How to Make a Balsa Surfboard

Planning

• 1

  Find a template for your board. You may do this buy tracing around another board or finding one in a shop or online. This is important as it will help you shape your board so you aren't shaping it blindly.

• 2

  Calculate the measurements of your board. When you purchase the wood, you'll need to know the appropriate size.

• 3

  Buy your wood. Get wood slightly bigger than your planned board. You can always cut off extra wood if there is too much, but you can never add wood if there's too little.

• 4

  Shape your board roughly. Cut down the corners and pull it into a very rough board shape. You shouldn't be using your template just yet. Make sure all your corners and edges are wide enough to fine-tune into the final shape.

Outlining and Truing

• 5

  Find the center of the board. Place a dot in this location. To measure the width from this point, take your planned width and halve it. That number is how far the edge is from the center. Measure out that distance and then add 1/8 inch. This gives you a little extra room for sanding and such.

• 6

  Use your template to cut the wood down to size. Remember to leave that extra border for now. Those rough edges from the saw will need to be planed and sanded, and without that buffer the board will be too small.

• 7

  Plane the board down. Do this all the way down to the edge of the board's outline based on your template. Use long strokes to make sure it's as smooth an outline as possible.

• 8

  Sand the nose and tail using the 40 grit sandpaper. Next, sand all the way down the rails and make sure everything is straight and all the edges are square.

Rockers, Rails and Other Adjustments

• 9

  Adjust the rockers by placing the surfboard on a piece of wood roughly 1 inch by 3 inches by 8 feet. Measure the distance from the wood to the nose of the board. If you are not satisfied with the rocker angle, carefully plane away the correct amount.

• 10

  Plane the board all over until it is the correct thickness. This particular thickness will depend on the template you are using. In particular, you should be adjusting for symmetry at this point.

• 11

  Draw a line down the middle of the edges of your board. Most classic balsa boards kept a rail angle of 50/50 meaning the angle was around 45 degrees, equal from the top and bottom. While modern boards use different angles, when making your own board, it is easier to measure and plane the 50/50 angle.

• 12

  Hold your plane at 45 degrees over the edge. Use long strokes like you did when you originally planed the edges. It is important that your angle is as clean as possible and not choppy.

• 13

  Sand the rails using the 40 grit sandpaper. This is very difficult as you must do both edges of the board. Take breaks or have someone help you.