A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

The finless solid-wood boards used in the first half of the 20th century were all constructed in essentially the same way, by hand- shaping a slab of wood (usually redwood or a redwood/balsa laminate) with a saw, drawknife, hand planer, and sandpaper, then sealing the board with varnish. Hollow boards, popular in the '30s and '40s, were built from traverse-braced panels of cedar, ma- hogany, spruce, redwood, or pine, the pieces held together with glue and screws. Hollows were also finished with varnish. Both solid and hollow boards were commercially made in the '30s and '40s, but most were built in private garages and backyards; do-it-yourself surfboard articles were published in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines. A strengthening resin-saturated fiberglass skin was added to the board-making process in the mid-'40s, along with a fiberglass-attached stabilizing fin; polyurethane foam blanks replaced balsa as the board's core material in the late '50s. Machine-molded surfboards have made up a tiny fraction of all boards produced since the early '60s— newer versions of the molded board have steadily become more popular since the late '90s—but the vast majority of surfboards for more than 50 years have been constructed by the same basic five-step method, as follows: 1) Shaping. A precast foam blank is first roughed out by a shaper using a saw and an electric planer (or by a computer-programmed shaping machine, in common use since the mid-'90s). The board is then fine-shaped with a sanding block and sanding screen. As shaping brings together the blend of curves, contours, and volume distribution, which determines how a board rides, this has traditionally been the only part of the board-making process to capture the surfing public's attention. 2) Airbrushing.Anoptionalstep;theairbrusher, spraying water-soluble acrylic paints onto the shaped foam blank, can render nearly any design, from a simple color accent along the board's rails to a full wraparound nose-to-tail panorama. 3) Laminating, or "glassing." The process of enveloping the foam blank in fiberglass. A sheet of fiberglass is pulled from a roll, laid flat on the bottom surface of a horizontally resting board, then trimmed so that it hangs about two inches below the rail line. A catalyst- infused coat of resin is then spread evenly into the fiberglass with a rubber squeegee, and the process is repeated on the board's deck, usually with a double layer of fiberglass. "Glassing" often refers to the entire postshaping con- struction process. 4) Hot coating, or sand coating. A second application of resin, brushed on, contains a wax- based sanding agent, which rises to the top as the resin dries, creating an easy-to-sand surface. Fins or fin boxes are added after the hot coat is dry; the board is then machine- and hand-sanded. 5) Gloss coating. A third and optional coat of resin is also brushed on. After the board has been hand-sanded and machine-polished, the gloss coat gives it a lustrous shine. Most longboards are glossed, while most shortboards are not because the extra few ounces of gloss coat weight can make a difference in performance. As the sport itself has grown, the surfboard construction site has evolved from backyards, garages, workshops, and beachfronts to surfboard retailer back rooms and sprawling industrial factories that do manufacturing work for up to two dozen retailers. Boards are often shaped off-site, then shipped to a factory for glassing. There are health risks associated with surfboard construction, as virtually every board- building material is toxic to one degree or another. Polyurethane foam dust can irritate the airways, which over a long period of time can result in chronic lung problems and perhaps cancer. Styrene, resin's main component, evaporates easily and quickly, and can irritate lungs, airways, and skin; long-term exposure has been linked to liver disease and cancer. Catalysts contain known carcinogens; fiberglass particles can irritate skin, and fiberglass dust (caused by sanding )maycause cancer. Surfboard factories have become much safer in recent years, equipped with high-tech ventilation systems. Board-makers themselves, once notoriously lax, have learned to consistently wear filtering masks and regulator masks. Surfboard: How to Build Surfboards and Related Watersport Equipment (formerly titled The Surfboard Builder's Manual), Surfboard Design and Construction (1975), Making a Surfboard: The Complete Manual (1985), and Essential Surfing (1987); videos include Carve It Up (1996), Shaping 101 (1997), and Glassing 101 (1998). See also epoxy surfboard fiberglass, molded surfboard laminate, polyurethane foam, resin, shaping machine, surfboard shaping.

surfboard construction

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

Features