New Planshape

My board is the one on the left, the one on the right is my mate's. Have decided to run with a peanut type shape. Board is currently 6' 5" but I may shorten it a bit.

Putting concave in

Planshape

Alaia planshape as it stands today.

Sticks - Blank - Shape

Still early days, but today it started to take shape.




gluing in a western red cedar stringer


all clamped up


cutting the outline


rough shape

Alaia Build

Ok, so have started building an Alaia from scratch. We picked up the timber a couple of weeks ago it will be mostly Paulonia sourced from the plantation you see in the shot below. Am building with a bunch of friends from work so we should be able to help each other out throughout the build. Have now started glueing the blanks together. Stay tuned...

Waves

A small but perfect little swell running for the boards' maiden voyage. They are heavier than foam boards, but paddled easily, were very buoyant and surfed with a momentum I hadn't felt on other boards. Riding something you have made yourself certainly gives the experience of catching waves a whole new dimension.









Thanks to these people, Peter Mo for the amazing job he did with the glassing, Grant Newby for his help, patience and advice throughout this project, and most importantly our wives for their understanding. Peace

Picked up - Surfing Tomorrow

Picked up the boards this afternoon..!! stoked...!! surfing tomorrow...!! photos to come...

All but the finish coat...

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
-- Sir Winston Churchill

Well it is almost over... The boards have been glassed and the fins are now on. Logos have been put in under the resin and have come up looking nice. Scotty and I plan to surf these things this Saturday, all things going to plan. More photos then but for now here is a couple of shots of our boards with fins, leash loop and logos glassed on... Stoked!!

Duncs' Board









Scott's Board









With just the finish coat, breather hole plug and final buffing to be done tomorrow we are all set to pick them up Saturday and then see if they float...!

Mo at work

Pete starting to make progress on the sanding of the board.

sneek peek

A sneek preview of the boards with their two layers on glass on. Great glossy finish to them, but still plenty of sanding to be done

tools of the trade

The work area has a fine dust covering almost everything in its path. The tools responsible for this lay close by. I'm sure i came home with some on me. I'm glad we are getting these glassed and sanded by a pro! Pete explained the number of sanding grits he works through and passed on the detail of his special finishing product, which i cant divulge on here. But it gives a a great finish to the board.

Saturday morning at Mo's

Spent a few hours with Peter Mo this morning watching him ply his trade to three freshly shaped Dick van Straalen shapes. Amazing to watch the transformation as he applied the gloss coat. Pete is a perfectionist at his trade and it reallys shows through and results looked amazing. Was a privilege to be able to watch the work done on these boards.

fins glassed

dropped into Mo's and checked out the fins he had glassed. Impressed with the grain.

Glassing update

Two layers of the glass has been laid with the fins due to go on by early next week. The grain of the timber is starting to show through and this is where the rewards of choosing the ply decks carefully start to pay dividends. Results speak for themselves....

Glassing "El Viento"

I spent a morning with Peter watching him begin to glass "el viento". The resin is epoxy as it is clearer than polyester resins and has a slower curing time therefore a deeper bond into the wood.



Music from this clip comes from a good mate of mine Ashley Perrow and his band The Lamplights. Check it out here

off to the glasser

So we took the boards to the glasser today. Peter Mo, Modecks in Currumbin came highly recommended to us to complete the job. We went with an epoxy resin, with 6 ounce glass on the top and bottom. Peter talked us through the whole process and was great in helping us make the decisions that needed to be made.

Surfrider Foundation Board Swap

Should be a fun day. Not going to be swapping these wooden babies though!! I'll take along something else, great concept.