Balsa Wood Wakesurf

Here are some pictures of my new balsa wood wakesurf board. I am doing a shred stixx comp1 combo ja mako build. It's going to be a quad, and the length, width and nose are ja mako. The tail, fins and rocker are comp1.

The wood came from south america and took 5 months to get to me through customs etc... I am really scared to screw it up. It was a christmas gift and it was very expensive. It's super light I will weight it tomorrow.

That's going to be gorgeous!

Tail rocker is too extreme so that will be my first step after cutting it out. How thick should I leave it? You really like the design? I think it will amazing looking and hopefully she will surf great too! If not she will be wall art!

Yeah - I noticed the rocker was different. It looks like the apex is off a bit too, but you should be able to match that - might mean redrawing the outline though.

The Balsa, when glassed, I'm pretty sure will be a tad bit heavier than your foam'ie - I'd go 1/8" or so thicker than your foam board. If at all possible, match the rails to your daily ride, so that it feels mostly the same. Then don't taper your rail bands as much as the template board...which will leave the extra thickness.

There is no better look than wood! Wait e.wood!

The outline is hard to see but the measurements are equal on each side of the board. I am going to cut it a little big and sand it perfect. I drew the lines to take random measurements to make sure it was even on both sides. And there are a few different lines some are right and some are off

What do you mean by template board? I plan to match the rails of my comp 1.

Measure twice cut once! Good job on the lines and markup. In regards to the template board - I was just referring to that Comp 1 you were working with in the pictures.

Sweet! I've been waiting to see this since I saw you mention it a while back!

Can't wait to see how this turns out!

I'm just super nervous to mess it up! Should be cut to shape tonight and should have pictures tomorrow.

What do you mean by taper rail bands?

I'm looking forward to the pictures - WW is shutting the forums down for a few days, I think tomorrow, would love to see them before that!

The rail bands are just the preliminary cuts you'll make on the deck side to taper the dome down to the rails. Typically a single planer width I normally do two - one that is from the inside edge of the rail thickness and then the other from the inside edge of the first band, inside towards the stringer. Then you can blend those two flat cute into a gracefully (hopefully ) curved taper into the rails.

haha i thought the rocker looked tight. have fun making it! im gonna watch so i know what to expect in a couple months

Honestly I am going to sand the whole thing. I don't have access to a planer. I might use a belt sander on the areas where lots of material needs to be removed. I guess I could use my router to do the edges.

So rough cut is done, it weights 12.2 pounds. I think I can shave about 40-50% or so of that off. I would like to get it down to around 6-7lbs. Here are some pictures. You can see how thick the blank is. Next is trying to get the rocker right.

The grain on that has great character - I'm liking that ALOT. Also that double bump brings the tail in nicely. Thanks for posting up the pics!

Yeah I also like the bumps. I don't even know what they are for

SAWEEEETTTTTT

have you decided on the fin set up yet?

Quad, I am going to copy locations and angles of the comp1. Shred Stixx gave me permission

BIG TIME. gonna be fun!

That is a nice shape, it looks great!

Surfdad,
When I put the boxes in I could use 3/4 front and back? Any reason not to? Normally SS uses 1/2 in the rear. What was the name of that really small fin that I could use as the two rears? I can't seem to find it on the interweb

Solid Balsa doesn't pressure dent like foam, so all you're looking to do is seal the board from water. Like you concluded, 4oz is more than enough to accomplish that. I don't think I'd go to the extra expense of S glass, E glass is sufficient and probably drapes a tad better, IMO.

Are you going with polyester for that super glossy look?

Thanks, I need good drap because of the crazy corners etc... I think I will use polyester. Do you have a brand or type you like?

Sylmar 249A for the lam coat. Foam EZ carries the stuff here. You can find it at just about any supply shop.

How many yards of glass would you buy?

Length x 2 Assuming you went with the standard JaMako length of 4'11" x 2 = close to 10 feet, so you'd go with 4 yards if it was in a width less than 50". If you can find 50" width, then 2 yards, you'll split that width into two 25" pieces 6 feet long.

The little bit extra will give you room for laps.

Here are some shaping pics

It's gorgeous Duffy.

awesome! you're making great progress

Dont want to hate, it looks really kewl... but rainforest wood?
WHERE DOES BALSA WOOD COME FROM?
Balsa trees grow naturally in the humid rain forests of Central and South America. Its natural range extends south from Guatemala, through Central America, to the north and west coast of South America as far as Bolivia.
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~pedro/ncientif...s/techbal.html

Balsa is a wood we can grow and harvest easily. Much better than nasty foam. Quote from the guys website.

"We construct high quality balsa blanks and custom balsa boards to your specifications. Every single board we make is a unique, one of a kind wave rider that is truly a work of art. We deliver you top quality, lightweight balsa blanks and custom surfboards with premium balsa wood from Ecuador, the world's best climate for cultivating this fast growing, highly useful and ecologically friendly tree"

Great looking board, any updates?

More to come this weekend.