very nice work woodandwater...that board is a work of art and i can appreciate the amount of work you have put into it. I have a couple of questions if you dont mind. A) Are the rails made up from cork, divincell? and pualownia?, if so thats a nice light way to do them. B) did you glass the internal ribs or just use straight Dcell? C) what thickness skins are you using, I have built a couple of HW boards a 6'6" fish and a 12'6" gun both using pualownia and WRC based on the grain method, I luv the way wood surfs and my fish is my go to board, Looking fwd to getting into SUP's (demoing a board today) and building a couple down the track when I know what I am up to. cheers

Just checked this....wow, work of art!!

Hi Shunter, I have been experimenting heaps with different materials, ways to build the boards... and super stoked with this last board, not only the looks but also the weight and how it surfs As you say, I luv the way wood surfs! A) The rails are made up from cork, klegecell (similar to divinicell) and paulownia. I cut a groove in the rail internally to reduce the weight and board stiffness. B) The internal ribs are glassed with a 85g cloth and epoxy. C)Skins of paddle boards are 6mm and also glassed internally. Cheers Manny

thanks manny, I also use 6mm skins glassed inside with 2oz and outside with 6oz with another 6oz patch over where i stand/knee for duck dives on my surfboards. On my fish I have had problems with the deck splitting just off the stringer, Not enough to compromise the board just enough to piss me off... next board I make I will ditch the centre stringer to allow the deck to flex and double up the frames in that area down to 6" spacings from 12" cheers

Hey Shep, nice board in your gallery - congrats! Is it built similar to mine concerning frame and ribbing? I have one layer 4oz on deck and base and three layers over the rails because I love hitting them with the paddle

Hi Craig, the thing with a hollow board is that water can get in when dinged. I had water in a board and got it out by drilling a small hole in the nose and letting the water run out. I have a groove in the ribbing that allows the water to flow out when turn upside down (see attached pic). The hole in the nose is easy to repair. Positiv thing about a hollow board is you get no pressure dings because of the flex. Can't imagine snapping a board but never say never every board can snap! Cheers

Manny, have you made any wooden paddles? Does anyone know where to get a reasonably priced one from? Saw one for $695. Ridiculous!

i saw u carrying that board up a hill near trigg point i was like niiiice board, must be heavy tho. but now i know how badass it is

Simondo, I am obviously not Manny BUT I have made a few wooden paddles now. My conclusion is that they work great for surf and OC paddles with the reduced length. The natural flex may be the limitation though. As a downwind paddle at 12' over head they really do seem to flex a little too much. The materials I used were 3mm sheets of Pauwlonia with a cedar stringer down the middle. These were all laminated and clamped with Epoxy and 2 layers of Innegra Polypropylene fabric in the lamination. Total layers 9 layers of timber. I would have thought this would be stiff enough. They are very comfortable to use but the flex is limiting upon loading the blade and can also shudder a little when you move from power phase to recovery as the shaft unloads the power. The weight is fine, actually very comparable to a carbon paddle. I made the blade from 6 layers of balsa laminated with epoxy and foiled it like a fin complete with Dihedral etc. I Glassed the blade with Carbon fibre and epoxy both sides and sealed the shaft with Epoxy also. I also made an OC paddle with this same constructions and at this length is super light and I have now used this paddle in National Titles and Marathon changeover races. Super strong and light. Pauwlonia is an amazing timber. Wood flexes great, carbon is too stiff for some people. I would think Carbon Kevlar is the next generation of paddle material behaving somewhere in the middle.

I think he is in NSW long way from WA's famous (not) surf beach Trigg. Couple of wood veneer boards in WA never seen anything like this as a sup. Work of art

I agree Freebs, have you ever checked Swaylocks?? This site would be a great specific forum for manufacturers who care to share.

Yeah CMC, I'm registered recently on Swaylocks, but I prefer being here, lol. It's just I know probably 1/2 a dozen guys personally on these forums who make there own 'toys'. We have SUP days here and the people that go to those always talk about their current projects, we go surfing on short boards or logs and again, people are talking about what they are doing. When we need to ask someones advice on a topic, you have only a couple of choices. Sites like swaylocks, or silverfish longboarding etc. Both of these places are amazing sites, with an amazing pool of knowledge that makes them up, BUT, and it's a BIG BUT for me, neither of these cater for our 'local' suppliers, or our 'local' timbers. Locally, we have amazing talents like woodandwater and shunter, I'd like to include myself but doubt if I'll ever turn out anything like these guys have. I wouldn't go to Paris to see a Pro Hart exhibition. Nor would I ask an american about the intricacies of Spotted Gum. Hope I'm making sense, it makes sense to me anyway.

Let us know how she goes Manny. Couldn't possibly be as good as she looks.

I have surfed the board heaps in the past 2 1/2 months and loving it. It has a few scratches and small dings from wipeouts and transport but still attracts attention in the surf and on the beach. Most people say they would hang the board on a wall but i have the bigger smile on my face if i can take it out for a surf!

Amazing! you find yourself drifting off into fairy land staring at it. Personally it would be one carefully selected surf then straight to the pool room.