and drop dudes might like the lighter boards. Seems to me heavy boards are more fun as singles and multi fins are more fun lighter. IMHO.
Unless sealed with resin any wood requires constant maintenance. Paulonia does have hydrophobic attributes but it will take on water. You can seal wooden boards with various oils but you need to keep an eye on them and ensure there are no leaks. This is where Charles was going with the pump idea to test the integrity of the board. I'd recommend glassing the board if you plan on surfing it regularly. The oiled board idea is popular with alaias because their solid and cannot become waterlogged like a hollow board can.
clemson is absolutely right, the soild alias and other solid boards have no where for water to go inside so oil is just fine always and probably worry free for the most part. the hollow boards with oil to waterproof present a challenge, but it is possible as i have discovered. pressure testing is a huge part of it and it does require maintenance. it helps if the glue up is really good and its an epoxy glue, and meatier wall thickness helps too so there is ample wood to hold pressures. I will be experimenting with sealing the interior of the blanks as well with certain treatments, one of which is a homemade blend of in house harvest white pine sap, bees wax and some other ingredients, which can coat the wood inside when applied hot, to act as an internal waterproofing and filleting material. But all of this is irrelevant when epoxy resin is used for sealing, to create that hard plastic sealing barrier around the board is the absolute best I think. Im definitely all for the use of epoxy resin, but am aiming for a product that can thrive without it for the sealing element. some "green" resins do exist, like entropy resin, but I think that product is just a green washing marketing jibe, epoxy resins are mostly bad stuff as far as the environmental goes, but also the human handling element is the nicest to get away from and this is relevant to the laymen who i want to market these blanks too.
mad atom the sea ape has a point dude. far out for the attempted in water shout out. respect brother.
Keeping it real on my end. Blanks are working out nicely. The finished shapes are good too. SI members are still in the pool for giveaway. Once I get my shaping tutorials up for the blanks product I will distribute accordingly.
Braddah you cant just lay the pics down without some dims?? They look really clean tho. Good job mate.
Liked it on Facebook. The boards look good. Curious about pricing and shipping info. Are they cost prohibitive to ship? Is it easy to screw up once you start sanding?
I know you hate me, but if one comes my way, please take into consideration that it will rarely see much above stomach or waist high waves. A fish would be nice. Can we do this powerball style? I think 5-8-15-21-33 are good numbers.
leet mike, thanks man! the fish is the same as its been at 5'7" x 20 1/2 and 2 7/8 thickness. My kid brother, he's 19, he's a slim and ripped 5'8" build and he's saying its perfect for his size as far as catch ability goes and overall feel, the rocker is pretty radical too, the tail kick with the keels really has a feel, flat bottom and flat deck with full rails. Ill have a shaping video out soon four this fish model. The single fin short board is designed to accept a slight single concave for now but will become flexible to be shaped with varying bottom shape, really depending on what people want. And I've been catching waves with great success on this 6' 3" single fin, and I'm a beefy 210 which stands at 6 3, the blank holds 46 liters so shaped maybe a bit less. It's weight is my only concern as of now, finished with 3 coats of epoxy it shows less than 20lbs but just barely., I've tweaked my pattern jigs so this blank product will become more attractive on heft side of life. however the new modified fish blank is only 13 lbs finished weight after 3 coats of resin only. no glass.
brew, i dont hate you. I admire your firmness. Im working on having a higher volume fish blank around 6'2" available, which would fit nicely in your stomach high and occasional head high peaks of course. say around 50 liters finished, I'm going for a fish blank that will fit my frame, but will supply high wave count to average weight surfers.
That sounds pretty nice, actually. I have a 6'4" Kechele, and it is never used. Just a little too thin to catch the little stuff.