Back to the Future

What does the son of a surfboard shaper do for a school project given a choice? How about "The History of the Surfboard."

Not wanting to be too new school and muck about with resin and foam, Ben chose to get back to basics and feel the soft, warm grain of wood. His scheme was to make a replica of an Alaia board.



First step was to find a suitable blank. Our backyard fence that fell down last year provided the perfect piece of aged redwood, worm holes and all.



Once he figured out the length, Ben laid out the plan shape using some basic tools like a compass and french curves. (Who knows what a french curve is?!)



The block plane made quick work of rolling the rails.



Then on to the final sanding.



The last thing was to apply a dark stain and beeswax finish to give it a rich, old wood feel. The end result was pretty cool.



It's about the size of a Paipo board. Looks like fun.

The main thing for me was that Ben was able to get his hands on some new tools, learn how they work safely, and feel empowered that these basic skills and tools can open a lot of doors.



Ben is just looking forward to taking it out and giving it try.