My Hollow Wooden Surfboard

How I Made my Hollow Wooden Surfboard
Needing a winter project that I could fit in my basement and having a great friendship with New Jersey surfer Rob Fishman, I searched and found Californian Jack Young on the internet and bought his book on how to make a hollow wooden surfboard. Without his help and guidance I would have never finished it. His book was great and he always replied within a day to my many email questions. Using his paper template and instructions, I made the spine from poplar and the rest of the frame from Luan plywood and knot-free spruce. Both the deck and bottom are edge to edge epoxied mahogany, cedar and aspen then planed at Aldenville Lumber to about 5/16 thickness,- the only place I know with a big enough planer to handle the width of the deck. Next the rails were laminated layers of spruce and mahoagany, heated and bent with an apparatus I made from a propane torch and a pipe (picture). Layers were held in place with a combinatio of clamps and wratchet straps. Lastly the fins are shaped from oak. The only place I used fiberglass was attaching the fins. I installed an air vent plug on the top, put on 3 coats of spar varnish and the rest is history. The MAS system worked great for every aspect of the project.