In 2006 I built my first wooden longboard. I’d like to make a few more.
I have a 10′ and a couple mini-simmons in mind at the moment. I’m thinking about getting started on them this fall.
It’s a bit of a process, but it’s an absolute delight, unlike the foam boards I have shaped.
From start to finish, there’s an organic sense of creation. The smell of the cedar, the feel of the wood in hand transitioning from rough and rectangular, to smooth and curved. The act of planing the shape out with my grandfather’s block planes is almost a microcosm of what the board is intend to do. You move calmly and focused, peeling off a long strand of wood and imagine the waves that edge you are shaping will in turn carve.
The board reflects this when you ride. It’s absolutely different than a foam board. I’ve ridden it now in hurricane swells on the east and gulf coast of Florida, At Pleasure Point and Steamers in Santa Cruz. Once you start to drop it has a certainty lacking in lighter boards. And it carves through chop like a hot knife in butter. So smooth and stylish…
I love working with wood.
Gluing the keel and ribs down to the bottom deck. My rocker table is now a permanent fixture at Eckerd College.
Time for a new one!
Glassing in a Fin Box, My next will have a glassed in D-fin. i want it flat onto the tail for my 10′ log.
She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she?
I love bookmatched grain…
This is not really the best fin for this board. I pulled it off and put a Rainbow Fin Company Rusty Preisendorfer 8″
And it FLIES!
The wrong fin can really drag aboard down!
Just a hair under 9′ It’s a very fun ride!
