31 . 01 . 23
Yep, we make our surfboards out of wood. It’s different to the industry standard of polyurethane foam, wrapped in fibreglass and polyester resin. The reason we make our surfboards out of wood has a few layers to it, so we’ve broken it down into 6 sections, here’s part 1…
When it comes to the making and riding of our surfboards, because wood is heavier than foam, we use a construction technique called skin-on-frame, which you can read more about in Our Process. This allows us to bring the boards much closer to the finished weight of a foam board so they feel familiar underfoot, but to ensure longevity of our boards, we keep wood where it is needed.
For this reason, wooden boards naturally lend themselves to twin fins, mid length single fins and longboards, where momentum and glide actually help the surfer to find smooth, graceful lines. We know that the attributes which make wood a good material for these types of boards are beneficial for other shapes too.
When we recently pushed the performance of our boards in a collaborative project with Alan Stokes, he mentioned that the momentum of the wood lent itself to his high performance twin fin shape – the ADPT. “Where I’d normally need three pumps to make a section, I was there in two.” and “I’ve never been able to complete a grab-rail down turn on a foam board because I get bumped out of it, but the wood just sailed all the way round.”
An often overlooked characteristic of any product is longevity. For me, it was one of the drivers to make my first board. Could I make something that was fun to surf in a variety of conditions AND that would last years, if not decades? Thats what we are constantly working to ensure, and we have boards that have been surfed by our customers for nearly a decade now that we know they are still going strong. We’ve put a number of boards through their paces too and have worked out ways to repair any dings we’ve put in them – another benefit to wood – so we are confident that our surfboards are some of the longest lasting ones you can buy (or make yourself).
So, now that we’re finding ways to push the performance of our boards, making sure that they last well into the future and making them from timber that benefits the planet, we think the better question to ask might be ‘Why Foam?’
Check out our range of surfboards here.
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