5'6" Mini Simmons

Everyone needs a mini simmons in their collection of woody quiver. It's the quintessential board for those smaller days where you need a little more volume to paddle onto waves. They are the right mix of everything if you like to just cruise and not get to radical with things like airs etc.

I'm more of a cruising surfer then a tricks guy so looked forward getting this one punched out and having a play out in the line up.

Framed ready for gluing onto the deck.

I made up my own guides from pine to rip bead & cove rail strips. It worked a charm and got perfect strips every time.

Deck & hull ready to take shape.

Glade I invested in a bunch of spring hand clamps. These things come in handy!

Glass on keel fins made from Paulownia, Western Red Cedar and recycled pine.

Fins glassed on. I based the position on about 20 others I googled.

Vent plug in to prevent hot air expanding inside while commuting and laying on the beach.

The vent hole doubles up as a GoPro mount.

Ride Report:

This board is in it's element in smaller stuff up to about 4-5ft. I've had it out on some rolling 6ft surf off a point and it seemed to go a little slow for my liking. Like the tail bogged down. I think thats when a modern day thruster works better the water release of a skinny tail is second to none.

None the less this board is easy to paddle and have had some really good surfs with it mainly on the Gold Coast. It's been my goto board for most conditions around the 2-4ft mark.

Meyerhoffer 9'2" Hollow Wooden Surfboard

I'm a sucker for something a little different, which led me to making a Meyerhoffer 9'2" HWS. An interesting board & equally, interesting to building.

The idea behind these is the board performs more like a shortboard when you want to do carving turns and has the added bonus of being able to be ridden like a longboard when riding mid way or up near the nose.

The board build process wasn't actually all that different to making any other fish bone framed hollow wooden surfboard.

 I thought it would be a good match to base this on a longboard but I was wrong. It actually comes out wider especially in the tail. I should have taken some measurements prior to cutting out the ribs so I can eye ball and draw out the ribs that fall short

 Chime strips glued on. Things are starting to look funky.

 I glassed the inside of this board which will create superior strength.

 Deck planking prepped & almost ready.

 Woohoo - getting there slowly.

 Slight concave in the nose. Should give it a good bit of hold down the line!

 Vent plug.

 Glassed on plywood fins.

 And the final result... Polished and ready to be surfed.

Surf Report:

I've surfed this board a handful of times and it's quick down the line. It does have a tendency to not track so well and really need to muscle it a little to make it turn. I can't really figure out why as the fin setup seems to be right. It is about 1-2kg heavier then I would have liked. Other then that it is a fun board to ride, easy to catch waves and very easy to paddle thanks to the cutaways. 

Hand Plane

This little project started out after I spotted a plastic hand plane at City Beach (Surf Shop). I took some pics and went about replicating it out of some scrap pine and WRC. The intention was to hollow it out slightly which I did after chopping it in half and chambering it out with a drill.

 Fiberglassed it and finished it with marine varnish.

I've never used it myself as it became my best man's present for my wedding but had good reports from him.