Wooden Longboards from the Long White Cloud
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.23.07
Out of the woodwork (so to speak) appears another timber surfboard company. Based in the forestry focussed town of Putaruru, in New Zealand’s Waikato region, it seems logical that Roy Stewart might lean towards timber for his custom-made surfboards, which range in price from $2,500 to $8,000. (see pic after fold)
One of his favoured woods is Paulownia. A species of Chinese deciduous tree, its timber is said to be very light, fine-grained, and warp-resistant, qualities which suit aquatic adventures. The construction method for the boards was developed back in 1995 and employs the same principle as diving boards and longbows.
If you can avoid bruised thumbs around hand tools you might want to try out the DIY plans and templates available from Power Surfboards (a.k.a. Olosurfer) for making your very own wooden surfboard. Or simply use their handmade organic surfwax, comprised solely of of New Zealand organic pine resin and organic beeswax blended with cold pressed Fijian coconut oil. ::Olosurfer via a comment on our earlier post about Grain Surfboards.
Organic surfwax and Olosurfer board
PS. We've found a few other wooden surfboard makers whom we'll post on soon.
Free Roy!
This is great and everything, but what is green about using wood to make a surfboard? Is the wood sustainably harvested, or is it made of reclaimed wood? I didn't find any info on their site about this, but maybe I just didn't look in the right place.
Hi, I just thought I would mention that the Paulownia wood which we use is from small farm forestry plantations apart from some which we salvaged from an orchard which was being bulldozed to make way for buildings. The salvaging activity can be seen on the homepage ( contents page ) of olosurfer.com ,at the end of the video on that page.
The surfboards we build are very durable, and can last many generations with reasonable care.
One of our environmentally friendly tactics is to design boards which make the best use of the waves one has access to. . . for example our longer boards are able to deliver rewarding long rides in conditions which most boards cannot ride, this maximises wave resources and reduces wasteful surf air travel. stay home and ride an olo !
Here's a link to a 13 foot Power surfboard which is travelling New Zealand and then Hawaii, being passed from hand to hand http://13footofwood.blogspot.com/
By the way Power wooden surfboards started in 1995, about a decade before the Grain guys, and we make vastly superior boards
cheers
Roy
Hi Rob !
Just FYI,
Paulownia is considered to be invasive in the northeastern U.S. It grows fast and crowds out native vegetation.