Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The last few weeks have delivered some really good waves here in the South West of the UK. In fact it's been a winter of note, which is why we've been reminding ourselves here of the importance of just jumping on in. It's easy to get picky about surfing when you can check the waves everyday, and to start pulling any one of a hundred excuses out of your brain to try and justify not pulling on a cold, damp wetsuit with sand smeared across the...
What're you doing next Saturday? We'll be going for a swim in the waves - you should come along too.
Every now and then you see the sort of weather chart that makes you want to drop everything and run to the coast. This weekend, bookended by bank...
It's officially Spring, and that means that for many of us the prospect of being fully immersed in the sea rather than floating above it on a...
Abrasive paper has been around for a long, long, time. Back in the thirteenth century the Chinese, in amongst inventing all sorts of other clever...
Pilot cutters are the vessels that worked the coastline between the Isles of Scilly and Bristol during the latter part of the 19th Century. Their primary role was to deliver local harbour pilots to large ships which they would then manoeuvre safely into port, but they were also used to transport valuable cargoes to shore or when speed was of the essence.
It's always great to get feedback from clients about the boards that we've shaped them, and particularly so when the feedback is accompanied by...
This week we're going to tell you about how we use walnut in our surfboards. You may have noticed how we use hardwood accent strips on the deck and...
This past week has been a busy one in the workshop here at Otter surfboards, and it's been absolutely brilliant. We've been running another one of...
British like cricket: that was the over-arching theme when we set out to design and build a more performance orientated mal to sit at the...
Let us introduce you to the humble surform. Many of you may already be familiar with them, but we're going to take a closer look at this oh-so-useful of tool's for our first tool focus blog post. Take a peek in any shaping bay, anywhere in the world, and you will spot a surform sitting on a shelf or hanging on a wall. But their integral role in the shaping of surfboards is not the reason why they're called "SURForms", the moniker is an...
Stand tall and proud. Go out on a limb. Remember your roots. Drink plenty of water. Be content with your natural beauty. Enjoy the...
Next Monday, the 21st of January, is Blue Monday. The third Monday in January is deemed by many (although it's pseudo-science) to be "the most...
We're going to start our "Surfboard Focus" series of blogs this week (we'll be looking at one board every month or so), and because it's a Friday,...
Happy New Year! So the festive period is truly winding down now and things are getting back to normal, and that means that this weekend is the...
POST UPDATE: As of 2015 we have been using a Spanish grown and produced plywood made from FSC certified poplar. It is lightweight and traceable, so perfect for what we need. ORIGINAL POST: Plywood is clever stuff, at least we think so. If you take a piece of plywood and a piece of lumber ("normal" wood) of the same species and the same size as the plywood, then the plywood will tend to be both stronger and more flexible. Plywood is...
As Christmas Day is drawing near, Now it's too late for us to ship gifts we fear, So we're taking a break for a couple of days, And hope...
There aren’t a lot of windows left in the workshop advent calendar, which means that Christmas Day is drawing ever closer. It’s feeling a...
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and that means that lots of people will be out this weekend shopping for a tree to hang their...
