Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
Poplar is a popular choice when we ask customers which hardwoods they would like to have laid up into the deck and bottom skins of their surfboards. As a timber it is relatively light and strong and it has a lovely straight, predictable, grain to work with. Poplar is very light in colour and looks good when laid up alongside Western Red Cedar, but it looks particularly good when used in combination with walnut for an accent strip - the...
It's that time of year again! We've spent the day helping to put up the signage for all of the Open Studios events that will be happening...
It's Friday afternoon which means both blog-time and also, during "build-your-own" workshop weeks, the culmination of a week's hard work and the...
We were delighted to welcome 10xEuropean Longboard Champion Ben Skinner into the workshop this week to get started designing a wooden big wave gun...
The saying goes that it never rains, but it pours. Today feels like one of those days here because so many seeds that we have been planting over...
Let us introduce you, a little more formally, to The Island Hopper. At 7'4" it's the Otter Surfboard's "one board quiver" model, perfect for longboarders looking to step down in length a bit, or for shortboarders who want a little extra flow. It's a board that answers a question that we asked ourselves: "If you were going away on an extended surf trip and had room for only one surfboard in your luggage, what would you take?"
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...
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 things that we still use today, started sticking bits of crushed shells, sand and even seeds onto parchment using natural gums. They would then use this to delicately remove small amounts of material from surfaces such as wood, something that we're still doing to this day. Woodworkers use all...
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...
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 "longer" end of our range. What we came up with was a 9'1" x 22 1/2" x 3" board with a pulled-in tail template and a more noticeable rocker curve. Designed for day-to-day longboarders who are seeking the carry and glide of a wooden board but who still want the broad spectrum of performance...
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...
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...
