Version Zero Version One Short_Too Ordered Eight_Fun Short_Two PMT_Magnate PMT_Scion Funky_Aright Glass Fish pat2 Type Alpha I Nuuhiwa NR Second Glass Fish Performer Type Alpha II p2 Type Alpha
CARDBOARD SURFBOARDS
or, Cross-sectional Notched Rib Assembly for Aquatic Sliding Boards

I'm building hollow, cardboard core surfboards. Cardboard, seriously. These are ridable prototypes for a new approach to building boards out of interlocking cross-sectional ribs cut from sheet materials.


What. Is. This?!

Nick built this - Nick in New South Wales.

I have to repeat that to myself, because when I look at this photo, it looks so familiar. It looks like I built it.

But that's not Newport, or my front yard. It's someone else's local spot, in Australia.

And that's not my board - it's Nick's. I haven't even built that model yet. (Glad to see it went together as expected!)

Yeah, I update the website, but I'm sitting on the same side of the screen as you, looking at this photo almost in disbelief. Look what that guy made! That is so rad.

Nick ordered this 6'4" fish core kit from me back in May. He sourced glassing supplies locally, used my online assembly instructions and glassing guidelines, and emailed me a couple questions along the way. While waiting for the kit to ship over the Pacific, he had plenty of time to make his own wood keel fins.

This is why I'm setting up kit production - to get this experience and these boards out there. Every time I go through the messy, dusty, and still somewhat uncertain process of building a board, the result is always fascinating. "Did I really make that? Am I really out here surfing on cardboard?" It's pleasantly disorienting, and rewarding - it's a trip. That's what I want to share.

Doing a little kit production in the garage now - see link at upper right.

Thanks for the photos, Nick.

Make Magazine
August 2009
Make Magazine Feature

Page 20 of the last issue of Make magazine had a good article about this project with a couple backlit board photos taken at the Maker Faire in May. The issue also had a good, several-page feature on how to make an EPS-epoxy-bamboo cloth surfboard. The rest was DIY robots and a big, smooth-sailing catamaran. Here's page 20.

Hot Curl Wet
June 2009
Hot Curl Wet

Adrien is getting the hot curl wired in far-northern California. More photo evidence is likely on the way. For now we have these board glam shots and one hazy action shot: cold water hot curl

For Dad
weber Performer
Trying to lure dad back into surfing with a reproduction of one of his favorite boards - a Weber Performer. slides
Fish Two
fish 2
Had to try this again. Brought the weight down some, and got a smoother surface and smoother rails despite the simpler core pattern. slides
background

After riding the same 8'6" Robert August board for 13 years, I found it had developed a lively flex zone somewhere near the middle, around the cracked and swollen stringer. It was time to strip the wax and send the board into wall-hanging retirement, but I couldn't afford a new board to replace it. Why not build my own? Could I do that for a couple hundred? I didn't want to work with foam. What about a hollow wood board? Hmm... (continued)

Core Kits
a few standard models now available
These are router-cut kits, cut to order in my garage.
Kit Instructions
Video

assembly

testing
Big Slides
Contact
Comments & Inquiries:
boardssheldrake.net
(I often take forever to answer.)
Ephemera
12/31/2009 - cardboard machines?
05/16,30/2009 - Sacred Craft & Maker Faire
04/19/2009 - step deck caught in nice zoomed, foggy, grainy photo of caterpillars on jdubsingles
07/31/2008 - board #4 spotted on Tyler Manson's photo blog (look for lines on rail)
06/01/2008 - Popular Science feature
02/25/2008 - rare Long Beach surf
11/01/2007 - SURFER Magazine Design Forum feature
10/31/2007 - Video Interview by TKO Coastal Tours
10/16/2007 - Sacred Craft Surfboard Expo wrap up
early on - stepper motor driver development (before I found my affordable CNC router)